Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

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Bayattork R, Alikhah A, Alitaneh F, Mostafavian Z, Farajpour A. Moral Intelligence and Its Relative Demographic Factors in Medical and Nursing Students Studying at Islamic Azad University of Mashhad. IJMEHM 2018; 11 :353-364
URL: http://ijme.tums.ac.ir/article-1-6072-en.html

Today, health care providers are moving toward becoming professionals, so only academic knowledge and skills are not enough in complex medical environments, morality is an integral part of medical decision making and paying no attention to it may have adverse effects on quality of care. This Research investigated the moral intelligence and its relative demographic factors between medical and nursing students. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 214 students were selected by census sampling. Data were collected by using Kiel & lennik questionnaire which its reliability is reported as r=0.94 and has been validated in previous studies. The mean age of students was 21.79±2.82 years. The moral intelligence mean scores in medical and nurse students were 76.44±7.10 and 74.07±8.26, respectively. There was no significant relation between demographic factors and moral intelligence scores but there was significant difference among nursing and medical (p=0.025) and the first and last year students (p=0.002). Trustworthy domain was significantly higher in medical students (p=0.003). Although the results indicate that the students' moral intelligence score is in good condition, this situation can be upgraded to be very good and excellent. The significant difference in the score of moral intelligence in first and last year students shows the effect of educational curriculum. There was significant difference in the scores of medical and nursing groups. So, the educational climate and curriculums can effect on moral intelligence development. Therefore, considering the proven effect of moral intelligence on the quality of professional performance, ethical dimensions, and professionalism in clinical education should be emphasized, evaluated, and monitored more than ever.