The association between perceived hospital ethical climate and self-evaluated care quality for COVID-19 patients: the mediating role of ethical sensitivity among Chinese anti-pandemic nurses

BMC Medical Ethics

Shujuan Sun¹  Xing’e Zhao²  Huilin Zhang³  Jia Jiang⁴  Xianhong Li⁵  Wenjing Jiang⁶ 

[1] Department of Gynecology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China;Department of Liver Transplantation, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China;Department of Nursing, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China;West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, 610041, Chengdu, China;Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, 172 Tong Zi Po Road, 410013, Changsha, Hunan, China;Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, 172 Tong Zi Po Road, 410013, Changsha, Hunan, China;Department of Nursing, Zigong First People’s Hospital, 643000, Zigong, China;

关键词: COVID-19;    Hospital ethical climate;    Ethical sensitivity;    Care quality;    Mediation effect;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12910-021-00713-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic called for a new ethical climate in the designated hospitals and imposed challenges on care quality for anti-pandemic nurses. Less was known about whether hospital ethical climate and nurses’ ethical sensitivity were associated with care quality. This study examined the association between the perceived hospital ethical climate and self-evaluated quality of care for COVID-19 patients among anti-pandemic nurses, and explored the mediating role of ethical sensitivity in this relationship.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey. A total of 399 anti-pandemic nurses from ten designated hospitals in three provinces of China were recruited to fill out an online survey. Multiple linear regression analysis and a bootstrap test were used to examine the relationships between ethical climate, ethical sensitivity and care quality.ResultsNurses reported mean scores of 4.43 ± 0.577 (out of 5) for hospital ethical climate, 45.00 ± 7.085 (out of 54) for ethical sensitivity, and 5.35 ± 0.661 (out of 6) for self-evaluated care quality. After controlling for covariates, perceived hospital ethical climate was positively associated with self-evaluated care quality (direct effect = 0.710, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.628, 0.792), and was partly mediated by ethical sensitivity (indirect effect = 0.078, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.002, 0.145).ConclusionsChinese nurses who cared for COVID-19 patients perceived high levels of hospital ethical climate, ethical sensitivity, and self-evaluated care quality. Positive perceptions of hospital ethical climate were both directly associated with a higher level of self-evaluated care quality and indirectly associated, through the mediation effect of ethical sensitivity among anti-pandemic nurses.

【 授权许可】

CC BY