Moral intelligence and its relationship to resilience among nursing students in Iran

INTRODUCTION: In the nursing profession, moral intelligence and resilience are essential components for ethical decision-making and coping with stress. The aim of the present study was to examine moral intelligence and its relationship to resilience in nursing students.
METHODS: A total of 280 nursing students at Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran, participated in this de-scriptive correlational study in 2017. The data collection instruments used were a demographic questionnaire, the Lennick and Kiel Moral Competency Inventory, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Analysis yielded descriptive statistics and inferential statistics about the data.
RESULTS: The mean moral intelligence score of the nursing students was 78.54±8.57 and there was a significant relationship between the total moral intelligence and resilience scores and their respective dimensions (p>0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the variables of age and grade point average demonstrated a significant relationship to resilience and moral intelligence and that these variables predicted 43% variance in resilience among the nursing students.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Given the importance of resilience in the stressful working environment of nursing and the effects that high moral intelligence can have on resilience, it is suggested that nursing managers emphasize moral intelligence in training, especially for nursing students and new nurses.