ArticleBMC nursing2025
Assessing educational needs of nurses' ethical competence based on the four components model of moral behaviour: a cross-sectional study using the Borich needs assessment and locus for focus models.
Article in BMC nursing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Moral intensity and ethical sensitivity in pre-service therapeutic sciences clinicians: a vignette-level analysis of ethical principle recognition and ethical sensitivity skills.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Moral character development in nursing students: a qualitative content analysis in Iran.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Ethical behavior profiles among nursing interns and their determinants: a latent profile analysis.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Professional Identity as a Mechanism Linking Moral Sensitivity to Moral Courage Among Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of nursing management · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEthical competence is an essential attribute for professional nurses. Before designing ethics education programmes for nurses, it is crucial to conduct a systematic and accurate analysis of the needs of nurses to optimise the effectiveness of such programmes. This study performed an educational-needs analysis aimed at assessing and prioritising ethical competence requirements among nurses.
methodsWe developed a 35-item questionnaire based on the Four Components Model of moral behaviour and adjusted it according to findings from a review of the pertinent nursing literature and input from expert panel discussions. The questionnaire, which comprised questions across four ethical competencies (ethical sensitivity, ethical judgment, ethical motivation, and ethical implementation) was distributed to 400 nurses working in three general hospitals in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea. Of the 400 questionnaires returned, 307 met our inclusion criteria. The responses were analysed with the aim of determining in which areas nurses needed more training to achieve the required competence. The three-step educational-needs analysis first employed paired t-tests to determine where reliable differences lie between the nurses' present competence level and required competence level, and then we employed Borich Needs Assessment and the Locus for Focus models to rank and prioritise the identified educational needs.
resultsOur analysis revealed significant differences between the nurses' present competence levels and the required competence levels in all 35 items (p < .001) of the questionnaire. Borich Needs Assessment and the Locus for Focus models identified four items in the questionnaire that had the highest priorities for educational needs in ethical competence: three ethical judgment items and one ethical implementation item. These items deal with ethical judgment grounded in ethical theories such as virtue ethics and the principle of justice within principlism; and ethical implementation that specifically addresses issues related to the concealment of clear medical errors.
conclusionsThis study suggests that specific ethical competencies, identified as high-priority needs through the educational-needs analysis, should be included in student and post-graduate nursing education and in institutional policies in order to foster good nursing practices in daily care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.