The Ethical Decision-Making Ability of Nursing Students in China’s Universities

Abstract

Nursing ethics is an essential part of nursing education, and ethical decision-making is a critical competency that nursing students must possess. This study aimed to investigate the ethical decision-making ability of nursing students in China and to identify the factors that affect this ability. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 500 nursing students from four universities in China. The Ethical Decision-Making Ability Questionnaire (EDMAQ) was used to assess the ethical decision-making ability of the participants, and a demographic questionnaire was used to collect information about their age, gender, education level, and clinical experience. The results showed that the mean score of the participants on the EDMAQ was 79.62 (SD = 10.72), indicating a moderate level of ethical decision-making ability. Female students scored significantly higher than male students, and students with more clinical experience scored higher than those with less experience. The findings of this study suggest that nursing education in China needs to focus more on developing nursing students' ethical decision-making abilities, particularly for male students and those with limited clinical experience.