The Relationship Between Religion Orientation and Moral Courage: A Study on Nursing Students

Background: Nursing students must cultivate moral courage to be able to provide ethical care in morally challenging situations. Moral courage is influenced by various factors, including spirituality and religion. Spirituality is a crucial component of ethics, and an individual's religious orientation shapes his/her beliefs and actions. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the role of religious orientation in shaping moral courage among nursing students. Methods: This cross-sectional study focused on nursing students at the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences during the 2021 - 2022 academic year. A total of 153 students were selected using simple random sampling. Data were collected using Allport's Religious Orientation and Sekerka's Moral Courage Scale and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS 18. Results: The mean moral courage score was 58.74 +/- 10.56, indicating an average level of moral courage among nursing students. The mean religious orientation score was 52.84 +/- 6.06, indicating a high level of religious orientation. A significant positive correlation was found between moral courage and religious orientation (r = 0.62, P < 0.05). Specifically, external religious orientation showed a positive and significant correlation with moral courage (r = 0.76, P < 0.05). Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrated a positive correlation between religious orientation and moral courage among nursing students. It can be concluded that religious orientation does influence moral courage in nursing students, with the external dimension of religion playing a predominant role. Therefore, nursing educators should consider both the internal and external aspects of religious orientation when designing interventions to enhance moral courage among nursing students.