Background: Caring for critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) requires high moral sensitivity among nurses. Moral sensitivity may be associated with dimensions of nurses’ professional quality of life, including compassion satisfaction and fatigue, yet sufficient evidence in ICU settings is lacking.
Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between moral sensitivity and professional quality of life among ICU nurses in Zanjan.
Methods: A descriptive-correlational study was conducted with 146 ICU nurses. Convenience sampling was used from October 2021 to June 2022 in two teaching hospitals affiliated with Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using demographic and occupational questionnaires, Lützén’s Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire, and Stamm and Figley’s Professional Quality of Life Questionnaire, and analyzed with SPSS-22. A significance level of 0.05 was considered.
Results: The mean moral sensitivity score was 87.18 (SD= 5.51), and professional quality of life was 106.19 (SD= 11.51). The mean compassion satisfaction score was 73.36 (SD= 6.12), and compassion fatigue was 65.02 (SD= 14.55). A significant positive correlation was observed between moral sensitivity and compassion satisfaction (r=0.345, P<0.01) and a significant negative correlation between moral sensitivity and compassion fatigue (r=-0.321, P<0.01).
Conclusion: Given the moderate compassion satisfaction and high compassion fatigue among more than half of the nurses, enhancing moral sensitivity skills should be prioritized. Strengthening moral sensitivity through professional knowledge, respect for patient autonomy, experience with ethical conflicts, supportive environments, and nurse retraining can reduce compassion fatigue, increase compassion satisfaction, and improve nurses’ professional quality of life.