The Relationship between moral intelligence and communication skills among nursing students

Moral intelligence is the ability to utilize principal criteria that can lead to effectiveness of individual reactions. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between moral intelligence and communication skills among bachelor’s students in nursing at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2016-2017.
This was a descriptive-correlational study. The study population consisted of all nursing students studying at the School of Nursing and Midwifery of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Among the study population, 204 subjects were selected through convenience sampling method and based on the inclusion criteria (direct acceptance in the field of nursing, absence of any illness, and willingness to participate). The data collection tools consisted of a demographic characteristic questionnaire, the Moral Intelligence Scale (Lennick & Kiel), and the Communication Skills Inventory (Jerabek). The validity and reliability of both instruments had been approved in similar studies in the country using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.88 and α = 0.71, respectively). The reliability of the two questionnaires was calculated in the current research using Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.85 and α = 0.81, respectively). Data were analyzed using descriptive (average and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and ANOVA test) in SPSS software. The mean moral intelligence score was 71.98±7.12 and ranged from 20 to 100 and mean communication skills score was 114.9±9.67 and ranged from 34 to 170. Pearson correlation coefficient revealed a significant and positive relation between moral intelligence and communication skills of nursing students (r=0.54, P ≤ 0.001). Thus, the communication skills of students can be improved by strengthening their moral intelligence. Therefore, it is suggested that the grounds for the strengthening of moral intelligence among nursing students be provided.