this study aimed at determining the relationship between religious commitment and moral sensitivity among nurses working in the ICU sections of Ilam and Kermanshah cities in the west of Iran. The present study was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study carried out on nurses working in ICU wards of two western cities (Ilam and Kermanshah) in Iran. The entry criteria included having at least a bachelor's degree in nursing, having a work experience of more than 1 year in the ICU and informed consent for participation in the study.
First, the researchers referred to the ICU wards of the hospitals in the cities of Ilam and Kermanshah after receiving permission from the relevant authorities by referring to three shifts in the morning, evening and night shifts and holidays. The researchers, while explaining the research goals for the nurses participating in the study, obtained their informed consent to participate in this study. Then, the nurses were assured that their participation did not have any harm or loss to them, and the information obtained from these nurses would be reported anonymously. The questionnaire was then provided to the nurses and they were asked to complete the questionnaire when they were willing. Given that the nurses' fatigue may have prevented them from completing with the questionnaires accurately, they were asked to complete the questionnaire at the time of rest and to have sufficient time. The questionnaires were collected on the next day. The hospitals that were visited in Ilam included ICU's of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Martyr Mostafa Khomeini Hospital and Ayatollah Taleghani Hospital. Also, in the city of Kermanshah, ICU sections of Ayatollah Taleghani, Imam Khomeini, Imam Reza and Imam Ali hospitals were investigated.
The instrument used includes a demographic questionnaire, religious commitment questionnaire and moral sensitivity questionnaire in nurses. Religious Commitment Questionnaire had 10 items in two dimensions: intra-individual religious commitment (6 questions) and extra-individual religious commitment (4 questions) in the form of 5-point Likert scale, which describes the level of religious commitment of a person(3). The questionnaire of moral sensitivity in nursing had 25 items, which includes the amount of respect for patient independence, the level of awareness of how to communicate with the patient, the level of professional knowledge, the experience of problems and ethical conflicts, the use of ethical concepts in moral decision-making and honesty and benevolence. A five-point Likert scale was used from zero (no idea) to four (totally agree) and the scores ranged from zero to 50 (low moral sensitivity), 50 to 75 (a moderate moral sensitivity), 76 to 100 (a high moral sensitivity(10, 11). Data using software spss16 were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and analytical tests (independent t-test, ANOVA and regression).