Does high social capital lead to creation of a favorable ethical environment in the organization? A survey from the perspective of nursing staff in public hospitals of Tehran

Background and Objectives: High levels of social capital can improve job satisfaction and quality of work life in nurses and hospital&rsquo;s productivity. The moral values are the foundation of any organizational culture and the high levels of it lead to greater commitment, service quality and satisfaction of patients. This study aimed to assess relationship between social capital and ethical values in hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a correlational study. The study population was the hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. 180 samples were selected from a general hospital by multistage random sampling method. The data were collected using a questionnaire and were analyzed using the Spearman test by statistical software SPSS 18. Results: total number of participants were 170. 66.8% were women and their average age was 36 years old and the average work experiences were 12.5 years. Average social capital score was 81 out of 155 points and average ethical value was 25.33 out of 450. Cognitive aspects were significantly related to the ethical values (P<0.05) and ethical values were positively correlated with relational aspect (rs=0.03). Conclusion: The ethical values and social capital of the hospitals need reform. It seems that other factors besides social capital related to ethical values in nurses need further study to address them.