The Study of Spiritual Intelligence, Professional Ethics Compliance, and their Relationship among the Employed Nurses in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, Iran.

Background : Compliance to the professional ethics codes is an inevitable part of nursing profession. Nursing ethics codes and spiritual intelligence are the factors affecting professional ethics and improving the ethical behaviors by means of different practices. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between these two variables. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 164 nurses working in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran, in 2016 were selected by stratified sampling method. The data were gathered using the professional ethics and the King's spiritual intelligence questionnaires and were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, t test, and one way ANOVA. Results: The findings showed that the total mean scores of spiritual intelligence and compliance to the ethics codes were 70.86±12.01 and 84.90±10.64, respectively. The subscales of compliance with the professional ethics that had the highest mean scores were justice, showing respect for colleagues, and maintaining nursing dignity. The subscales with the lowest mean scores were showing respect for patient, improving knowledge and abilities, and patient's education. The Pearson correlation coefficient test showed a significant correlation between spiritual intelligence and compliance to the professional codes of ethics. Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed the mediocre performance of nurses concerning compliance to the professional ethics codes. Given the significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and compliance to the professional ethics codes, it is recommended that inter-disciplinary workshops concerning ethics and spirituality be held for nurses in order to improve their spiritual intelligence and compliance with the codes of ethics.