Role Ambiguity and Organizational Justice as Predictors of Unethical Behavior among Nurses

Background: Unethical behavior among nurses is gradually becoming a serious problem in the health sector of Nigeria and this call for urgent concern. However, it may be associated with issues inside health care organizations. This therefore prompted this study to investigate the relationship between role ambiguity, organizational justice and unethical behavior among nurses. Methods: The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. A total number of three hundred (300) participants were selected from Lagos state teaching hospital (LUTH) in Lagos metropolis using simple random sampling method. A structured questionnaire consisting of demographics and Unethical behavior scale (UBS), Role ambiguity Scale (RAS), and Organizational Justice Scale (OJS) were used to collect data in this study. Multiple regression was used to analyze data using the IBM-SPSS version 24. Results: Among the subjects, 71.9% were females and 28.1% were 99 males.  Their ages ranged from 24 to 57 years (31.66 ±3.13). There was independent relationship between role ambiguity and unethical behavior (β= .229; t= 3.157; p<.05). Also, there was independent relationship between organizational justice and unethical behavior (β=-.317; t= -2.182; p<.05).  Conclusion:  Role ambiguity and organizational justice predicted unethical behavior. This result therefore implies that the authorities and hospital managers of Nigeria should design an intervention program tailored toward resolving role ambiguity and improving organizational justice to help to reduce the menace of unethical behavior among these nurses.