A Study of Ethical Behavior among Royal Thai Navy Nursing Students
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Abstract
This mixed-methods research aimed to study ethical behavior, factors related to ethical behavior and factors promoting ethical behavior among naval nursing students in the academic year 2025. The independent variables comprised academic year level, cumulative grade point average (GPAX), and institutional climate, whereas the dependent variable was the ethical behavior of the nursing students Participants included 148 first-through fourth-year naval nursing students from the 2025 academic year, as well as 25 key informants who participated in focus group discussions. The research instruments consisted of: (1) a 57-item institutional climate questionnaire; (2) a 30-item evaluation questionnaire assessing the ethical behavior of naval nursing students; and (3) a 3-item open-ended questionnaire concerning ethical practices. Instrument reliability was evaluated, yielding overall reliability values of 0.98 for the institutional climate scale and 0.93 for the ethical behavior evaluation scale. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation and the chi-square test was employed to analyze the relationships involving ethical behavior. Qualitative data from open-ended responses and focus group discussions were analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed that:
(1) Naval nursing students demonstrated their overall ethical behavior at a very high level (Mean = 4.73, SD = 0.54$). Among all domains, honesty and integrity, and responsibility yielded the highest scores at an equal level, both at a very high level (Mean = 4.78, SD = 0.47);
(2) Overall, the institutional climate for promoting ethical behavior was at a good level (Mean = 4.14, SD = 0.90), with nursing faculty achieving the highest score, also at a good level (Mean = 4.43, SD = 0.73);
(3) Institutional climate was significantly associated with the level of ethical behavior among naval nursing students at the .05 level, exhibiting a moderate degree of association (Cramer’s V = .311);
(4) Nursing faculty acting as ethical role models and the integration of ethics into course instruction were identified as key factors in promoting ethical behavior among nursing students.
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