The interrelationship between moral and intellectual development of nursing students in Malta : a cross-sectional survey.

Abstract

The aim of any university education should be the holistic development of its students. However, local research lacked such interest, with the resulting effect being limited knowledge about nursing student development in Malta. The aim of this study was to examine the interrelationship between moral and intellectual development of nursing students in Malta and which aspects of the students' demographic characteristics are related to these developmental aspects. A correlational descriptive survey was carried out based on Kohlberg's (1958) theory of moral development and Perry's (1970/1999) scheme of intellectual development. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from pre-registration nursing students studying at a Maltese university using the Defining Issues Test (DIT) and the Learning Environment Preferences (LEP) questionnaires, which are well established measures based on both theories grounding this investigation. The response rates recorded for the DIT and LEP were 74% (n = 311) and 76% (n = 318) respectively. The results of this study indicated that nursing students use more conventional thinking (Kohlberg, 1958) when addressing a moral dilemma meaning that law and socially acceptable norms are considered prior to decision making. Furthermore, results suggested that student nurses are at Perry's ( 1970/1999) multiplicity level of intellectual development; at this level students accept that there are no complete right or wrong answers and that every opinion counts. Moreover, a medium positive correlation was recorded between moral and intellectual development, highlighting the need for a holistic approach towards nursing students' development. Inferential statistics confirmed results of previous literature indicating that gender is not associated with either moral or intellectual development. Students' age did not have any particular effect on moral and intellectual development. Nursing students in the degree programme scored higher than diploma students in both moral and intellectual development. Such results appear to support a degree level of education as allowing the attainment of higher levels of moral and intellectual development.