Education and Ethics In Nursing ISSN: 2322-5300

Examining the Effect of Storytelling-Based Professional Ethics Education on the Professional Behavior Status of Nursing Students: A Study Protocol

https://doi.org/10.22034/ethic.2026.2083418.1219
Volume 15, Issue 1
June 2026
Pages 127-134
Education and Ethics In Nursing ISSN: 2322-5300

Document Type : protocol study

Authors

Ameneh Jafari Nodoushan 1
Khadijeh Nasiriani 2
Naiire Salmani, 3
Imane Bagheri 4

1 Master’s Student, Student Research Committee, Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

2 , Research Center for Nursing and Midwifery Care, Comprehensive Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

3 Meybod Nursing School, Research Center for Nursing and Midwifery Care, Comprehensive Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.

4 Department of Nursing,Research Center for Nursing and Midwifery Care, Comprehensive Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

Abstract
Introduction: Professional behavior is fundamental to high-quality nursing care and is grounded in professional ethics. Effective ethics education is particularly important for seventh-semester nursing students who are about to enter clinical practice. Active and participatory teaching methods can enhance understanding of ethical concepts and strengthen decision-making in real clinical situations. Storytelling, as an innovative educational strategy, presents clinical ethical challenges through narratives and promotes reflection, empathy, and critical thinking. Despite its potential benefits, limited research has examined its impact on nursing students’ professional behavior. Therefore, this study aims to determine the effect of professional ethics education through storytelling on the professional behavior of nursing students in 2025.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study with a pretest–posttest control group design will be conducted on 70 eligible seventh-semester nursing students at Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd. Participants will be selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned, using the Randomizer website, to either an intervention group (storytelling-based education) or a control group (conventional education). The control group will attend three two-hour workshops delivered through traditional teaching methods. The intervention group will participate in a structured storytelling-based program consisting of one introductory session and three main sessions (90–120 minutes each). Data will be collected before and after the intervention using the Goze Professional Behavior Questionnaire, which includes 27 items rated on a five-point Likert scale (score range: 27–135). The Persian version of the instrument has demonstrated acceptable validity, and its reliability has been confirmed with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.76. Appropriate statistical tests will be applied based on data distribution.
Conclusion: This study may provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of storytelling in professional ethics education. If effective, storytelling could be incorporated into nursing curricula to enhance professional behavior and ultimately improve the quality of clinical care.
Keywords: Storytelling; Professional ethics; Nursing students; Professional behavior; Nursing

Keywords

Keywords: Storytelling
Professional ethics
Students
Professional behavior
Nursing
Subjects
 
1. Alabdaly A, Debono D, Hinchcliff R, Hor S-y. Relationship between patient safety culture and patient experience in hospital settings: a scoping review protocol. BMJ open. 2021;11(5):e049873. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049873.
2. Smiley RA, Lauer P, Bienemy C, Berg JG, Shireman E, Reneau KA, et al. The 2017 national nursing workforce survey. Journal of Nursing Regulation. 2018;9(3):S1–S88.https://doi.org/10.1016/s2155-8256(18)30131-5
3. Mirhosseini S, Basirinezhad MH, Ebrahimi H. The role of professional behavior to improve patient safety culture in clinical nurses: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Health Studies. 2022:7–12 https://doi.org/10.22100/ijhs.v8i2.899.
4. Edalatkhah H, Sadeghieh AS, Azadkhani M, Karimollahi M. Knowledge and performance of professional ethics among the clinical professors. 2020.
5. Hosseini SH, Tayebi Z, Poormoosa Poostin Saraee Y. Nursing students' perception of nurses' professional misconduct: A descriptive qualitative study. Journal of Medical Education Development. 2024;17(53):34–44.
6. Jiang L, Broome ME, Ning C. The performance and professionalism of nurses in the fight against the new outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic is laudable. International journal of nursing studies. 2020;107:103578.doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103578.
7. Taghizadeh H, Rasekh Jahromi A, Derakhshan N, Tavakol M. Examining the patients' views on professional behavior by specialist Physicians: a cross-sectional descriptive study in southern Iran. Education and Ethics In Nursing. 2023;12(1-2):12–21.
8. Khajavi Z, Vaezzadeh N, Mousavinasab SN, Azimi Lolaty H. Relationship between ethical intelligence and professional behavior in nurses. Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. 2020;30(185):86–95.
9. Rezaei Tavabe N, Kiani FZ, Ahmadi A. Investigating the factors preventing the observance of ethics and professional behavior in educational, research and medical centers of Iran: a systematic review study. Education and Ethics In Nursing ISSN: 2322-5300. 2024;13(1-2):61–78. https://doi.org/10.22034/ethic.2024.2031864.1058
10. Davoudi M, Afrazandeh SS, Yazdanparast E, Ghorbani SH, Sadeghian AH, Jebreili K. The Effects Of Professional Ethics Workshop On Nursing Students' Perspective Of Caring Behaviors. 2020.
11. Dehkordi LM, Kianian T, Nasrabadi AN. Nursing students' experience of moral distress in clinical settings: A phenomenological study. Nurs Open. 2024;11(3):e2141. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.2141.
12. Mohamadi N, Gholami N, Rezaei S, Zangeneh M, Shahnavazi M, Roshanaei G, et al. Evaluating staff and students’ knowledge about professional ethics in the Field of Communication, Law and Ethics. Research in Medical Education. 2018;9(4):9–1.
13. Jafari manesh H, Ranjbaran M, Vakilian K, Tajik R, Almasi-Hashiani A. Nursing’s code of ethics: a survey of respecting the code among nursing students. Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine. 2014;6(6):45–55.
14. HASEEN JAMAL S, SHAKIRULLAH, SHERAZ KHAN, AMIR SULTAN. Ethical Awareness among Undergraduate Nursing Students of Khyber Pukhtankhwa. Pakistan Journal of Medical & Health Sciences. 2023.
15. Shamim MS, Baig L, Zubairi N, Torda A. Review of ethics teaching in undergraduate medical education. JPMA The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. 2020 Jun;70(6):1056-1062. DOI: 10.5455/jpma.21013. PMID: 32810106.
16. Houshmand M, Laeli M. Investigating teaching methods of professional ethics in Iran: A review study. 2021.
17. Zare L, Shahmari M, Dashti S, Jafarizadeh R, Nasiri E. Comparison of the effect of teaching Bundle Branch Block of electrocardiogram through storytelling and lecture on learning and satisfaction of nursing students: A quasi-experimental study. Nurse Education in Practice. 2021;56:103216. DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103216
18. Brown L. Storytelling as an Instructional Technique. Journal of Military Learning. 2022:1–19.
19. Buono AF, Adams SM, Schwarz GM. Preparing for high impact change: the critical role of experiential learning and practice.  Preparing for High Impact Organizational Change: Edward Elgar Publishing; 2019.p.1–12 https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788116954.00007.
20. Nunciaroni A, Corrêa V, Silva R. Storytelling and the teaching-learning process in the Nursing Major. 2024 DOI:10.17163/alt.v19n1.2024.09.
21. Ghadampour E, Heydariani L, Kalanter J, Nasiri Hanis G. The effect of teaching moral intelligence through storytelling on students' academic, social and emotional adjustment. Scientific Quarterly of Teaching and Research. 2019;2(3):45–65.
22. Wall LM. Ethics education: using storytelling to teach ethics to novice oncology nurses. Number 6/December 2021. 2021;25(6):E63–E8ttps://doi.org/10.1188/21.CJON.E63-E68.
23. Heshmati Nabavi F, Rajabpour M, Hoseinpour Z, Hajiabadi F, Esmaily H. Comparison of nursing students’ professional behavior to nurses employed in Mashhad university of medical sciences. Iranian Journal of Medical Education. 2014;13(10):809–19.
24. Bagherian B, Mehdipour-Rabori R, Nematollahi M. Teaching ethical principles through narrative-based story is more effective in the moral sensitivity among BSc nursing students than lecture method: A quasi-experimental study. Clinical Ethics. 2023;18(4):427–33.
25. Fard A, Sadat Hoseini AS, Kazemnejad A. The Effect of Storytelling through Simulation on Moral Reasoning and Moral Sensitivity of Nursing Students in Tehran University of medical sciences. Education and Ethics In Nursing ISSN: 2322-5300. 2022;11(1-2):55–64. https://doi.org/10.22034/ethic.2022.700727
26. Kagawa Y, Ishikawa H, Son D, Okuhara T, Okada H, Ueno H, et al. Using patient storytelling to improve medical students’ empathy in Japan: a pre-post study. BMC Medical Education. 2023;23(1):67.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04054-1
27. Imanifar N, Derikvand M, Vagharseyyedin SA. The effect of nursing ethics education through narration and lecture methods on patient advocacy by nurses in Iran in 2017: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Multidisciplinary Care. 2022;11(2):83–9. doi: 10.34172/jmdc.2022.61.
 
 
 

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Contact Us