Interrelationships between moral sensitivity, empathy, and perceived professional preparedness among undergraduate nursing students: a path analysis

Introduction Empathy and moral sensitivity have been increasingly identified as important psychosocial resources that support the development of nursing students’ ethical awareness, relational practice, and professional identities. Strengthening nursing students’ capacity for empathic and morally sensitive practice within undergraduate education may also support their confidence in managing the complexity of clinical interactions and providing patient-centered care. This study aimed to examine an integrated structural model in which empathy and moral sensitivity were specified as exogenous constructs predicting undergraduate nursing students perceived professional preparedness for future nursing roles. Methods This cross-sectional correlational study used path analysis based on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) of data from 402 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a Saudi Arabian nursing college. Participants completed validated instruments to assess empathy, moral sensitivity, and perceived professional preparedness for future nursing roles. Refined versions of all three instruments demonstrated high reliability and convergent validity. Results and Discussion The path coefficients for the model were positive and significant, accounting for 70.3% of the variance in perceived professional preparedness. Both empathy ( β = 0.594, p < 0.001) and moral sensitivity ( β = 0.275, p < 0.001) positively predicted perceived professional preparedness.