Measuring moral courage for interns and residents: Scale development and initial psychometrics

Abstract

Purpose To develop a practical and psychometrically sound set of survey items that measures moral courage for physicians in the context of patient care. Method In 2013, the 731 internal medicine and surgical interns and residents from two northeastern U.S. academic medical centers were invited to anonymously complete a survey about moral courage, empathy, and speaking up about patient safety breaches. Results Of the eligible participants, 352 (48%) responded. Principal components analysis of the moral courage items demonstrated a single, meaningful, nine-item factor labeled the Moral Courage Scale for Physicians (MCSP). All item-total score correlations were significant (P