Abstract
To explore the relationship between ethical leadership (a contextual factor at the higher organizational level) and nurses' moral sensitivity (the individual outcome at a lower level), a cross-sectional quantitative study design was used. Participants were 525 nurses at 65 various departments in public tertiary hospitals. These results showed that ethical climate played a mediating role in the relationship between ethical leadership and nurses' moral sensitivity. Moreover, nurses' employment type moderated the mediating effect of ethical leadership on their moral sensitivity. Additionally, the link between ethical climate and moral sensitivity of contract nurses was stronger than that of nurses employed by the state.