Evidence-Based Strategies to Lessen Moral Distress in Nursing: Key Issues & Challenges
Moral distress is an increasing concern in many health care delivery environments. Moral distress occurs when a nurse knows what to do but cannot carry out the action due to a work environment that is not conducive to ethical actions. Moral distress negatively impacts patient quality and safety.
Relevance/Significance:
Some of the major sources of moral distress for nurses are patient harm in the form of pain and suffering. When nurses experience unresolved moral distress the result is moral residue. There are clear and compelling linkages between moral distress for nurses specifically with regard to the ethical climate of healthcare environments in which they work. When nurses experience unresolved moral distress there is loss of motivation, decreased job satisfaction, burnout, and high turnover.
Strategy and Implementation:
The purpose of this presentation is to discuss evidence-based findings of the impact and outcomes of moral distress in nursing. The presentation provides discussion and examination of the concepts of moral courage, and moral distress and how these concepts impact patient quality and safety as well as nurse vacancy rates, lost time from work, and in nurses permanently leaving the profession. There is specific examination and sharing of evidence-based literature examining these concepts as well as evidence-based strategies nurses can apply to lessen the impacts of moral distress in a variety of health care environments.
Evaluation:
The evaluation component of this presentation focuses on evaluative data from evidence-based research as to how evidence-based strategies are successful to create work environments that are morally habitable. In addition, the evaluation also describes how nurses and leaders can create work environments that are morally habitable increasing patient quality and safety as well as nurse satisfaction.
Implications for Practice:
Moral distress is a frequently occurring phenomenon in the majority of health care settings. When moral distress is unresolved, the result is moral residue. Moral distress refers to the phenomenon nurses encounter and experience with ethical dimensions of health care practice environments.