Emergency department (ED) nurses practice in environments that are highly charged and unpredictable in nature and can precipitate conflict between the necessary prescribed actions and the individual's sense of what is morally the right thing to do. As a consequence of multiple moral dilemmas, ED staff nurses are at risk for experiencing distress and how they cope with these challenges may impact their practice. To examine moral distress in ED nurses and its relationship to coping in that specialty group. Using survey methods approach. One hundred ninety-eight ED nurses completed a moral distress, coping, and demographic collection instruments. Advanced statistical analysis was completed to look at relationships between the variables. Data analysis did show that moral distress is present in ED nurses (M = 80.19, SD = 53.27), and when separated into age groups, the greater the age, the less the experience of moral distress. A positive relationship between moral distress and some coping mechanisms and the ED environment was also noted. This study's findings suggest that ED nurses experience moral distress and could receive some benefit from utilization of appropriate coping skills. This study also suggests that the environment in which ED nurses practice has a significant impact on the experience of moral distress. Because health care is continuing to evolve, it is critical that issues such as moral distress and coping be studied in ED nurses to help eliminate human suffering.
One in four women who are diagnosed with breast cancer die annually, and the single most important way to prevent this is early detection; therefore, women older than 40 years should have an annual screening mammography. Many barriers have been reported that prevent compliance with this recommendation, including lack of insurance, fear, anxiety, pain, worry, and mistrust of the medical community. Nurses are in a position to use creative interventions, such as music therapy, to help minimize barriers. Although this study did not show that music therapy during screening mammograms decreased the amount of pain that the participants experienced, it did suggest that music therapy has the potential to decrease the amount of anxiety. Assisting patients in decreasing anxiety reduces barriers for screening mammography. The literature does suggest that music is a distraction for many populations of patients; however, when patients are faced with the possible diagnosis of breast cancer, it may be difficult to find an intervention to distract a woman's mind, which was supported by the findings of this study.
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