Caring: Nurses, Women and Ethics

Lynch, Abbyann

doi:10.1136/jme.24.3.211

Cited by 1 publication

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“…and freedom of action (freedom to translate those decisions into action), suggesting that while nurses have the former, they do not have the latter. In 1997, Kuhse (1997) wrote, 'If nurses fail to free themselves from the historical constraints that have led to the assumption that it is appropriate for doctors to make end-of-life decisions, and for nurses to carry them out, then they have failed not only their patients but also themselves'. (Kuhse, 1997, p. 219) The path to liberation from narrow moral distress is for nurses to enact their moral agency.…”

Section: Mitigating Narrow Moral Distress By Promoting Moral Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Re‐examining the relationship between moral distress and moral agency in nursing

Morley

Sankary

2023

Nursing Philosophy

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In recent years, the phenomenon of moral distress has been critically examined—and for a good reason. There have been a number of different definitions suggested, some that claimed to be consistent with the original definition but in fact referred to different epistemological states. In this paper, we re‐examine moral distress by exploring its relationship with moral agency. We critically examine three conceptions of moral agency and argue that two of these conceptions risk placing nurses' values at the center of moral action when it ought to be the patient's values that shape nurses' obligations. We propose that the conception of moral agency advanced by Aimee Milliken which re‐centers patient values, should be more broadly accepted within nursing. We utilize a case example to demonstrate a situation in which the values of a patient's parents (surrogates) justifiably constrained nurses' moral agency, creating moral distress. Through an examination of constraints on nurse agency in this case, we illustrate the problematic nature of ‘narrow' moral distress and the value of re‐considering moral distress. Finally, we provide an action‐oriented proposal identifying mediating steps that we argue have utility for nurses (and other healthcare professionals) to mediate between experiences of narrow moral distress and the exercise of moral agency.

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Section: Mitigating Narrow Moral Distress By Promoting Moral Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%