Moral Distress of Nurses in Emergency Department of Ardabil Hospitals in 1395

Abstract

Background & objectives:Nurses, as the main members of the care and treatment teams, are at the forefront of health care provision and their performance largely determine the quality of health care. Moral distress can have many physical and psychological consequences in nurses and negatively affect their professional responsibilities. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of moral distress in nurses of emergency department of Ardabil hospitals in 2016. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was carried out on 175 nurses, working in the emergency department of hospitals in Ardabil city, who were selected using a census sampling. The data gathering tools were demographic questionnaire and moral distress questionnaire for nurses. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation and frequency) and inferential statistics (one-way ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings indicated that mean and standard deviation of moral distress in nurses of emergency departments were in moderate level (1.87±0.89). Moral distress in nurses of emergency departments was higher than other departments in terms of non-observance of ethical principles (2.00±1.02). Among evaluated variables, there were significant positive correlations between service record, work shift, employment status and type of hospital with moral distress (p<0.05). Conclusion: Regarding to moderate moral distress level in emergency nurses participating in this study, the managers of the organization should adopt the necessary methods and measures to identify the symptoms and detect the factors affecting the moral distress of nurses.

The relationship of job burnout to organizational commitment and moral distress in nurses

“…In the study of de Lima Dalmolin et al, a weak correlation was noticed between moral distress and job burnout (20). Moreover Anami et al reported a statistically significant direct correlation of three factors, i.e., employment status, shift work and the type of hospital, to moral distress (21).…”

Moral Distress and the Factors Affecting It: A Review Study

“…Another study revealed environmental empowerment as a factor with negative relationship with MD (20). Moreover, some studies reported employment status, time limitation due to excessive working hours, and inability to challenge the decisions of other healthcare professionals as the contributing factors of MD (5,10,16,13,21,22). Given the significant relationship of MD with age and work experience, nurses with lower age and work experience should work with older and more experienced colleagues in order to experience lower MD.…”

“…Moreover, a study showed that 75% of pediatric nurses and 58.8% of critical care nurses experienced low MD and 25% of pediatric nurses and 41.2% of critical care nurses experienced moderate MD. Moreover, the mean score of MD among critical care nurses was significantly more than pediatric nurses (58.02 vs. 37.48) (10). MD may be associated with many different problems for nurses such as burnout, low job satisfaction, low quality of care, and intention to leave the profession (10)(11)(12).…”

“…Moreover, the mean score of MD among critical care nurses was significantly more than pediatric nurses (58.02 vs. 37.48) (10). MD may be associated with many different problems for nurses such as burnout, low job satisfaction, low quality of care, and intention to leave the profession (10)(11)(12). A study reported that 36.9% of nurses intended to leave their profession due to MD (13).…”

Factors Associated with Moral Distress and Caring Behavior of Nurses Working in Emergency Departments of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences During COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Emergency department personnel, experience working in unpredictable and critical conditions that inevitably influences their clinical decisions (8). In Dadkhah study (2016) in the ward, it was revealed that the extent of nurses' moral distress in emergency department was reported as being average (9).…”