Abstract

Moral distress, or the inability to act congruent with moral beliefs, has been of concern for healthcare professionals especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospital nurses are particularly affected in their roles with mounting administrative pressures and demands. We examined whether general and COVID- specific support in employing healthcare organizations predicted moral distress in a sample of inpatient hospital nurses. A total of 248 nurses completed the Measure of Moral Distress for Healthcare Professionals, Survey of Perceived Organizational Support, COVID Organizational Support survey, and the Hospital Ethical Climate Scale. We found that general and COVID-related organizational support were predictors of moral distress after controlling for age, gender, working in an intensive care unit setting, and ethical climate. Findings support the need for a comprehensive strategy to address moral distress, including institutional efforts to convey support and commitment. Strategies moral distress may be experienced differently based on gender identity.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2022

Notes/Citation Information

© The Author(s) 2022

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053221111850

Funding Information

The authors disclosed receipt of the following finan- cial support for the research, authorship, and/or pub- lication of this article: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. However, dur- ing the writing of this manuscript the primary author was a post-doctoral scholar funded on Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) con- tract # AD-2019C3-17982, Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depressive Symptoms in Rural Patients with Coronary Heart Disease.

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