Moral Distress Among Iranian Nurses



Vaziri MH¹ ; Merghatikhoei E² ; Tabatabaei S¹
Source: Iranian Journal of Psychiatry Published:2015

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe moral distress among Iranian registered nurses. Methods: This was a descriptive -analytic study, in which 264 out of 1000 nurses were randomly selected as a sample group and completed the questionnaire. The nurses' moral distress was assessed using Corley's 30-item Moral Distress Scale adapted for use in an Iranian population. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS version 19. Results: In this study, no correlation was found between the level of moral distress and any of the demographic data. The mean moral distress score ranged from 3.56 to 5.83, indicating moderate to high levels of moral distress. The item with the highest mean score was working with unsafe levels of nurse staffing. The item with the lowest mean score was giving medication intravenously to a patient who has refused to take it. Nurses working in EMS and NICU units had the highest levels of moral distress. Conclusion: A higher degree of moral distress was observed among nurses who worked in health care systems. This study highly recommends practical and research-oriented evaluation of moral distress in the medical society in Iran. Our findings suggest that the Iranian version of MDS is a reliable instrument to measure moral distress in nurses.