Level of Moral Distress among Nurses: A Correlational Study

Abstract

The study focused on determining the level of moral distress among nurses in selected hospitals in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Since moral distress is a wide-ranged phenomenon, its magnitude has affected health providers, especially nurses, who are working in a diverse and complex clinical environment.  A quantitative correlational design was applied determining socio-demographic profile of the nurse respondents in terms of sex, area of assignment and year of experience and its correlation to their moral distress levels. Their moral distress levels were measured using the moral distress thermometer scale (MDTS).

The findings of this research indicated that nurses experience low to moderate level of moral distress and that female nurses are more prone to experience higher levels of moral distress than males. There is also a significant correlation between years of experience, inadequate working condition and the moral distress levels. Further, it has been concluded that this study supports evidences from relevant empirical findings that moral distress is indeed a serious phenomenon affecting nurses and can affect their working condition. Also, moral distress is more common to female nurses and may vary according to the complexity and diversity of their health environment.

Keywords: correlation, level of moral distress, moral distress, moral distress thermometer scale, nurses, profile