Relationship between Moral Distress, and Moral Sensitivity on Nursing Practice among Psychiatric Nurses

Abstract

It is said that nurses with caring orientation are more likely to leave their job because of moral distress. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between moral sensitivity and moral distress on nursing practice among psychiatric nurses.

A self-administered questionnaire consisted of Moral Distress Scale for Psychiatric nurses (MDS-P), Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire (MSQ), and demographics was delivered, and 914 nurses working in psychiatric hospitals responded. Among the three factors of MSQ, the factor “Moral strength” was highly correlated with all the factors of MDS-P; “Unethical conduct by caregivers”, “Low staffing”, and “Acquiescence to patients' rights violations”. As moral strength means ability to sense patients' needs, and to sense when a patient is not receiving good care, nurses who feel more pride to have such ability feel more stress. Years of nursing experience was not correlated with moral distress, which means experience does not improve coping skill to moral issues.

The results suggest that moral distress should not be gotten rid of, but should be served for better care as a guide.