Study Out On “Moral Distress” Among Burn Unit Nurses

It’s been known for many years now that healthcare workers experience a sense of “moral distress” over the ethical choices they face daily between what they may believe is the right thing to do and what policies or procedures require. In the last two decades research into the emotionally charged issues of moral distress has expanded rapidly, with studies conducted among a variety of hospital healthcare workers. For the first time now, researchers have delved into the intensely demanding work of nurses in burn units. Published in the Journal of Burn Care and Research , the researchers reported that nurses who went through four, hour-long educational sessions reported heightened feelings of moral distress compared to those before the sessions. However, the difference all but disappeared six weeks after the last session leading the researchers to recommend a larger study “refined to develop strategies for implementing effective interventions that become part of the culture and that ultimately reduce moral distress.”
 News-Medical.Net