A study to Assess Moral Distress and its Contributing Factors to Patient Care Among Staff Nurses Working in a Selected Govt. Hospital, West Bengal

Abstract

A descriptive study was conducted to evaluate moral distress felt by staff nurses, identifying the contributing factors regarding moral distress, determining association between moral distress and selected demographic variables & identifying correlation between moral distress and contributing factors. The conceptual framework adopted for the study is based on Betty Neuman’s system Model.140 nursing personnel were selected as sample through non probability purposive sampling technique. The setting was Medical College and hospital, Kolkata. The instruments comprised of 3 tools-semi structured questionnaire on demographic data, modified Corley moral distress scale, and structured questionnaire for contributing factors of moral distress. The findings of the study reveals that staff nurses (70.84%) felt high level of moral distress in intensive care unit & (63.79%) felt high level of moral distress in general ward. The Major contributing factors are lack of authority but more responsibility (89.29%), lack of support from higher authority (72.86%), inadequate resources (79.28%), staff shortage (100%), lack of time to give quality care according to patient load (80.71%). Mean score of moral distress among staff nurses is 20.47±4.4728 & mean score of contributing factors of moral distress is 24.24 ± 2.3448.The moral distress is found to have a statistically significant association with age [x2 df(2)=5.99, p<0.05] & years of working experience [x2 df(2)=5.99, p<0.05]. There is positive correlation [r df (138) = 0.087, p< 0.05] between moral distress mean score (20.47) and contributing factors mean score (24.24). So, it can be concluded that moral distress is common among nurses in different clinical units and can be elicited from different tˡypes of situations encountered in the work environment.