Influence of moral distress on the professional practice environment during prognostic conflict in critical care

Study purpose was to describe critical care nurses' levels of moral distress and the effects of that distress on their professional practice environment. A descriptive, correlational, prospective, survey design was used. The intensity of moral distress was inversely related to physician/nurse collegial relationships and the frequency of moral distress was inversely related to all aspects of the professional practice environment except foundations for quality of care. It is important to monitor the frequency of moral distress. Strategies to improve the nurse's sense of control over practice, teamwork, communication, and autonomy need to be developed and tested in future research.