Moral distress and moral uncertainty in medical assistance in dying: A simultaneous evolutionary concept analysis

To develop a simultaneous, evolutionary concept analysis of moral distress and moral uncertainty in the context of medical assistance in dying (MAiD).

Moral distress is well represented in nursing literature but disagreement persists in how the concept is defined and understood. Moral uncertainty has not been investigated in-depth. Further definition and conceptual clarity is required to understand these concepts within the context of MAiD.

Simultaneous concept analysis.

Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases were searched for articles in English. The final sample consisted of 44 documents published from 1984 to 2019.

An adapted combination of Rodgers's Evolutionary Model and Haase et al's Simultaneous Concept Analysis method.

Despite the significant overlap, moral distress and moral uncertainty have subtle distinguishing differences. Attributes of moral distress in the context of MAiD focus on knowing the right course of action but being unable to act, especially when conflict or suffering occurs. Attributes of moral uncertainty center on an inability to decide on which course of action to take or knowing what outcome is preferable.

More research is required to bring further clarity to these concepts and develop interventions to support nurses who receive requests for or participate in MAiD.