Moral distress in nursing students: Cultural adaptation and validation study

Moral distress, defined as moral suffering or a psychological imbalance, can affect nursing students. However, many new instruments or adaptations of other scales that are typically used to measure moral distress have not been used for nursing students.

This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt and evaluate the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the Moral Distress Scale for Nursing Students (It-ESMEE) for use with delayed nursing students (students who could not graduate on time or failed the exams necessary to progress to the next level).

The study used a cross-sectional research design.

Incidental sampling resulted in a sample of 282 delayed nursing students (mean age = 26.73 ± 4.43 years, 73% female) enrolled between May and August 2020 in a University of central Italy.

The research protocol was approved by the internal review board of the university, and all participants provided their written informed consent.

The study confirmed a multidimensional second-order factorial structure for the It-ESMEE with five dimensions: improper institutional conditions to teach user care, authoritarian teaching practices, disrespect for the ethical dimension of vocational training, lack of competence of the teacher and commitment of ethical dimension of user care. The internal consistency was high (0.753-0.990 across the factors), and the standard error of measurement and smallest detectable change were adequate.

The It-ESMEE is able to assess moral distress in delayed nursing students with good validity and reliability. It can be used in research and to determine moral distress levels, helping teachers to monitor the condition in nursing students.

This instrument can help in comprehending moral distress, enabling students to develop coping and intervention strategies to maintain their well-being, and to ensure the quality of nurse education.