Mitigating Moral Distress: Pediatric Critical Care Nurses' Recommendations

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Ethics
• Pediatric Critical Care

Background:

• Nurses in pediatric critical care are primary caregivers and highly susceptible to moral distress.
• Existing evidence on effective interventions to minimize moral distress in these nurses is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify intervention attributes that critical care nurses with moral distress histories consider essential for developing an effective moral distress intervention.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative description approach was employed.
• Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 registered nurses from pediatric critical care units in western Canada.

Main Results:

• Four key themes emerged: enhanced patient/family support, improved nurse support systems, better interprofessional communication, and education to mitigate moral distress.
• Nurses emphasized the need for interventions that improve healthcare team communication and unit practices to decrease moral distress.

Conclusions:

• This study is the first to directly ask nurses about their needs for minimizing moral distress.
• Developing effective moral distress interventions requires understanding and incorporating nurses' perspectives on necessary support, communication, and education.