Developing a moral empowerment system for healthcare organizations to address moral distress: A case report

This article describes the development of an organization-wide intervention to address moral distress in healthcare. A multidisciplinary team, including researchers and organizational partners, used intervention mapping and the theoretical domains framework to create the moral empowerment system for healthcare. This system encompasses a suite of strategies designed for integration into organizations' operations to empower healthcare professionals individually and collectively to address moral events. This suite includes an ethics education program for healthcare professionals, interprofessional teams, and leaders; moral empowerment consultations; reflective debriefings; and mentoring. An implementation and evaluation plan is also presented, highlighting a staged approach that reflects the organizational context. Ultimately, the approach described here offers health leaders a practical and systematic method to design, implement, and evaluate moral distress interventions, tailoring them to their specific environments.