Moral distress and clinical judgment among newly graduated nurses: A meta-ethnographic literature review

The transition from nursing education to professional practice is a critical period for newly graduated nurses, marked by significant moral challenges that can lead to moral distress and impact the development and application of clinical judgment. Understanding how moral distress affects newly graduated nurses is vital to support their integration into professional roles and ensure the delivery of quality care. Newly graduated nurses may experience moral distress due to conflicts between professional values and institutional constraints, which impact their ability to exercise effective clinical judgment. The purpose of this qualitative meta-ethnographic review is to investigate the phenomenon of moral distress among newly graduated nurses and its implications for clinical judgment. The research question is: How do newly graduated nurses experience moral distress, and how does it affect their clinical judgment? Methodologically, the study is grounded in Ricoeur's three-fold mimesis, which offers a rich interpretative framework for exploring the complexities of moral distress in nursing practice. Guided by the seven steps of meta-ethnography, the analysis reveals significant variations in the conceptualization and experiences of moral distress, thus highlighting inadequacies in existing definitions. The findings from 12 qualitative studies were synthesized into an integrative model of moral challenges. This integrative model presents moral distress as a multifaceted phenomenon that intersects with clinical judgment. The integrative model of moral challenges demonstrates how institutional constraints, moral uncertainty, moral conflict and lack of moral attention can hinder newly graduated nurses' ability to exercise effective clinical judgment and deliver quality care. The integrative model of moral challenges is a crucial contribution to research on moral distress. The review reveals limited research on the way moral distress affects the clinical judgment of newly graduated nurses and highlights the importance of promoting reflective practice and moral deliberation among newly graduated nurses to strengthen their clinical judgment and professional development.