DB Week 4 Moral Distress Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay

Moral Distress
Student’s Name
Institution
Moral Distress
Moral distress happens when a person knows the morally correct course of action in a situation where a moral problem exists, and the person understands that they have a moral responsibility of resolving the problem but cannot do so because of constraints (Rushton, Schoonover-Shoffner, & Kennedy, 2017). When nurses face such challenging situations, their decisions are likely to cause distress and guilt (Vryonides, Papastavrou, Charalambous, Andreou, & Merkouris, 2015). Moral distress is often rooted in organizational or systemic issues that are sometimes beyond the control of the nurses and can only be resolved by both the nurses and the institution's management. Due to this fact, nurses need to be morally resilient so that a culture that facilitates moral resilience can be established. Rushton, Schoonover-Shoffner, and Kennedy (2017) defines moral resilience as the ability to adjust or restore one’s integrity when faced with moral adversity. Moral resilience allows nurses to make decisions that are morally right when faced with morally complex situations. Nurses develop moral resilience through mentorship. As Rushton, Schoonover-Shoffner, and Kennedy (2017) reveal, nurses need to develop relational skills on how to act morally when experiencing moral distress, and this can happen through mentorship. Also, nurses can engage with ...