Moral Distress for Nurses Working in County Jails

Moral Distress for Nurses Working in Corrections
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Moral distress is a situation whereby an individual is prevented or restricted from carrying out the actions or duties which he or she considers to be ethically and morally right. Moral distress is in most cases caused by legal, institutional or social barriers. The topic of moral distress in correctional nursing is a big issue, not only in the conference rooms but also the medication room. Moral distress nursing is the emotional disequilibrium resulting from nurses being restrained from practicing what is best for their patients since it fails to coincide with the interests of the organization. Moral distress in nursing results in emotional, spiritual and physical torment for these nurses, which can then lead to burnout. This paper addresses the effect of moral distress in county jails.
Correctional facilities often provide nurses with situations that often bring about moral distress. Under such settings, cases of moral distress include conflicts with the custody over the access to care by the inmates, workplace conflicts, clinical ethical dilemmas, as well as disrespectful interactions (Schoenly,n.d.). Patients can be very manipulative and this result to constant conflict with the custody over guarding their behavior.
Prisons have continually cultivated these kinds of harsh environments. Prisoners are supposed to receive quality health care just like anybody else. But this is not always the case, and thus the rise of ethical issues. Sasso, Delogu, Carrozzino, Bagnasco & Giuseppe (2016) carried out a study to investigate the experiences of nurses in correctional facilities. They found out from their study, that there was constant conflict between the nurses’ and prison’s priorities, which therefore hampered the provision of optimum care in the correctional facilities.
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