Wood, E. orcid.org/0000-0002-1910-6230, King, R., Taylor, B. et al. (4 more authors) (2022) Moral distress in advanced practice nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing Standard. ISSN 0029-6570
Abstract
Background Moral distress arises when a person is aware of the right course to take but is prevented from acting on it by institutional constraints. While this concept has been considered by nursing ethicists for many years, it has been particularly associated with the unprecedented healthcare conditions caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Aim To investigate the level of moral distress affecting advanced practice nurses (APNs) in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Method This was a mixed-methods study in which a bespoke cross-sectional survey was sent to 243 APNs from across the UK who had been recruited to a broader longitudinal cohort study. The survey asked about their experiences, well-being and moral distress. Open-ended questions asked about their concerns regarding the health and well-being of their patients and colleagues.
Findings A total of 97 APNs completed the survey, yielding a 40% response rate. Levels of moral distress were significantly higher among APNs working in secondary care (P=0.026) compared with those working in primary care. All of the respondents expressed concerns about patients due to delayed care and about the mental well-being of their colleagues, particularly those who were redeployed to COVID-19 wards.
Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has caused moral and psychological distress for APNs. However, the type of distress and its direct causes varied among these practitioners. Tailored support is required to address moral distress and subsequently improve staff retention.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits others to copy and redistribute in any medium or format, remix, transform and build on this work non-commercially, provided appropriate credit is given and any changes made indicated. |
Keywords: | advanced practice; coronavirus; COVID-19; nurses' well-being; practice development; professional issues; research; staff welfare; workforce |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ROYAL COLLEGE OF NURSING NONE |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 11 Oct 2022 11:03 |
Last Modified: | 11 Oct 2022 11:03 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | RCN Publishing Ltd. |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.7748/ns.2022.e11885 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:191596 |