Nurse Practitioners’ Experiences of Moral Distress in the Continuing Care Setting

Vanessa Ritchie, Tammy O'Rourke, Sarah Stahlke

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Articlepeer-review

    7 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This article describes a qualitative study designed to understand nurse practitioners’ (NPs) experiences with moral distress in the continuing care setting. The findings confirm that NPs in this setting experience moral distress. These experiences are in response to tensions that arise when factors interfere with their ability to provide “good” patient care. Five themes emerged as important factors: patients, perceptions, physicians, palliation, and policies. Moral distress is a substantial issue for NPs in the continuing care setting. Further research is required to examine NP's experience with moral distress in other settings and identify solutions to resolve and respond to this distress.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)745-752
    Number of pages8
    JournalJournal for Nurse Practitioners
    Volume14
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov. 2018

    Keywords

    • continuing care
    • moral distress
    • nurse practitioner
    • nursing
    • qualitative design

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