A survey of moral distress in staff working in intensive care in the UK

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Abstract

Elevated rates of burnout and post-traumatic stress have been found in staff working in critical care settings, but the aspect of moral distress has been harder to quantify until a recent revision of a scale previously designed for nurses, was adapted for use with a range of health professionals, including physicians. In this cross-sectional survey, n = 171 nurses and physicians working in intensive care in the United Kingdom completed the Moral Distress Scale-Revised in relation to their experiences at work. Mean (SD) Moral Distress Scale-Revised score was 70.2 (39.6). Significant associations were found with female gender (female 74.1 (40.2) vs. male 55.5 (33.8), p = 0.010); depression (r = 0.165, p = 0.035) and with intention to leave job (considering leaving 85.5 (42.4) vs. not considering leaving 67.2 (38.6), p = 0.040). These results highlight the importance of considering the moral impact of work-related issues when addressing staff wellbeing in critical care settings.

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Most cited references 22

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Development and Testing of an Instrument to Measure Moral Distress in Healthcare Professionals

Ann Hamric, Christopher Todd Borchers, Elizabeth Epstein (2012)

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Phyllis B Whitehead, Robert Herbertson, Ann Hamric … (2015)

Moral distress is a phenomenon affecting many professionals across healthcare settings. Few studies have used a standard measure of moral distress to assess and compare differences among professions and settings.

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Increased prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in critical care nurses.

Meredith Mealer, Barbara Rothbaum, Yvonne Shelton … (2007)

Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses work in a demanding environment where they are repetitively exposed to traumatic situations and stressful events. The psychological effects on nurses as a result of working in the ICU are relatively unknown. To determine whether there is an increased prevalence of psychological symptoms in ICU nurses when compared with general nurses. We surveyed ICU and general nurses from three different hospitals (n=351) and then surveyed ICU nurses throughout the metropolitan area (n=140). In both cohorts of nurses, we determined the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression using validated survey instruments. Within our hospital system, 24% (54/230) of the ICU nurses tested positive for symptoms of PTSD related to their work environment, compared with 14% (17/121) of the general nurses (p=0.03). ICU nurses did not report a greater amount of stress in their life outside of the hospital than general nurses. There was no difference in symptoms of depression or anxiety between ICU and general nurses. In the second survey of ICU nurses from our metropolitan area, 29% (41/140) of the respondents reported symptoms of PTSD, similar to our first cohort of ICU nurses. ICU nurses have an increased prevalence of PTSD symptoms when compared with other general nurses. These results may increase awareness of these symptoms in nurses and lead to future interventions that improve their mental health and job satisfaction and help retain ICU nurses in their profession.