Rates of Moral Distress of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Nurses in Different Regions of Latvia

Description

Moral distress is a kind of pain or anger that affects the body, mind, and communication capacity and it is generated in reaction to situations, where an individual is aware of the existence of a moral problem. In health care, moral distress is defined as a phenomenon in which a nurse knows how to act ethically correctly in a certain situation, but feels powerless to perform this action ethically correctly. The aim of the study was to investigate the indicators of moral distress in practising anesthesia and intensive care nurses working in different regions of Latvia.. The quantitative research method was used - questionnaire, research design – quantitative cross-sectional descriptive and correlation study. Measure of Moral Distress for Healthcare Professionals was used.. The final sample of the study consisted of 184 respondents. The cohort consists of people between 20 and 69 years of age (M=42.99;SD=12.24), 97.8% were females. Distribution of respondents by region: Kurzeme - 14.7%, Latgale 7.1%, Riga region 54.9%, Vidzeme 13.6%, Zemgale 9.8%. In the situation “Continue to provide aggressive treatment for a person who is most likely to die regardless of this treatment when no one will make a decision to withdraw it” the nurses of Kurzeme(M=1.93) and Vidzeme(M=1.87) region have been detected to have high moral distress indicators. In the situation “Experience lack of administrative action or support for a problem that is compromising patient care.”, it was concluded that the distress rates are higher in Vidzeme(M=2.14), while they are lower in the Riga(M=0.98) region. In the situation “Work with team members who do not treat vulnerable or stigmatized patients with dignity and respect.”, the indicators are high for the nurses working in the Riga region(M=1.72).. Vidzeme region has the highest levels(M=2.17) of distress compared to other regions.

Period	29 Mar 2023
Event title	RSU Research week 2023: Society. Health. Welfare
Event type	Conference
Conference number	9
Organiser	Rīga Stradiņš University
Location	Riga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International