Investigating Moral Sensitivity and Moral Distress in the Nurses Caring for the Patients with Covid-19 in the Medical Training Centers of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences

Moral sensitivity enables nurses to interpret their care recipients’ needs and respond to them according to ethical principles. Moral distress is a known phenomenon in the nursing profession, which can cause a lot of physical and mental stress for nurses, leading to their dissatisfaction, as well as reductions in their efficiency and the quality of care. Therefore, nurses’ having high moral sensitivity can play an important role in preventing the situations which cause moral distress. Thus, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining moral sensitivity and moral distress in the nurses caring for the patients with Covid-19 in the training medical centers affiliated to Hamedan University of Medical Sciences.

The current research is a descriptive-cross-sectional study, which was conducted on 113 nurses of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences from March to June 2021 using stratified random sampling method. The data collection tools included a three-part demographic information questionnaire, Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire (MMSQ) and Corelli's moral distress questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22 statistical software, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney, ANOVA, Spearman's correlation coefficient and Chi-squared test.

Ethical Considerations: 

After obtaining informed consents from the participants, the researcher also ensured data confidentiality.

Investigating the relationship between moral sensitivity and the frequency of moral distress, a significant relationship was found between moral distress frequency and moral sensitivity (r=0.202, p=0.032) and the subgroups of experiencing problems (r=0.287, p=0.002), interpersonal communication (r=0.213, p=0.024) and promoting the care recipient’s level of independence (r=0.246, p=0.009). With the increase in these subgroups, the frequency of job distress increases significantly, too. The mean score of the nurses’ moral sensitivity was reported to be at the medium level, 57.78±13.53. The mean frequency of moral distress was 17.99±37.01 and the intensity of moral distress was 52.83±23.51. The frequency of moral distress was at the medium level and the intensity of moral distress was high.

Considering the nurses’ medium level of ethical sensitivity, efforts should be made to promote ethical issues in nursing. Various factors affect nurses’ levels of moral sensitivity and moral distress while caring for patients. This research was done in a situation when nurses were confronting the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, under high organizational and mental pressures.