Every year, I meet a new group of postgraduate nursing students who come together to study ethics at an
advanced level. For some, it is the first time in their careers that they have been able to express their ethical
concerns in such a forum, or in some cases, in any formal setting; for others, it is a confirmation that not all
perceived failures relating to moral issues are necessarily of their or their nursing colleagues’ own making.
For all, it is a bitter-sweet confirmation of the difficulties involved in dealing with those sometimes painful
moral problems that they have encountered over what is often several years of practice. Indeed, it is as if
through the exchange of narratives, each student feels not only marginally unburdened but free to finally
state those things that really matter to them in a forum where others actually appreciate their opinions. But
then at some point, we come to an examination of what is currently called nursing ‘moral distress’, and
slowly but surely, a rising degree of exasperation and annoyance emerges around the room, as one by one
the students all focus on the same question, namely, ‘What are we to do about moral distress?’
Moral distress is a phenomenon that is a reality in nursing however it is labelled or packaged, and whatever
the experts say it is or it is not. Whenever a group of experienced nurses identify a collection of unresolved
or poorly resolved ethical issues in their workplaces, it will exist in one form or another.1 It is moral
distress (as opposed to other possibilities of nursing distress) when there exists a moral element or threat to a
nurse’s moral integrity that causes feelings of disquiet, and yes, even distress. It is moral distress (and not an
ethical dilemma) when nurses feel that they have no ethical choice to make in a given situation; when there
is ample evidence that nurses often feel devalued and ignored when attempting to resolve an ethical issue;
and when nurses in numerous countries all appear to be saying the same things about their difficulties and
frustrations when attempting to effectively respond to ethical issues in their practices. For my own part,
I discovered just how pertinent all of this was when analysing my own research results on this topic this
very year when it became clear that 16% of nurses in New Zealand were presently considering leaving their
positions, and 48% had at least considered leaving a given nursing position in the past because of moral
distress.2
The causes of moral distress in nursing practice are clearly many and varied, although in recent times,
they are largely described as being related to either ‘internal’ or ‘external’ constraints.3 Many nurses are no
doubt familiar with the first kind; it is often difficult to know what the right thing to do is because there are
always a number of conflicting interpretations and possibilities. Here, admittedly, the boundaries between a
moral dilemma and moral distress may become blurred; such is the nature of the mental gymnastics so often
associated with any significant ethical problem. But the second kind, the external constraints, is a different
matter. Then, as is often argued, most nurses know what is the right thing to do, but cannot do so because of
these constraints. It is not that there is even the illusion of choices in this instance because many of the constraints
are related to factors outside the control of nurses. The list grows yearly, but lack of organisational
Corresponding author: Martin Woods, School of Nursing, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442,
New Zealand.
Email: M.Woods@massey.ac.nz
Nursing Ethics
2014, Vol. 21(2) 127–128
ª The Author(s) 2014
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support across all levels, indifferent and unsupportive organisational cultures, poor leadership, lack of
adequate resources, recruitment and retention issues, government interference and dubious policies are but
a few of the main ones.1,4 This then is not an argument about the lack of motivation to do the right thing, or a
lack of moral ability or an adequate ethics education, but about the presence or otherwise of the best ethical
climate in which to do the right thing, or as best we can under the circumstances.
But how should nurses respond to moral distress? First, we must recognise and encourage debates about
the problem in healthcare settings at all levels. The state of affairs concerning moral distress, or whatever it
may eventually be called, cannot be allowed to continue forever, or to go unchallenged. Second, we need to
understand the wider implications of the problem by remembering that moral distress is not just about
nurses but about nurses and everyone else involved in healthcare, that is, patients, families, other healthcare
workers, managers, administrators, advisors and more. Subsequently, nurses sh