The Silver Lining of Moral Distress: An Opportunity For Progress in Patient Care
Every day nurses make decisions regarding patient care. Nurses want to relieve patient suffering, provide useful care, and be an advocate for their patients. They want to do these to the best of their ability, knowledge and caring. Yet often nurses are prevented from reaching their ideal level of care by circumstances not of their own making. Some researchers have suggested that one component of moral challenges is conflict, whether that conflict is internal or between two or more parties. Conflict is such an important factor in health care that the Joint Commission has made conflict resolution a priority in improving the quality of patient care. For example, a nurse must discontinue care because of hospital policy when the patient cannot pay. What about nurses who assist a doctor in medical procedures when the doctor has not obtained informed consent? There have also been cases where a nurse’s clinical judgment has not been taken into account when the patient’s