Moral Distress, Health and Intention to Leave: Critical Care Nurses’ Perceptions During COVID-19 Pandemic

• Introduction: Moral distress increases the risk that critical care nurses will lose the ability to provide quality nursing care.Aims: To describe person-related conditions and perceptions of moral distress, health and intention to leave among critical care nurses in intensive care units, and to examine the relationship between person-related conditions, moral distress, health and intention to leave.Method: Cross-sectional, with 220 critical care nurses in 15 Swedish ICUs, and data gathered via a self-reported questionnaire.Results: Highest moral distress scores were reported in futile care and poor teamwork and 21% reported entertaining an intention to leave. Self-reported health was lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic and 4.1% reported pronounced exhaustion disorder. Self-reported health, reduced capacity to tolerate demands under time pressure, emotional instability or irritability, physical weakness, or being more easily fatigued and with decreased well-being were factors that had a relationship with futile care. Sleeping problems and intention to leave had a relationship with poor teamwork.Conclusions: Different strategies are needed to reduce moral distress and the leadership is crucial for managing crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Covid-19 pandemic

critical care nurses

health

intensive care

moral distress

Nursing

Omvårdnad

Nursing Science

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

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