Afoko Vivian, Hewison Alistair, Neilson Susan, Newham Roger
PhD Candidate, Nursing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Reader Nursing, Nursing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
J Res Nurs. 2022 Nov;27(6):519-529. doi: 10.1177/17449871221122022. Epub 2022 Nov 2.
Moral distress has been studied widely in nursing but not in developing economies.
To investigate how moral distress is experienced by nurses working in neonatal intensive care and paediatric wards in Northern Ghana and to determine support measures offered by nurse managers.
Qualitative descriptive method. Forty nurses and fourteen nurse managers working with children in four hospitals in Northern Ghana were interviewed. Thematic data analysis was carried out.
Six themes were identified: nurses experience morally distressing situations due to a variety of causes; the impact of morally distressing situations on nurses; coping mechanisms of nurses who experienced morally distressing situations; recommendations made by the nurses to reduce the incidence of moral distress; inadequate support measures available to nurse managers and nurse managers experience moral distress too.
The causes of moral distress in developed and developing economies are similar. The frequency and intensity of moral distress is high in Northern Ghana. Consistent with other studies conducted in Africa, nurses and nurse managers relied on their religious faith as a form of resilience. No support measures are available to nurse managers to support nurses who experience moral distress.
道德困扰在护理领域已得到广泛研究，但在发展中经济体中尚未有此类研究。
调查加纳北部新生儿重症监护病房和儿科病房的护士如何体验道德困扰，并确定护士长提供的支持措施。
采用定性描述性方法。对加纳北部四家医院的40名儿科护士和14名护士长进行了访谈。进行了主题数据分析。
确定了六个主题：护士因多种原因经历道德困扰情况；道德困扰情况对护士的影响；经历道德困扰情况的护士的应对机制；护士提出的减少道德困扰发生率的建议；护士长可用的支持措施不足，且护士长自身也经历道德困扰。
发达经济体和发展中经济体中道德困扰的原因相似。在加纳北部，道德困扰的频率和强度较高。与在非洲进行的其他研究一致，护士和护士长将他们的宗教信仰作为一种恢复力形式。护士长没有可用的支持措施来支持经历道德困扰的护士。
