Moral Distress Challenges in Nurses During Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: As a serious crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of pressure on nurses, and many ethical challenges arose for them. The aim of the study was to explore the moral distress challenges in nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A qualitative study with a conventional content ana...

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Main Authors: Ebrahim Aliafsari Mamaghani, Farzaneh Soleymani, Mina Hashemiparast
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tabriz University of Medical Sciences 2024-10-01
Series:Journal of Caring Sciences
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Online Access:https://jcs.tbzmed.ac.ir/PDF/jcs-13-3-173.pdf
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author Ebrahim Aliafsari Mamaghani
Farzaneh Soleymani
Mina Hashemiparast
author_facet Ebrahim Aliafsari Mamaghani
Farzaneh Soleymani
Mina Hashemiparast
author_sort Ebrahim Aliafsari Mamaghani
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: As a serious crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of pressure on nurses, and many ethical challenges arose for them. The aim of the study was to explore the moral distress challenges in nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A qualitative study with a conventional content analysis approach was adopted. A purposive sampling method with maximum variation was used and 13 nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 participated in this study. Data were collected using individual semi-structured interviews until data saturation and concurrently analyzed by MAXQDA software. Results: Three main categories including ‘trial and error in care of patients with COVID-19, ‘negligence in performing professional duties’ and ‘inappropriate organizational structure’ emerged as the moral distress challenges experienced by the Iranian nurses during COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Providing a codified treatment plan at the first opportunity is effective to prevent trial and error in the treatment and care of patients. Providing the latest information about the disease or the crisis that has happened manages the stress and work pressure to some extent. The existence of instructions for allocating resources and equipment can help in crisis management. Long-term planning for providing sufficient human resources is an issue that should be the priority of the officials. It should be noted that nurses are trained for normal as well as crisis situations, perhaps their insufficient training also has an effect on aggravating challenges in crisis situations.
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spelling doaj-art-237694ba0221477e9dfd4d0fc535eecd2025-08-20T03:06:35ZengTabriz University of Medical SciencesJournal of Caring Sciences2251-99202024-10-0113317317910.34172/jcs.33091jcs-33091Moral Distress Challenges in Nurses During Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative StudyEbrahim Aliafsari Mamaghani0Farzaneh Soleymani1Mina Hashemiparast2Department of Nursing, Nursing Faculty, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh, IranStudent Research Committee, Department of Medical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshty University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranSocial Determinants of Health Research Center, Health and Metabolic Diseases Research Institute, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IranIntroduction: As a serious crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of pressure on nurses, and many ethical challenges arose for them. The aim of the study was to explore the moral distress challenges in nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A qualitative study with a conventional content analysis approach was adopted. A purposive sampling method with maximum variation was used and 13 nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 participated in this study. Data were collected using individual semi-structured interviews until data saturation and concurrently analyzed by MAXQDA software. Results: Three main categories including ‘trial and error in care of patients with COVID-19, ‘negligence in performing professional duties’ and ‘inappropriate organizational structure’ emerged as the moral distress challenges experienced by the Iranian nurses during COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Providing a codified treatment plan at the first opportunity is effective to prevent trial and error in the treatment and care of patients. Providing the latest information about the disease or the crisis that has happened manages the stress and work pressure to some extent. The existence of instructions for allocating resources and equipment can help in crisis management. Long-term planning for providing sufficient human resources is an issue that should be the priority of the officials. It should be noted that nurses are trained for normal as well as crisis situations, perhaps their insufficient training also has an effect on aggravating challenges in crisis situations.https://jcs.tbzmed.ac.ir/PDF/jcs-13-3-173.pdfethicsmoral distressnursescovid-19qualitative research
spellingShingle Ebrahim Aliafsari Mamaghani
Farzaneh Soleymani
Mina Hashemiparast
Moral Distress Challenges in Nurses During Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study
Journal of Caring Sciences
ethics
moral distress
nurses
covid-19
qualitative research
title Moral Distress Challenges in Nurses During Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study
title_full Moral Distress Challenges in Nurses During Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study
title_fullStr Moral Distress Challenges in Nurses During Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study
title_full_unstemmed Moral Distress Challenges in Nurses During Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study
title_short Moral Distress Challenges in Nurses During Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study
title_sort moral distress challenges in nurses during early stage of covid 19 pandemic a qualitative study
topic ethics
moral distress
nurses
covid-19
qualitative research
url https://jcs.tbzmed.ac.ir/PDF/jcs-13-3-173.pdf
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AT farzanehsoleymani moraldistresschallengesinnursesduringearlystageofcovid19pandemicaqualitativestudy
AT minahashemiparast moraldistresschallengesinnursesduringearlystageofcovid19pandemicaqualitativestudy