Experiences of Neonatal Intensive Care Nurses on the Concept of Moral Distress: A Descriptive Qualitative Research

Introduction: In this study, it was aimed to examine the experiences of neonatal intensive care nurses regarding the concept of moral distress, how they were affected by moral distress, how they coped with moral distress, and solution proposals for moral distress.

Methods: This research was conducted between September 2021 and December 2021 using an inductive qualitative design. The research was carried out with 18 neonatal intensive care nurses providing tertiary care in a university hos-pital. Interviews were conducted over Zoom Meeting using a semistructured in-depth interview form. The data were collected after obtaining permission from the ethical committee and written consent from the nurses. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. The article was written in accordance with the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research control list.

Results: All participants were females, and their ages ranged from 20 to 40 years. The majority of nurses are undergradu-ates (77%) and single (88%). The total working time of nurses in the profession varies between 2 and 18 years, and nurs-es work an average of 45.3 h per week. Nurses gave an average of 7.6 points out of 10 for their moral distress situation. As a result of the content analysis, themes were determined under four main categories: (1) the causes of moral distress, (2) the effects of moral distress, (3) nurses’ coping with moral distress, and (4) solution suggestions for moral distress. Discussion and

Conclusion: It was determined that neonatal intensive care nurses had a high level of moral distress. In this sense, it is recommended to develop individual and institutional coping strategies that will facilitate handling. Keywords: Ethics; Moral distress; Neonatal intensive care; Nursing; Qualitative research

Keywords: Ethics; Moral distress; Neonatal intensive care; Nursing; Qualitative research