Yıldırım, Gülay Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi - Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi - Tıp Tarihi ve Etik Anabilim Dalı, Turkey , Özden, Dilek Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi - Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi - Hemşirelik Bölümü, Turkey , Karagözoğlu, Şerife Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi - Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi - Hemşirelik Bölümü, Turkey

Moral distress: An issue not on the agenda in the field of health in Turkey

33290

Moral distress is a common problem among professionals and managers working in the field of health care. Moral distress is the distress experienced by a professional when he/she cannot fulfill the correct action due to several obstacles although he/she is aware of what it is. Moral distress caused by several individual and institutional factors leads to important consequences among health professionals ranging from a sense of anger and frustration to a decrease in job satisfaction and burnout as a result of which they may leave the profession. Thus, health care professionals lose their interests in the patient and the patient’s family, and thus the quality of the treatment and care they provide decrease. This review article is intended to bring the issue of moral distress frequently experienced but not voiced by health care professionals onto the agenda in Turkish literature by analyzing the concept of moral distress, putting forward the causes of moral distress, discussing its reflections on individuals and institutions and drawing health care workers’ attention to the issue.

318

Moral distress , health professionals , ethics dilemma

Cumhuriyet Medical Journal

325