American Jewish University Combatting Moral Distress in Nursing Questions

Combatting Moral Distress

Moral resilience has been defined as “the capacity of an individual to sustain or restore their integrity in response to moral complexity, confusion, distress, or setbacks” (Rushton, 2016a, p. 112a). Moral resilience is an evolving concept and other definitions have focused on “the ability and willingness to speak and take right and good action in the face of an adversity that is moral/ethical in nature” (Lachman, 2016, p. 122).

I would like to believe that nurses have innate and learned capacities that can be used to combat the negative of forces of moral distress, burnout, compassion fatigue, and incivility that plagues our nursing profession.

As a result of this one course in Ethics, you have been given some tools to develop critical thinking skills, use ethical decision making models to strengthen and clarify your values. I believe all of you will need to be on an intentional journey to use and leverage these skills to keep your nursing practice resilient and meaningful.

How do you see yourself cultivating moral resilience within yourself, with your colleagues and the organizations where you will work? What specific interventions can you envision for yourself as you continue your journey in the socialization of becoming a nurse? What contributions do you intend to create to make meaningful and sustainable change in your role as a nurse?

–> APA FORMAT
–> 1-2 pages
–> at least 2 references
–> references should be: professional journals (not more than 8 years old)