Nurse-Physician Perspectives on the Care of Dying Patients in Intensive Care Units: Collaboration, Moral Distress, and Ethical Climate

Hamric’s study, published in Critical Care Medicine, aims to explore the relationships among moral distress, ethical climate, physician/nurse collaboration, and satisfaction with quality of care in caring for the dying. The research indicates the highest moral distress situations for involved those situations in which caregivers felt pressured to continue unwarranted aggressive treatment. Registered nurses perceived higher frequency of distressing situations and reported lower collaboration, higher moral distress, a more negative ethical environment, and less satisfaction with quality of care than attending physicians. Assessments of quality of care were strongly related to perception of collaboration. The findings suggest explicit discussions of moral distress, recognition of differences in nurse/physician values, and improving collaboration to mitigate frustration.

Topics:
Measuring Burnout, Organizational Strategies, Practice Environment

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