Moral distress and intention to leave: A comparison of adult and paediatric nurses by hospital setting.

Summary Objectives To assess moral distress intensity and frequency in adult/paediatric nurses in critical care and non-critical care units; and explore relationships of nurse characteristics and moral distress with intention to leave. Methods/setting A descriptive, correlational design was used to administer an online survey using the Moral Distress Scale to nurses across multiple settings. Main outcome measures Intensity and frequency of moral distress and intention to leave current position. Results The survey response rate was 43% ( n  = 426/1000). Critical care nurses had the highest levels of moral distress intensity and frequency, compared to non-critical care specialties ( M  = 2.5 ± 0.19, p  = 0.005 for intensity and M  = 1.6 ± 0.11, p p  = 0.003). Hispanic nurses had significantly higher levels of moral distress intensity ( p  = 0.01). Conclusion Moral distress is a complex phenomenon requiring further study, particularly with regard to the role of ethnic and cultural differences on perceptions of moral distress.