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Canadian Nurse Leaders' Experiences with and Perceptions of Moral Distress: An Interpretive Descriptive Study

Kortje, Jodi-rae
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1473624886412243

Abstract Details

2016, Ph.D., Antioch University, Leadership and Change.
Moral distress in nursing has been studied across many care contexts, yet there is a paucity of research on the experience among health care leaders. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and perceptions of moral distress in nurse leaders. This study used an interpretive description approach interviewing 32 Canadian nurse leaders about their experiences and perceptions of moral distress within their role as a leader and nurse. A constant comparative and thematic analysis process revealed three thematic patterns: (a) leaders suffer moral distress in similar and different ways from their employees; (b) relationships matter in the midst of coping and emerging from moral distress; and (c) navigation through moral distress requires institutional, professional, and personal strategies. These patterns were important structural components in identifying the overarching metaphor of an ethical whirlwind that contextualized the experience as a vortex of constantly changing variables in dynamic interplay on a micro (patient/individual), meso (organizational), and macro (community) level. Findings were extracted from the participants’ interpretations of their experiences and from the interpretation of the data that illuminated experiential issues of importance to nurse leaders in relation to moral distress. On the basis of study findings, resiliency, resourcefulness, and self-awareness assisted nursing leaders in navigating and meaning-making of their experiences. Recommendations for leadership practice, policy implications, and future research are suggested to help diminish conditions that produce moral distress. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd
Laurien Alexandre, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jon Wergin, PhD (Committee Member)
Sally Thorne, PhD (Committee Member)
386 p.
Ethics; Health Care; Health Care Management; Nursing; Organizational Behavior
moral distress; nursing leadership; interpretive description; experiences; strategies; lessons; recommendations; Canada; ethics

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kortje, J.-R. (2016). Canadian Nurse Leaders' Experiences with and Perceptions of Moral Distress: An Interpretive Descriptive Study [Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1473624886412243

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kortje, Jodi-rae. Canadian Nurse Leaders' Experiences with and Perceptions of Moral Distress: An Interpretive Descriptive Study. 2016. Antioch University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1473624886412243.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kortje, Jodi-rae. "Canadian Nurse Leaders' Experiences with and Perceptions of Moral Distress: An Interpretive Descriptive Study." Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1473624886412243

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

antioch1473624886412243
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© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Antioch University and OhioLINK.