Education May Help Decrease Nurses’ Moral Distress

I’m writing in response to the article “Moral Distress and Psychological Empowerment in Critical Care Nurses Caring for Adults at End of Life,”¹  by Annette M. Browning.

Nurses spend more time at the bedside with patients and families and are more likely to discuss end-of-life options with them, whereas physicians initiate discussion when the prognosis becomes poor or the patient’s health status deteriorates.²  Families have reported nurses are more likely than physicians to discuss symptom relief and minimizing suffering rather than specific medical treatments.³ 

However, many nurses lack formal education on navigation of end-of-life issues and many traditionally trained critical care nurses feel inadequate to provide this different type of care.⁴  Incorporating trained and educated bedside nurses and advanced practice nurses as part of the interdisciplinary team in end-of-life discussions may lead to earlier discussion and can provide the emotional support and reassurance that the family...