Ethical Dilemmas and Moral Distress in NICU Nurses

Moral Distress is a common feeling for Neonates Intensive Care Nurses to experience in their daily work. One reason for this distress results from caring for infants that are less then 24 weeks gestation (age of viability) with multiple complex diagnoses. In this scholarly project, current data was gathered and analyzed to explore the moral distress of nurses who care for an infant less then 24 weeks gestation. Five peer- reviewed, scholarly articles about this topic were reviewed. The literature included qualitative and quantitative research with the intended audience of medical professionals. These articles discuss interventions in which medical professional can use to provide safe and moral care. Evidence demonstrates it is difficult to act in the best interest of an infant when many parties are in involved. The best way to act in the best interest of the infant is to provide continuity of care, work and communicate as a team and appreciate culturally competent and sensitive care. The evidences provides valuable interventions for nurses to provide the best care to an infant. When the nurse acts in the best interest of their patient, this helps to eliminate moral dilemmas. This evidence based practice project will provide education to nursing staff on the evidence based effective strategies to decrease moral distress with the hope of future practice including some of these interventions.