Abstract:

Objective To investigate the current status and correlation of moral distress and professional burnout of nurses in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods A total of 105 nurses in ICUs of four third-grade class-A hospitals in Nanchang city were investigated by the self-designed demographic questionnaire and Chinese version of moral distress scale and nursing burnout scale from June to July, 2013. Results The mean scores of nurses' moral distress and professional burnout were 43.03±10.72 and 60.59±17.86 and the correlation coefficient of which was 0.224 (P<0.05). The moral distress was positively correlated to the emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and professional burnout and negatively correlated to the personal accomplishment. Conclusion The moral distress can lead to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and professional burnout and decrease the personal accomplishment. Care administrators should take various appropriate approaches to help nurses overcome the moral distress and burnout and ensure the quality of clinical caring.

Key words: intensive care unit, nurse, moral distress, professional burnout