• Natalie J Henrich, Peter M Dodek, Emilie Gladstone, Lynn Alden, Sean P Keenan, Steven Reynolds, and Patricia Rodney.
• Natalie J. Henrich was a qualitative researcher at the Center for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, St Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Peter M. Dodek is a professor, Center for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, St Paul's Hospital, and Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Emilie Gladstone was a graduate student, Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York. Lynn Alden is a professor, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia. Sean P. Keenan is a clinical associate professor, Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of British Columbia. Steven Reynolds is a clinical associate professor, Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of British Columbia. Patricia Rodney is an associate professor, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia.
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2017 Jul 1; 26 (4): e48-e57.

BackgroundMoral distress is common among personnel in the intensive care unit, but the consequences of this distress are not well characterized.ObjectiveTo examine the consequences of moral distress in personnel in community and tertiary intensive care units in Vancouver, Canada.MethodsData for this study were obtained from focus groups and analysis of transcripts by themes and sub-themes in 2 tertiary care intensive care units and 1 community intensive care unit.ResultsAccording to input from 19 staff nurses (3 focus groups), 4 clinical nurse leaders (1 focus group), 13 physicians (3 focus groups), and 20 other health professionals (3 focus groups), the most commonly reported emotion associated with moral distress was frustration. Negative impact on patient care due to moral distress was reported 26 times, whereas positive impact on patient care was reported 11 times and no impact on patient care was reported 10 times. Having thoughts about quitting working in the ICU was reported 16 times, and having no thoughts about quitting was reported 14 times.ConclusionIn response to moral distress, health care providers experience negative emotional consequences, patient care is perceived to be negatively affected, and nurses and other health care professionals are prone to consider quitting working in the intensive care unit.©2017 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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