부산대학교 도서관

Objective To assess the experience of moral distress among intensive care unit (ICU) professionals in the UK.Design Mixed methods: validated quantitative measure of moral distress followed by purposive sample of respondents who underwent semistructured interviews.Setting Four ICUs of varying sizes and specialty facilities.Participants Healthcare professionals working in ICU.Results 227 questionnaires were returned and 15 interviews performed. Moral distress occurred across all ICUs and professional demographics. It was most commonly related to providing care perceived as futile or against the patient’s wishes/interests, followed by resource constraints compromising care. Moral distress score was independently influenced by profession (p=0.02) (nurses 117.0 vs doctors 78.0). A lack of agency was central to moral distress and its negative experience could lead to withdrawal from engaging with patients/families. One-third indicated their intention to leave their current post due to moral distress and this was greater among nurses than doctors (37.0% vs 15.0%). Moral distress was independently associated with an intention to leave their current post (p