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Who Is Experiencing What Kind of Moral Distress? Distinctions for Moving from a Narrow to a Broad Definition of Moral Distress

Overview of attention for article published in AMA Journal of Ethics, June 2017
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Mentioned by

news
9 news outlets
blogs
3 blogs
twitter
9 tweeters

Citations

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58 Dimensions

Readers on

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67 Mendeley
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Title
Who Is Experiencing What Kind of Moral Distress? Distinctions for Moving from a Narrow to a Broad Definition of Moral Distress
Published in
AMA Journal of Ethics, June 2017
DOI 10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.6.nlit1-1706
Pubmed ID
Abstract

Moral distress, according to Andrew Jameton's highly influential definition, occurs when a nurse knows the morally correct action to take but is constrained in some way from taking this action. The definition of moral distress has been broadened, first, to include morally challenging situations that give rise to distress but which are not necessarily linked to nurses feeling constrained, such as those associated with moral uncertainty. Second, moral distress has been broadened so that it is not confined to the experiences of nurses. However, such a broadening of the concept does not mean that the kind of moral distress being experienced, or the role of the person experiencing it, is morally irrelevant. I argue that differentiating between categories of distress-e.g., constraint and uncertainty-and between groups of health professionals who might experience moral distress is potentially morally relevant and should influence the analysis, measurement, and amelioration of moral distress in the clinic.

Twitter Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 9 tweeters who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 67 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 67 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 11 16%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 10%
Professor 6 9%
Student > Bachelor 5 7%
Student > Ph. D. Student 5 7%
Other 17 25%
Unknown 16 24%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Nursing and Health Professions 19 28%
Medicine and Dentistry 13 19%
Psychology 4 6%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 3 4%
Social Sciences 3 4%
Other 6 9%
Unknown 19 28%