The Relationship between Professional Autonomy and Moral Distress of Nurses in Emergency Departments of Tabriz Educational Hospitals in 2017

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Reducing the autonomy of nurses can lead to limited ability to decide and intervention. Limited independence may restrict nurses' opportunity to use their own ethical reasoning and thereby lead to moral distress. The relationship between the limitation of independence and the occurrence of moral distress requires further study. Purpose: To investigate the relationship between professional independence and moral distress in Iranian emergency room nurses. Methods: This descriptive correlative study conducted on 173 emergency room nurses in Tabriz, Iran. Data were collected through a professional independence questionnaire and a moral distress questionnaire, then analyzed using SPSS 13 software with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The results showed that the level of professional independence of emergency room nurses was low (83.20±16.90), and the level of moral distress of subjects was moderate (7.43±3.52). The results also indicated a significant negative relationship between professional independence and the severity of moral distress (p<o.oo1) and frequency of moral distress (p=0.018) in emergency room nurses.