Moral distress is a kind of suffering that nurses may experience when they act in ways that are considered inconsistent with moral values, leading to a perceived compromise of moral integrity. Consequences are mostly negative and include physical and psychological symptoms, in addition to organizational implications.
Objective:
To psychometrically test the Moral Distress Risk Scale.
Research design:
A methodological study was realized. Data were submitted to exploratory factorial analysis through the SPSS statistical program.
Participants and research context:
In total, 268 nurses from hospitals and primary healthcare settings participated in this research during the period of March to June of 2016.
Ethical considerations:
This research has ethics committee approval.
Findings:
The Moral Distress Risk Scale is composed of 7 factors and 30 items; it shows evidence of acceptable reliability and validity with a Cronbach’s α = 0.913, a total variance explained of 59%, a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin = 0.896, and a significant Bartlett <0.001.
Discussion:
Concerns about moral distress should be beyond acute care settings, and a tool to help clarify critical points in other healthcare contexts may add value to moral distress speech.
Conclusion:
Psychometric results reveal that the Moral Distress Risk Scale can be applied in different healthcare contexts.
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