Ethics and moral distress expressions in intensive care nursing practice

Abstract

Objective: To understand ethics and moral distress expressions in intensive care nursing practice. Methods: This is a qualitative, descriptive, interpretive and analytical research, developed with 12 nurses working on the day shifts in a ICU of a teaching hospital in Minas Gerais. Data were collected through interviews, guided by a semi-structured script and submitted to content analysis. Results: Two thematic categories emerged: Ethics expressions: influences of values, virtues, relationships, and work organization; Moral distress in the context of ethics expressions. Conclusion: In intensive care nursing practice, ethics is mainly related to the practice of patient advocacy. However, gaps in relationships with the team and in work organization encourage conflict situations that generate moral distress.