The effect of communication skills training on nurses’ moral distress: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Moral distress is one of the ethical concepts in healthcare which leads to negative consequences in patients and health care providers. Communication problems could result in moral distress in nurses. This study aimed to examine the effect of communication skills training on nurses’ moral distress. Methods: This is a randomized-controlled trial study. 53 nurses working in Jahrom University of Medical Sciences in southern Iran were selected randomly. Data were collected using the Hamric moral distress. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21. Findings: The results of Mann-Whitney test showed significant difference in the moral distress of nurses between the intervention and control groups (p<0.001) one month after the intervention. Wilcoxon test showed that the mean of moral distress in nurses was significantly lower after the intervention (p<0.001). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that program of communication skills training reduced moral distress in nurse.