Developing the Moral Distress Scale in the Population of Iranian Nurses

Objective: To develop “moral distress questionnaire” and validate it in a sample of Iranian registered nurses. Method: 26 registered nurses and 10 professionals attended focused group discussion (FGD) sessions and the acquired qualitative data was analyzed by Jameton scale analysis. Results: Attitudes and definitions of nurses working in private and governmental hospitals of two medical universities in Tehran revealed moral distress in nurses, and also showed that moral distress influenced the sample population. Results of the present study were concordant with Jameton’s model although some background and conceptual differences were observed. Conclusion: Design and conduction of some interventions to help nurses cope with the moral distress caused by their occupation seems necessary.