Moral Distress in Academia

Abstract

The concept of moral distress is not new to nursing. As early as 1984 Jameton described moral distress as occurring when one knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it nearly impossible to pursue the right course of action. Nurses may experience moral distress when confronted with chosen treatment options that they believe are not be in the best interest of the patient, and/or do not mesh with their sense of right and wrong. Although the nursing literature documents moral distress in the clinical area, it does not address moral distress in academia. Yet anecdotal evidence indicates that moral distress also occurs in academic institutions. The author begins this article by describing the experience of moral distress and suggesting that moral distress occurs not only in the clinical setting, but also in the academic setting. This is followed by a review of the literature related to moral distress in nursing education and a discussion of the seeds of moral distress in nursing education, such as dishonesty, including cheating and plagiarism; grade inflation; and incivility. The author concludes by identifying the professional implications of moral distress in nursing education.