The Relationship Between the Moral Distress Levels and Support Perceptions of Pediatric Nurses

The development of supporting by organizations and supervisors may enable nurses to cope better with the moral distress they experience. The study aimed to determine the relationship between the moral distress experienced by pediatric nurses and their perceived organizational and supervisor support. A descriptive and correlational study was conducted with 124 pediatric nurses of public and university hospitals in Türkiye between May and June 2022. Personal information form, Perceived Organizational Support Scale, Perceived Supervisor Support Scale and the Moral Distress Scale for Pediatric Nurses-Revised were used to collect data. The data obtained from the study were evaluated in IBM SPSS 23.0 program. Pediatric nurses' mean Perceived Organizational Support Scale and Perceived Supervisor Support Scale scores were 34.93±7.46 and 30.20±11.16. Pediatric nurses' mean total scores for the frequency, intensity, and level of moral distress were found to be 27.08±13.09, 41.49±18.43, and 63.91±37.81. A weak negative correlation was found between the frequency of moral distress and the level of supervisor support (r: -0,220, p<0.05). In the study, nurses experienced low levels of moral distress. The study found that the organizational and supervisor support offered to the nurses was above average, and the level of organizational support was higher than the level of supervisor support. The support of supervisor and organization is important when pediatric nurses encounter ethical problems. The reduction in the level of moral distress experienced by nurses leads to an increase in the quality of care and patient/relatives and nurse satisfaction, and a decrease in job stress, burnout, and intention to quit the job/profession.