The Lived Experience of Moral Distress: Nurses Who Assisted With Elective Abortions

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra R. Hanna

The concept of moral distress has been studied mainly as an occupational issue and has not been developed for use in clinical practice. This study was designed to bridge prior studies of occupational moral distress with future clinical investigations of moral distress. Study aims were to discover the essence, properties, and full content domain of the concept of moral distress in order to develop a universal definition of the concept. A modified phenomenological study of nurses’ experience of a particular moral issue was conducted. A maximum variation sampling strategy was used to recruit a final sample of registered nurses (N= 10). Interior aversion is the essential act of moral distress. Five properties of the lived experience of moral distress were identified: perception, pain, valuing, altered participation, and perspective. Three types of moral distress identified in this study were: shocked, muted, and suppressed (persistent). Type of moral distress was related to situational conditions, recognition of moral ends, quality of coping processes, and temporal breadth. Negative outcomes of moral distress, which probably exist, were undetectable with this study design. The definition has been composed in universal terms, but remains tentative, since the full content domain of moral distress was largely but not definitively identified.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249390
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Lovegrove ◽  
Katrina Bannigan

Purpose Anxiety is a common non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s and there is no specific pharmacological intervention for people with Parkinson’s who experience anxiety. Yet there is little specific research documenting how individuals with this condition experience anxiety. It is important to explore the experiences of people with Parkinson’s to identify potential issues in developing future non-pharmacological interventions. This study explored the lived experience of anxiety for people with Parkinson’s. Materials and methods Six participants were recruited into a descriptive phenomenological study, through the charity Parkinson’s UK, using a maximum variation sampling strategy. Face to face interviews were conducted. Data analysis employed thematic analysis. Results Three key themes encapsulated the data: Finding ways to cope to “Try not to let it rule your life”, Amplifies symptoms “It’s emotionally draining it it’s also physically draining” and “Anxiety is a funny thing” experienced in myriad ways. A model of the experience of PWP experience of anxiety is proposed. Conclusions Anxiety is a complex experience constructed of interlinked parts affecting people with Parkinson’s in myriad ways. Researchers and healthcare professionals should take these findings into account when designing future studies and interventions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 3-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne G. Macpherson ◽  
James C Lockhart ◽  
Heather Kavan ◽  
Anthony L. Iaquinto

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a definitive and insightful working definition of kaizen for practitioners and academics in the West through which they may better understand the kaizen phenomenon and its intangible but critical underpinning philosophy. Design/methodology/approach – A phenomenological study of the utility of kaizen within in the bounds of active kaizen environments in name Japanese industrial organisations was conducted over a three-year period in Japan. The research explored how Japanese workers acknowledge, exercise, identify and diffuse kaizen in a sustainable manner. Findings – Kaizen is found to be a broad philosophical approach to work that serves different purposes for different members of the organisation, where no universal definition appears to exist yet differing ideologies are tolerated. Kaizen in Japan has a considerably deep meaning: it channels worker creativity and expressions of individuality into bounded environments, and creates an energy that drives a shared state of mind among employees to achieve proactive changes and innovation in the workplace. Originality/value – This paper competently bridges the Japanese-Anglosphere cultural divide in social and business contexts. It contributes to the development of practitioner understanding of the utility of kaizen in Japan through unhindered cross-cultural research methodology, enabled by researcher competency and fluency in Japanese language and culture.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1389
Author(s):  
Julia García Cabello ◽  
Pedro A. Castillo ◽  
Maria-del-Carmen Aguilar-Luzon ◽  
Francisco Chiclana ◽  
Enrique Herrera-Viedma

Standard methodologies for redesigning physical networks rely on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which strongly depend on local demographic specifications. The absence of a universal definition of demography makes its use for cross-border purposes much more difficult. This paper presents a Decision Making Model (DMM) for redesigning networks that works without geographical constraints. There are multiple advantages of this approach: on one hand, it can be used in any country of the world; on the other hand, the absence of geographical constraints widens the application scope of our approach, meaning that it can be successfully implemented either in physical (ATM networks) or non-physical networks such as in group decision making, social networks, e-commerce, e-governance and all fields in which user groups make decisions collectively. Case studies involving both types of situations are conducted in order to illustrate the methodology. The model has been designed under a data reduction strategy in order to improve application performance.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096973302199244
Author(s):  
Katherine C Brewer

Background: Ethical relationships are important among many participants in healthcare, including the ethical relationship between nurse and employer. One aspect of organizational behavior that can impact ethical culture and moral well-being is institutional betrayal. Research aim: The purpose of this concept analysis is to develop a conceptual understanding of institutional betrayal in nursing by defining the concept and differentiating it from other forms of betrayal. Design: This analysis uses the method developed by Walker and Avant. Research context: Studies were reviewed using health literature databases with no date restrictions. Ethical considerations: Analysis was conducted using established guidelines for ethical research. Findings: Although institutional betrayal is a concept applied in the literature, there was a paucity of studies exploring the concept within nursing. Examples of the concept in the literature include violation of trust between organization (i.e. employer) and nurse, such as provision of inadequate workplace protections, ineffective or hostile management, and gaslighting of those who experience negative events. Examples of institutional betrayal have become more visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussion: A conceptual definition of institutional betrayal is a deep violation of trust or confidence or violation of moral standards committed by an institution toward a nurse. This definition incorporates experiences and issues suggested by the literature. Outcomes are likely negative, including impacts on nurse psychological and workplace well-being. This concept likely fits within a framework of ethical workplaces and has conceptual relationships with moral distress and moral resilience. Further studies can help qualitatively explore and empirically measure this concept. Conclusion: In the pursuit of improving the ethical culture of healthcare workplaces, this concept can provide meaningful insight into organizational behavior and its consequences. Naming and describing the concept can promote conceptual clarity and equip researchers, nurses, and leaders to identify and mitigate the issue.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Marseille ◽  
K. Houchi ◽  
J. de Kloe ◽  
A. Stoffelen

Abstract. The definition of an atmospheric database is an important component of simulation studies in preparation of future earth observing remote sensing satellites. The Aeolus mission, formerly denoted Atmospheric Dynamics Mission (ADM) or ADM-Aeolus, is scheduled for launch end of 2013 and aims at measuring profiles of single horizontal line-of-sight (HLOS) wind components from the surface up to about 32 km with a global coverage. The vertical profile resolution is limited but may be changed during in-orbit operation. This provides the opportunity of a targeted sampling strategy, e.g., as a function of geographic region. Optimization of the vertical (and horizontal) sampling strategy requires a characterization of the atmosphere optical and dynamical properties, more in particular the distribution of atmospheric particles and their correlation with the atmospheric dynamics. The Aeolus atmospheric database combines meteorological data from the ECMWF model with atmosphere optical properties data from CALIPSO. An inverse algorithm to retrieve high-resolution particle backscatter from the CALIPSO level-1 attenuated backscatter product is presented. Global weather models tend to underestimate atmospheric wind variability. A procedure is described to ensure compatibility of the characteristics of the database winds with those from high-resolution radiosondes. The result is a high-resolution database of zonal, meridional and vertical wind, temperature, specific humidity and particle and molecular backscatter and extinction at 355 nm laser wavelength. This allows the simulation of small-scale atmospheric processes within the Aeolus observation sampling volume and their impact on the quality of the retrieved HLOS wind profiles. The database extends over four months covering all seasons. This allows a statistical evaluation of the mission components under investigation. The database is currently used for the development of the Aeolus wind processing, the definition of wind calibration strategies and the optimization of the Aeolus sampling strategy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 322-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Glick ◽  
David M. Williams ◽  
Dushanka V. Kleinman ◽  
Marko Vujicic ◽  
Richard G. Watt ◽  
...  

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