Nurse Leaders Ethical Dilemmas

Ethical dilemmas for nurse leaders Sorces of ethicl delimmas for nurses include reaction to a situation, continuation of a distressing situation and a complex situation which causes distress in others. Also the overall personality of the nurse leader themselves such as if they have a nervous disposition. Moral distress amid nurses is describe by Jameton (1984) as two different dimenions intial dimension and rective dimension of moral distress. Initial moral distress is when a nurse is faced with interpersonal value conflicts, it is experienced as feelings of frustration, anger, anxiety and the feeling of one’s inability to act as one sees fit due to organizational restrictions. Reactive moral distress is what nurses experience when they fail to act upon the initial distressing situation to bring about resolution. If a nurse does not act and resolve on these distresses it can lead to a development of regret and anger over time.
How to handle issues
Creating an environment where nurses can speak up is important having a practice environment that supports nurses in raising ethical questions and empowering them to address concerns. Leaders needs to be competent, credible, visible and an expert. Nurse leaders should incorporate behavior consistent with the code of ethics into job descriptions and consider that during annual performance reviews. Bring different disciplines together is also another way that a nurse leader can help with ethical and moral distresses. Working together could prove beneficial in addressing moral distress. Nurses especially troubled by an ethical issue--perhaps relating to something happening in their personal lives or how the current situation rekindles past events--may benefit from individual sessions with a counselor from an employee assistance program