Faculty

Needs Statement

Moral Distress is an "occupational hazard" for healthcare providers. It describes a situation in which the healthcare provider knows what the ethical/moral course of action is, but is constrained from acting on it. There may be legal, institutional, or social constraints, including patient/surrogate decisions. Moral distress is an integrity-compromising situation, and if unresolved, leads to moral residue, which can cause healthcare providers to have both physical and emotional symptoms. It is a leading cause of retention problems and workplace bullying in certain healthcare professions. This novel educational module and site  will review the definitions, causes, and consequences of moral distress, as well as offer some solutions.

Proper definitions of moral distress can improve inter-professional discussions about this phenomenon. Learn "what is moral distress", who is affected, and common situations that create it.

This activity has the same content as MORAL DISTRESS PART 2 which expired on June 30, 2017, and June 11, 2023. If you participated and claimed credit for these sessions, you should not claim credit for this module. 

Target Audience

Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, and Social Workers

Objectives

Upon completion of this educational activity, the participant will be able to:

1. Identify the physical signs of moral distress and moral residue;
2. Identify the emotional signs of moral distress and moral residue;
3. Recognize signs of moral distress in a colleague or unit.

Accreditation

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by UK HealthCare CECentral and East Carolina University. University of Kentucky HealthCare CECentral is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

CME
This enduring material is designated for a maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

IPE Competencies

• Values/Ethics for Interprofessional Practice

Other
UK Healthcare CECentral certifies this activity for 0.75 hours of participation.

Faculty Disclosure

All planners, faculty, and others in control of educational content are required to disclose all their financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months.  An ineligible company is defined as one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.

None of the planners, faculty, and others in control of educational content for this educational activity have a relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies.

The material presented in this course represents information obtained from the scientific literature as well as the clinical experiences of the speakers. In some cases, the presentations might include a discussion of investigational agents and/or off-label indications for various agents used in clinical practice. Speakers will inform the audience when they are discussing investigational and/or off-label uses.

Content review confirmed that the content was developed in a fair, balanced manner free from commercial bias. Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone commercial bias in any presentation, but it is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation

Acknowledgement

This activity is jointly provided by the University of Kentucky and East Carolina University.

In collaboration with UK Program for Bioethics.

Review Date

8/22/2023