The relationship between moral distress and moral courage in nurses working in selected hospitals of Hamadan university of medical sciences in pandemic covid 19

Introduction: Moral distress is a harmful factor in nursing. Ethical courage helps nurses to perform nursing care. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between moral distress and moral courage of nurses working in selected hospitals of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in Pandemic Covid 19. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 204 nurses working in selected educational hospitals and by random classification method.Data were collected by self-report method with demographic checklist, Corelli Moral Distress and Sekerka Moral Courage Questionnaires. Independent t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that the majority of nurses were male (55.40%) with an average age of 41.96 ± 9.53 years, working in the emergency department (43.20%), and5-10 years of work experience (51.38%). There was a significant relationship between moral distress with gender, place of service and work experience, as well as between moral courage and age (p≤0.050), but between moral distress and the type of employment, and between moral courage with the type of employment, work experience, gender and place of service. There was no correlation (p≥0.050). There was a significant negative relationship between moral distress and moral courage (R=-0.863, p≤0.050. The mean score of moral distress was 57.61±3.32 and the average score of moral courage was 36.92±2.46. Conclusion: Since there is a significant negative relationship between moral distress and moral courage, so holding moral motivation workshops to reduce moral distress and increase moral courage for nurses is recommended.