Moral distress : an instrumentalist analysis of conceptual and empirical literature
This thesis explores the concept of moral distress in the context of decision-making. Several factors complicate the decision-making process in the clinical context. One such factor is moral distress. According to its original conceptualization, moral distress is experienced when the course of action is known, but its realization is limited or prevented by constraints, i.e., institutional, financial, or organizational. Much of the conceptual and empirical research on moral distress addresses this conceptualization, which leads to the recommendation to better conceptualize or understand moral distress. This thesis presents an analysis of the function of the concept, thus identifying what the empirical and conceptual literature provides as a working definition of moral distress. To this end, the identification of the function of the concept will serve as a starting point to better understand the variety and the richness of the concept of moral distress.
Moral Distress Decision-Making Concept Analysis Pragmatism