Moral emotional experience and coping strategies of ICU nurses

Background : The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a ethical and moral workplaces characterized by moral sensitivity. Nurses working in ICUs inevitably experience many moral dilemmas, which result in moral emotions that affect nurses' physical and mental health as well as work efficiency and quality. The purpose of this study is to explore the occurrence, impact, and coping experience of moral emotions among ICU nurses, in order to lay the foundation for improving the situation of moral emotions among ICU nurses and exploring moral emotion management programs. Aims and objectives : To understand the occurrence, impact, and coping experience of moral emotions among ICU nurses. Research design : A qualitative descriptive study. Methods : A descriptive qualitative study was conducted, utilizing purposive sampling to select ICU nurses in June 2024 for qualitative interviews, and the Colaizzi 7-step method was used to analyze the data. Results : A total of 13 nurses participated in the interviews, and the results consisted of 3 themes and 9 sub-themes, including the situation of moral emotions experience (positive moral emotions experience, negative moral emotions experience), the impact of moral emotions on nurses (awareness and attitudinal impact, behavioral impact), and the experience of coping with moral emotions (negative avoidance coping, conflict and balance management, value preference choices, whining confabulation, and help-seeking). Conclusion : Managers should pay attention to moral emotions faced by ICU nurses, including negative and positive emotions, actively screen and assess the situation of nurses' moral emotions affecting themselves, and target multi-channel comprehensive intervention strategies to guide nurses to positively view and cope with moral emotions. Relevance for clinical practice : This study makes up for the research gap of nurses' moral emotions in moral dilemmas, and explores the moral emotions and coping situations of ICU nurses, which helps us to better identify and manage moral emotions, and helps to maintain nurses' mental health.