title: Moral distress: a labor and delivery nurse's experience.
abstract: Moral distress occurs when nurses make moral decisions they cannot implement. This article contains a true account of such a case. A nurse was present at the delivery of a premature infant who was allowed to expire without intervention. A moral distress equation is used as a framework for describing the nurse's experience and its effects on her and her patient care.
authors.affiliation: Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D003643:Death; D003657:Decision Making; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D009014:Morals; D009773:Obstetric Nursing; D026706:Paternalism; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D028761:Withholding Treatment