Exploration of the Association between Nurses’ Moral Distress and Secondary Traumatic Stress Syndrome: Implications for Patient Safety in Mental Health Services
Table 4
Differences in the frequency, intensity, and composite moral distress score by sociodemographic and work-related characteristics.
Variable
Categories
Moral distress, frequency Mean (SD)
Moral distress, intensity Mean (SD)
Moral distress, composite score Mean (SD)
Gender
Female
40.1 (21.2)
68.0
97.8 (62.9)
Male
36.0 (19.1)
72.3
96.3 (63.4)
value
0.15
0.35
0.90
Age
<30
42.2 (21.2)
70.2 (30.5)
107.7 (68.0)
30–34
40.2 (18.6)
70.5 (28.8)
102.1 (54.2)
35–39
39.5 (17.9)
75.6 (32.8)
106.2 (56.2)
≥40
26.1 (19.1)
62.8 (38.0)
62.7 (63.8)
value
<0.001
0.34
0.001
Education
Diploma/Bachelor degree
37.4 (20.4)
69.2 (31.6)
93.7 (63.0)
Postgraduate/Doctoral
38.7 (19.1)
73.2 (32.4)
102.0 (61.3)
value
0.65
0.38
0.36
Marital status
Married/cohabiting
42.9 (21.2)
73.6 (29.4)
109.1 (66.3)
Single
35.8 (19.2)
68.3 (32.6)
91.2 (59.7)
Divorced, separated, widowed
31.9 (18.5)
73.8 (39.0)
83.7 (62.7)
value
0.53
0.05
0.15
Children
None
42.4 (21.3)
74.1 (29.2)
108.4 (67.4)
One
35.4 (19.9)
69.5 (34.9)
92.0 (61.4)
Two
37.5 (17.8)
67.8 (32.3)
95.2 (53.4)
Three or more
29.8 (21.1)
68.1 (35.5)
75.2 (70.6)
value
0.04
0.67
0.12
Physical activity
Never
40.6 (19.9)
74.1 (28.3)
104.8 (62.7)
1-2 times/week
33.1 (19.4)
66.8 (37.4)
86.1 (64.7)
More than 3 times/week
41.7 (20.2)
72.0 (27.9)
103.8 (58.6)
value
0.02
0.35
0.13
Alcohol use
Not weekly
35.7 (20.4)
68.0 (34.9)
90.8 (63.5)
1-2 glasses/week
40.6 (19.6)
74.2 (28.4)
106.0 (62.5)
More than 3/week
51 (23.8)
71.3 (15.4)
121.0 (50.5)
value
0.10
0.41
0.19
Position
Nurse
39.6 (19.7)
73.3 (30.4)
102.3 (61.7)
Senior nurse/manager
23.6 (16.7)
48.4 (36.5)
52.4 (50.6)
value
<0.001
<0.001
<0.001
Intention to leave
Have left/considered leaving
37.1 (19.7)
70.2 (32.7)
100.5 (65.2)
Never considered leaving
38.1 (20.0)
72.5 (31.7)
97.6 (62.8)
value
0.77
0.67
0.79
Variable
Pearson’s correlation coefficient ( value)
Overall work experience (years)
−0.17 (0.02)
−0.01 (0.86)
−0.12 (0.08)
Length of employment in current position (years)
−0.14 (0.05)
−0.08 (0.27)
−0.15 (0.04)
Job satisfaction (NAS 0–10)
−0.14 (0.05)
−0.09 (0.21)
−0.15 (0.03)
General personal life satisfaction (NAS 0–10)
0.02 (0.78)
0.17 (0.02)
0.11 (0.14)
Satisfaction from social relationships (NAS 0–10)
−0.02 (0.77)
0.05 (0.45)
0.01 (0.99)
Satisfaction from therapeutic relations (NAS 0–10)
−0.21 (<0.01)
−0.23 (<0.01)
−0.21 (<0.01)
Degree of emotional exhaustion (NAS 0–10)
0.10 (0.14)
0.13 (0.07)
0.19 (<0.01)
value of independent -test or one-way ANOVA as appropriate.
