Nurses in Black-Serving Hospitals Experienced Increased Levels of “Moral Distress” During the Pandemic
Courtesy of Pennsylvania State University A recent study led by scholars at the University of Pennsylvania has found nurses working in hospitals with predominately Black patients experienced the highest levels of moral distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors collected data from 3,675 nurses at 90 hospitals from March 2021 to April 2021 and found nurses in Black-serving hospitals were twice as likely to experience moral distress than nurses from non-predominately Black-serving hospitals. Moral distress is defined as a feeling of being prevented from making a morally-ethical decision, which contributes to mental health challenges. Nurses under moral distress are more likely to