Psychometric evaluation of the Moral Distress Risk Scale: A methodological study.

BACKGROUND: Moral distress is a kind of suffering that nurses may experience when they act in ways that are considered inconsistent with moral values, leading to a perceived compromise of moral integrity. Consequences are mostly negative and include physical and psychological symptoms, in addition to organizational implications.

OBJECTIVE: To psychometrically test the Moral Distress Risk Scale.

RESEARCH DESIGN: A methodological study was realized. Data were submitted to exploratory factorial analysis through the SPSS statistical program. Participants and research context: In total, 268 nurses from hospitals and primary healthcare settings participated in this research during the period of March to June of 2016. Ethical considerations: This research has ethics committee approval.

FINDINGS: The Moral Distress Risk Scale is composed of 7 factors and 30 items; it shows evidence of acceptable reliability and validity with a Cronbach's α = 0.913, a total variance explained of 59%, a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = 0.896, and a significant Bartlett <0.001.

DISCUSSION: Concerns about moral distress should be beyond acute care settings, and a tool to help clarify critical points in other healthcare contexts may add value to moral distress speech.

CONCLUSION: Psychometric results reveal that the Moral Distress Risk Scale can be applied in different healthcare contexts.