Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39762870›Full record

ArticleBMC nursing2025

Moral distress, ethical climate, and compassion fatigue among oncology nurses: the mediating role of moral distress.

Akbar Zare-Kaseb, Fariba Borhani, Abbas Abbaszadeh, Amir Mohamad Nazari

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Article in BMC nursing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Akbar Zare-KasebMedical Ethics and Low Research Center, Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Fariba BorhaniMedical Ethics and Low Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Abbas AbbaszadehMedical Ethics and Low Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Amir Mohamad NazariMedical Ethics and Low Research Center, Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. nazari.amir7009@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-0071-296X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOncology nurses have a vital role in providing care for individuals with cancer. Ethical dilemmas arise for oncology nurses caring for these patients. Nurses experience moral distress when work conflicts with personal beliefs, leading to inappropriate responses or uncertainty about ethics. The ethical climate might influence nurses' response to moral distress. Moral distress in nurses can lead to work-related stressors like compassion fatigue. RESEARCH

objectivesThis study examined the relationship between moral distress, ethical climate, and compassion fatigue in oncology nursing. Moreover, the role of moral distress as a mediator in the link between ethical climate and compassion fatigue was examined.

methodA descriptive correlational design was recruited. One hundred twenty-two participants were recruited using the convenience sampling method. The study data were collected using a demographic information form, Corley's Moral Distress Questionnaire, Revised Victor and Cullen's Ethical Climate Questionnaire, and the Professional Quality of Life questionnaire. The Ethics Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences approved the study.

findingsThe overall moral distress, compassion fatigue, and ethical climate mean scores were 125.54 ± 37.50, 31.50 ± 9.23, and 49.03 ± 7.49, respectively. The analysis showed that among the dimensions of ethical climate (including egoism, benevolence and principled climate), egoism directly (p=0.03) and indirectly (p<0.001) and benevolence indirectly (p<0.001) (through moral distress) were significantly related to compassion fatigue. The principled ethical climate did not show any direct or indirect impact (p=0.72 and p=0.64, respectively).

conclusionsOur findings showed moderate moral distress and low compassion fatigue among oncology nurses. In the examined oncology wards, the prevailing ethical climate was benevolent. Moral distress acts as a mediator between egoistic and benevolence ethical climate and compassion fatigue.

Indexed as

Compassion fatigueEthical climateMoral distressOncology nurses

Identifiers

PMID39762870
PMCPMC11706150

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.