ArticleBMJ open2025
Moral distress in emergency nurses: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis protocol.
Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Qualitative Needs Assessment for Pediatric Care Partnerships in Community Emergency Departments.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2026Article
- Unveiling the psychological network of work alienation among nursing interns: A resource conservation perspective and network analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- A qualitative study on emergency department nurses' experiences of coping with moral distress based on self-efficacy theory.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The effect of moral distress on emergency nurses' burnout: mediating role of moral resilience and moderating role of moral courage.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMoral distress is a significant challenge in contemporary nursing practice, posing a substantial threat to nurses' well-being and patient safety. Nurses in the emergency department are considered a high-risk group for experiencing this distress due to their unique working environment. Although numerous qualitative studies have explored this issue, a systematic synthesis of this fragmented evidence is notably absent. This qualitative meta-synthesis aims to integrate existing evidence to construct a comprehensive conceptual framework of the experiences, processes and coping mechanisms related to moral distress among emergency nurses. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study will be a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols statement and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology. A systematic search will be conducted in international and Chinese databases, including PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, CNKI, etc. All peer-reviewed qualitative studies exploring the first-person experiences of emergency nurses will be included. Two independent reviewers will perform study selection, data extraction and methodological quality appraisal using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research. Data synthesis will employ a theory-integrated meta-aggregation approach, systematically mapping findings onto the Stress, Appraisal, and Coping Theory to construct a nuanced conceptual framework that explains the dynamic process of moral distress. Confidence in the synthesised findings will be assessed using the ConQual approach. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As this study is a secondary analysis of published data, ethical approval is not required. The findings will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presentations at academic conferences. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD420251041396.
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Registered trials
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