The relationship between ethical climate and moral distress from the perspective of operating room staff: A correlational study

Abstract

Background The organizational climate in the operating room is special due to the specific conditions of the patient, and the ethical climate may affect moral distress of the operating room staff. Objective This study determined the relationship between ethical climate and moral distress from staff working in operating rooms of hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Method This analytical study was performed on 169 operating room staff in Mashhad, Iran. The operating room staff was selected using stratified random sampling. The data were collected via Olson's Hospital Ethical Climate Survey and the Corley Moral Distress Scale and analyzed with IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21. Results The results showed no relationship between the ethical climate, the frequency, and intensity of moral distress of the operating room staff ( p > 0.05). In addition, the mean score of the ethical climate was 3.32 ± 0.48, indicating the average ethical climate in the operating room. The mean frequency and intensity of moral distress were 36.36 ± 11.68 and 48.8 ± 15.92, showing a moderate rate. There was a significant inverse relationship between the dimensions of ethical climate, the relationship with physicians, and the intensity of moral distress ( p <0.05). A significant relationship was found between the intensity of moral distress, the level of education, and field of study ( p <0.05). Conclusion The results of the current study showed that interventional programs should be implemented to reduce moral distress and improve the ethical climate in the operating room.