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Journal article
Moral courage: a virtue in need of development?
Medsurg nursing, v 16(2), pp 131-133
Apr 2007
PMID: 17547273
Abstract
Moral distress has been documented since 1984 by Andrew Jameton. He defined it as painful feelings and/or the psychological disequilibrium that occurs when nurses are conscious of the morally appropriate action a situation requires, but cannot carry out the action because of institutional obstacles (Corley, Minick, Elswick, & Jacobs, 2005). This definition focuses on organizational obstacles to action, but there are also personal obstacles that the nurse must conquer (for example, lack of knowledge of professional obligations, lack of conflict resolution skills, etc.). This author's interest is not in discussing the existence of moral distress, but instead how to prevent and rectify the pain and suffering caused by moral distress. To this purpose, this article we will focus on necessary ingredients for moral courage. Interested readers can gain additional understanding of the problems created when organizational culture trumps courage by reading the story of Enron (McLean & Elkind, 2004). We will first define moral courage and then, using an acronym CODE, outline the work for nurses who are interested in demonstrating moral courage.
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Details
- Title
- Moral courage: a virtue in need of development?
- Creators
- Vicki D Lachman - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Medsurg nursing, v 16(2), pp 131-133
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Nursing and Health Professions
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-34347262612
- Other Identifier
- 991019312346404721