Empowering Nurses: Reducing Moral Distress in End-of-Life Care Through Innovative

Moral distress arises when healthcare professionals are unable to act in alignment with their ethical beliefs, often resulting in frustration, guilt, and professional dissatisfaction. Among nurses caring for patients at the end of life, moral distress can negatively impact personal well-being, team dynamics, and the quality of care. This project aimed to address the multifaceted nature of moral distress by implementing structured workshops designed to enhance self-care, stress management, and resilience among nursing staff at a local community hospital. These workshops provided nurses with a platform to identify sources of moral distress, cultivate mindfulness, and explore strategies for balancing professional responsibilities with personal well-being. The project utilized a quasi-experimental, pre-post intervention design. Eight registered nurses were recruited to participate. Moral distress was measured using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire III (COPSOQ III) before and after the intervention. A two-tailed paired samples t-test was conducted to assess the effect of the intervention. Results indicated a statistically significant decrease in moral distress following the intervention, t (7) = 2.68, p = .031. The effect size was large (Cohen’s d = 0.95), suggesting a meaningful reduction in moral distress. These findings substantiate the implementation of structured support programs as a means of addressing moral distress in end-of-life care settings. Future recommendations include expanding the intervention to a larger and more diverse nursing population, exploring long-term outcomes, and integrating ongoing support systems to sustain improvements in nurse well-being and quality of care.