Moral distress experienced by nurse managers in the context of federal university hospitals

Objective: To analyze the frequency and intensity of moral distress in nursing managers of Federal University Hospitals. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted with nursing managers working at different hierarchical levels of Federal University Hospitals through the application of the Brazilian Scale of Moral Distress in Nurses and a sociodemographic and working questionnaire. For analysis, we used descriptive statistics, chi-square test and t test for independent samples. Results: 126 nurse managers participated in the study, 32 from the strategic segment and 94 from the operational one. We have observed a moderate level of frequency and intensity of moral distress, mean 3.07(SD=1.21) and 3.55(SD=1.35), respectively. The greatest means were related to the factors Work team, Safe and qualified care and Working conditions. When comparing groups, the operational manager had the highest levels of frequency and intensity, mean 3.33 (SD=1.20) and 3.76 (SD=1.26), respectively. Conclusion: We have found that moral distress in managing nurses of federal university hospitals is at a moderate level of frequency and intensity, and nurses in the Nursing Manager group had the highest Moral Distress score when compared to the head group of the Nursing Division.