This integrative review was performed with the objective to identify, in national and international scientific literature over the last ten years, the implication that moral distress has on nurses, the similarities between moral distress and burnout, and the coping strategies for moral distress. The surveys were conducted on CINAHL, MEDLINE and SAGE databases, using the keywords: moral distress, burnout, and nursing. Twenty-one articles were obtained for the four-stage analysis: data reduction, visualization and comparison, and the verification and draft of the conclusion. It was found that the moral distress experienced by the nurses is manifested in the personal dimension, by emotional and physical alterations, and in the professional dimension, by job dissatisfaction, burnout and abandonment of the profession. The coping strategies are used in three dimensions: educational, communicative, and organizational. In conclusion, this theme should be further explored in order to contribute with the prevention of moral distress.
Moral; Ethic; Burnout; Nursing
