Analyzing an Ethical Decision
Analyzing an Ethical Decision
Psychiatric nurses are a group of mental health
professionals who take actively important roles in
providing care for people with mental illness [2].
Psychiatric nurses uphold nursing regulations/
codes, ethics, and institutional rules that guide them
in providing care for clients. They also need to work
with multidisciplinary teams when caring for clients
to achieve optimal health and well-being [3].
* Correspondence to: Ratchaneekorn Kertchok
E-mail: rkertchok@yahoo.com
In the real world of psychiatric nursing practice, however, psychiatric nurses have to confront
complex situations when caring for patients with
severe mental illness at all stages (acute, sub-acute,
and rehabilitation phase). They also have to deal
with families who are suffering as they care for
their ill family members [1, 3, 4]. In addition, they
must often work under internal and external
constraints. Consequently, psychiatric nurses may
experience moral distress caused by caring for
people with mental illness and helping their
families. This article aims to share the descriptions
of psychiatric and mental health nursing practice and
moral distress.
SEARCH METHODS
Qualitative and quantitative studies and
relevant literature were identified using the PubMed,
CINAHL, ScienceDirect, and by hand search in the
library. Key words that were used to search the
literature are moral distress, ethical issue, moral
dilemma, ethical problems, moral difficulties, moral
stress and psychiatric nursing. The studies that
related to ethical problems and moral distress in
Cite this article as: Kertchok R. Ethical issues and moral distress in psychiatric and mental health nursing: a
literature review. J Health Res. 2015; 29(3): 227-34.
mailto:rkertchok@yahoo.com
228
J Health Res vol.29 no.3 June 2015 http://www.jhealthres.org
Table 1 Number of studies for review
Category Studies in total Studies that met
criteria
1. Challenges in psychiatric and mental health nursing (Key
words: Psychiatric nursing, mental health nursing practice,
and challenge in mental health)
7,207 350
2. Ethical issues in psychiatric and mental health nursing (Key
words: Ethical problem, ethical difficulty, ethical issues, and
psychiatric nursing)
2.1 Compulsory treatment
2.2 Institute constrains
2.3 Dealing with family’s need
2.4 Power imbalances among healthcare providers
2.5 Perceived inability to maintain safety
2.6 Conflict with patient’s needs
