Moral distress is a frequent situation where health care providers should face. Please define and discuss a personal experience where you have faced Moral distress in your practice.

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Moral distress refers to an emotional conflict that healthcare professionals experience when their moral beliefs, obligations, and patient desires clash with government policies, institutional constraints, or patients’ wishes. The provider is concerned that an alternative source has prevented them from providing the best care possible for patients. My personal experience with moral distress was as an assistant at an outpatient clinic. Patients were often elderly, with limited resources and could not afford the care and medications they needed.

These patients were unfortunately denied vital treatments due to administrative and bureaucratic delays. The fact that there was nothing I could do in those situations caused me great frustration and moral distress; I felt helpless at times but also immensely guilty because I knew it was ultimately my responsibility as the patient’s advocate to ensure they received adequate care. It was heartbreaking seeing how many people had access denied them simply based on their socio-economic status – something which should never be used as a factor in determining health outcomes.