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Moral Distress among selected Sri Lankan Medical Officers

: Moral distress was first defined as a phenomenon that occurs when nurses cannot carry out what they believe to be ethically appropriate actions because of various constraints. Now it has been discovered that other healthcare professionals also undergo moral distress. Objective The objective of the study was to assess the level of moral distress among medical officers in selected health care institutions in Sri Lanka. Methods A Multi centered descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 156 medical officers in 04 selected government healthcare institutions in Sri Lanka using a validated pretested self-administered questionnaire. Results “Carry out medical orders for what I consider to be unnecessary tests and treatments” was the most frequently encountered moral distress situation as declared by the majority (69.2%, n=108) of participants. Similarly, it was the situation which has caused highest intensity of moral distress as declared by 64.5% (n=100) of participants. There was a significant association between average working hours per week and frequency of moral distress at 5% significance level with a p value of 0.001. Work setting(p=0.019), average working hours per week (p=0.001) and highest educational qualification(p=0.034) had a significant association with the intensity of moral distress. The frequency of moral distress was significantly associated with average working hours per week. The intensity of moral distress was significantly associated with average working hours of per week, highest educational qualification and work setting. Therefore, it is recommended that the health authorities should train Medical to up with moral distress