Infusion nurses face many challenges while caring for a wide variety of patients including those in acute and critical care units, those being treated intermittently in outpatient settings, and those receiving long-term care. In providing treatment nurses frequently witness suffering and observe the stress their colleagues experience. The nature of this work puts them at risk of experiencing moral distress. It is important to identify, prevent when possible, and treat moral distress so that nurses can provide the best care to their patients and be mutually supportive of their coworkers.  This session will explore the impact of moral distress on infusion nurses and ways to minimize its negative effect.  

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 

• Define moral distress.
• Characterize the unique circumstances that challenge nurses in their practice that lead to moral distress.
• List the numerous difficult decisions that nurses make in their practice.
• Describe the potential negative outcomes of moral distress on patient care and nurses psychological state (state of well-being).
• Discuss the interventions that nurses and organizations can use to prevent or minimize work related stressors. 

Contact Hours: 1
CRNI® RUs: 2