Determining nursing students' moral distress levels

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the level of moral distress among nursing students. The study was conducted between April 17 and April 20, 2023, with the participation of 150 students studying in the nursing department of the Faculty of Health Sciences of a university who agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire designed by the researchers based on the literature and the Moral Distress Scale for Nursing Students. The arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, and frequency (in percent), t-test, ANOVA test, and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. This study found that the intensity and frequency of moral stress among nursing students were not high. In line with the findings, it is recommended that ethics education be provided to nursing students, teaching them how to deal with unethical behavior they encounter in the clinical setting, and raising the awareness of nursing educators to support students' development. Keywords: Distress; moral distress; morality student; nurses; nursing.