Grant: Doctoral Research Award - PA: Evidence Informed Healthcare Renewal

One of the biggest health care challenges in Canada is the sustainability of health human resources. There is growing research evidence that ethical challenges in the work environment and the subsequent moral distress (MD) of nurses and other health care providers (HCPs) affect job satisfaction, attrition of HCPs, and likely also patient safety. Improving the work environment of all HCPs is key to sustainable health human resources. Most of the research in MD has been done in acute care, with little attention paid to other areas, including mental health (MH). Moral distress for MH HCPs is an understudied area, and research to develop interventions to address MD is only just beginning across all areas of practice. Further research in MH is necessary to better understand the experiences and consequences of moral distress of HCPs A qualitative (grounded theory) methodology will be used to uncover institutional and individual processes involved in the experience of moral distress in mental health. The theoretical framework that results from this research will be used to inform future work in the development of interventions to address MD, decrease HCP attrition, and increase safe patient care.