Moral distress-associated sociodemographic and occupational aspects in nursing managers at federal university hospitals (*)

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between sociodemographic and occupational characteristics and the predictors of Moral Distress in nursing managers of Federal University Hospitals. METHOD: Cross-sectional study carried out with 126 nurses. Data were collected online between September 2019 and May 2020 applying the Brazilian Scale of Moral Distress in Nurses. The variables were analyzed using descriptive and bivariate statistics to compare the instrument mean responses in relation to sociodemographic and occupational characteristics (hospital size, region, age, gender, training and experience variables, employment relationships, and workload). RESULTS: The highest levels of Moral Distress were experienced by nurses in large hospitals, with statistical significance among civil servants with job stability who have no management training, with less time of professional experience and with the highest weekly workload, with emphasis on predictive factors of “safe and qualified care”, “work conditions” and “work team”. CONCLUSION: Based on the above, it is understood that studies of this nature allow the generation of adaptive strategies to reduce the impacts of Moral Distress.