Emotions and feelings in critical and emergency caring situations: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Moral emotions are a key element of our human morals. Emotions play an important role in the caring process. Decision-making and assessment in emergency situations are complex and they frequently result in different emotions and feelings among health-care professionals. METHODS: The study had qualitative deductive design based on content analysis. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with sixteen participants. RESULTS: The emerging category “emotions and feelings in caring” has been analysed according to Haidt, considering that moral emotions include the subcategories of “Condemning emotions”, “Self-conscious emotions”, “Suffering emotions” and “Praising emotions”. Within these subcategories, we found that the feelings that nurses experienced when ethical conflicts arose in emergency situations were related to caring and decisions associated with it, even when they had experienced situations in which they believed they could have helped the patient differently, but the conditions at the time did not permit it and they felt that the ethical conflicts in clinical practice created a large degree of anxiety and moral stress. The nurses felt that caring, as seen from a nursing perspective, has a sensitive dimension that goes beyond the patient’s own healing and, when this dimension is in conflict with the environment, it has a dehumanising effect. Positive feelings and satisfaction are created when nurses feel that care has met its objectives and that there has been an appropriate response to the needs. CONCLUSIONS: Moral emotions can help nurses to recognise situations that allow them to promote changes in the care of patients in extreme situations. They can also be the starting point for personal and professional growth and an evolution towards person-centred care.