What is moral distress?

• A. A burnout from workload.
• B. A dilemma that emerges when a practitioner is unsure of the best course of action or experiences ethical conflict that prevents them from doing what is right.
• C. An ethical violation intentionally committed.
• D. A lack of resources.

Answer: (B)

Moral distress occurs when you know the ethically right action to take but external barriers—such as policies, supervision, or limited resources—prevent you from acting on that judgment. That tension between your moral obligation and the inability to act leads to emotional discomfort, guilt, and a sense of powerlessness.

This description fits best because it centers on the clash between what you believe is right and the constraints that stop you from doing it. The other ideas aren’t the same: burnout is fatigue from heavy workload, not the ethical conflict about right action; an intentional ethical violation is doing wrong on purpose; and while lack of resources can trigger distress, the core issue of moral distress is the constrained ethical action, not the resource shortage itself.