Which statement about moral distress is true?

• A. It can contribute to practitioners leaving their jobs
• B. It has no impact on job satisfaction
• C. It only affects new practitioners
• D. It cannot be mitigated

Answer: (A)

Moral distress happens when you know the ethically right action to take but are blocked from taking it by factors like policies, limited resources, or supervisor or organizational pressures. That unresolved tension and the emotional burden it creates can build up over time into burnout and disengagement, which can lead practitioners to leave their jobs. That connection to turnover is what makes the statement true.

This distress also lowers job satisfaction and sense of professional integrity, so saying it has no impact on job satisfaction misses a core consequence. It’s not limited to new practitioners; experienced staff can experience it too, especially in settings with persistent ethical conflicts. And it can be mitigated—through things like supportive leadership, ethics resources, opportunities for reflection and debriefing, and policies that enable ethical action—so the idea that it cannot be mitigated isn’t accurate.