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Jennifer Solomon
St Georges University, Grenada
ScientificTracks Abstracts: J Neurol Clin Neurosci
Nursing is commonly regarded as a profession centered around caring, which involves being attentive and responsive to the needs of others. However, nurses sometimes experience moral distress, a phenomenon where they feel conflicted when they know the right thing to do in a situation but are unable to act on it (Jameton, 1984). This can have negative effects on their ability to provide quality care and lead to burnout (Wiegand & Funk, 2012). With the intense patient care demands during the pandemic, moral distress has become more prevalent in nursing. Despite some literature discussing contributing factors and negative outcomes, there is a lack of guidance on how to address it. This article aims to offer insight into the concepts of moral distress and caring in nursing by sharing a personal experience of moral distress and deliberate acts of caring towards colleagues. The idea of caring is fundamental to the nursing profession and this article draws on nursing theories from Jean Watson and Kristen Swanson to expand our understanding of how to alleviate moral distress through compassionate actions. It will be directed by and illustrates Watson's 'why' and Swanson's 'how' for a potential blueprint that nurses by the bedside can follow. By incorporating these theories into nursing practice, we can reduce moral distress and demonstrate the interconnectivity of nursing theory and compassionate nursing practice. Recent Publications 1. Godsik, C. Solomon, J. Yacinthus, B (2023) “Using Standardized mental health patient simulations to increase critical thinking and confidence in undergraduate students” Archives of Psychiatric Nursing 43 (76 – 80). 2. Solomon, J. (2022) “Using the theories of caring to support co-workers and reduce moral distress during a Pandemic” International Journal of Mental Health Vol 24 (6). 3. Solomon, J. (2021) “Going above and beyond during COVID 19 pandemic. Utilizing nursing theorists to explore volunteerism” British Journal of Nursing, 20(11), 661-664. 4. Porteous, D., Morgan, D., Solomon, J., Platt, A., Allan, J., Shao, C. H., & Conner, T. (2019). Global citizens. British Journal of Nursing, 28(9), 574-577. 5. McKinnon, T., Brunetto, L., Teaford, D., Solomon, J. and McNeish, S. (2018) “The first knock”: A Public health nursing simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 17, 14-18.
Jennifer Solomon has been a Nurse for the past thirty years, with a background in Critical Care and Clinical Teaching. The value of education and practice has been central to her presentations and research in the field of nursing. She is a Registered Nurse in both Grenada and the United Kingdom and has volunteered for the past 20 years as Coordinator of the Heart Foundation, and more recently during the pandemic. At the height of the pandemic, she traveled back to the United Kingdom to Volunteer in Critical Care, supporting her colleagues. On returning home, she mentored students in the Pop-up Vaccination Clinics and at St. Georges General Hospital as part of her Service-learning Work. Within the St. Georges University Community, she has served as the Chair and Director of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, as well as a member of the Curriculum Committee and Judicial Committee. Prior to that, her work in the Department of Clinical Skills in the School of Medicine centered on Communication and Interprofessional Collaboration. She received her PhD in Nursing in 2017, with a research focus on Continuous Professional Development within the Region.
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