Table 1 PICOS, inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria applied to literature search
From: A systematic scoping review moral distress amongst medical students
| Â | Inclusion Criteria | Exclusion Criteria |
|---|---|---|
Population | All undergraduate medical students | Papers with the focus on other healthcare students or students from other faculties • Nursing students • Allied health students (e.g. Pharmacy, Psychology, Dietetics, Chiropractic, Midwifery, Podiatry, Social Work, Speech Therapy, Occupational and Physiotherapy) • Non-medical students (e.g. Veterinary, Dentistry, Clinical and Translational Science, Alternative and Traditional medicine) Papers with the main focus on only general physicians, caregiver, family, and patients |
Interest | Having moral distress (MD) • Moral distress and ethical distress are both referred to the psychological response when there is the inability to do the right thing. They are used interchangeably in literature and have the same meaning • Moral distress is (a) the psychological distress of (b) being in a situation in which one is constrained from acting (c) on what one knows to be right. • Fourie, 2013: specific psychological response to morally challenging situations such as those of moral constraint or moral conflict, or both | Not faced with any morally challenging situations |
Context | Healthcare setting • Including but not limited to acute hospitals, intensive care units, community hospitals, nursing homes and clinics Education setting • During formal and informal curriculum, clinical postings, interaction with stakeholders, educators, peers, other healthcare professionals | Home setting • Personal interactions with family and friends Interactions with members of the public outside clinical and educational settings |
Outcome | Â | Â |
Study design | All study designs including: • Mixed methods research, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, cross-sectional studies, descriptive papers, grey literature, opinions, letters, commentaries and editorials Articles in English or translated to English Year of publication: 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2021 |  |