Typology

Considering the various individual accounts of moral distress given by our research participants, we created a typology of their stories. This typology is designed to show similarities and differences in the experience of moral distress in the PICU. It is also designed to bridge the personal stories to the common experience of moral distress in health care.

Five types of stories have been identified. Rather unexpectedly, we did not find any specific type to be particular to one profession. The types of stories appear in their variety across the health disciplines.

Stories Bearing Witness

Stories of Collusion

Stories of Resistance

Phantom Stories

Untold Stories 

Dr. Wendy Austin and Dr. Daniel Garros discuss the PICU team's experiences of Collusion, Resistance, and Bearing Witness in a presentation given February 2013 at the Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta.