Background: Moral distress is an increasing concern among nurses in their workplace. Previous research has suggested that moral distress is associated with ethical climate and job dissatisfaction. Economic restraints in the organization have led to loss of nurses from the workplace. Aim: To examine nurses experience of moral distress and their causes. Method: The study was a literature review. Twelve articles were used in the study. They had both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The articles were published between 2000-2011. Results: Three themes emerged from the articles: Powerlessness, meaninglessness and feeling unsafe. The main cause of these feelings was due to understaffing and working with nurses I consider unsafe. Another cause was to perform tasks that I consider meaningless for the patient and cause more harm than good. Conclusion: Moral distress is common among nurses in health care. It can be elicited from different kinds of situations encountered in the work environment.

Keywords:  experience, job satisfaction, moral distress, nursing, occupational stress