Abstract: Objective To investigate the current status of clinical nurses' moral distress, to analyze the latent profile of moral distress and its relationship with moral sensitivity, and to explore the influencing factors of different profiles. Methods A total of 1,022 clinical nurses from a tertiary grade-A hospital in Wuhan were selected by convenience sampling method in May 2022, and they were investigated by using the general information questionnaire, Nurses' Moral Sensitivity Scale and Nurses' Moral Distress Scale. Four explicit indicators of nurses' moral distress scale were used for latent profile analysis, and univariate analysis and binary logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results The moral distress of 1,022 clinical nurses could be divided into "low moral distress type" (72.7%) and "high moral distress type" (27.3%). The influencing factors of moral distress included age, professional title, moral power and responsibility, and moral burden (P<0.05). Conclusion Clinical nurses have slight moral distress, which could be divided into two latent profiles. Specific interventions should be formulated according to the characteristics of different latent profiles to enhance nurses' moral sensitivity and reduce their moral distress. The cultivation of moral decision-making ability of nurses, a good moral and ethical atmosphere, reasonable authorization, and easing emotions caused by moral distress are helpful for nurses of "high moral distress type"; for "low moral distress type" nurses, it is necessary to strengthen the professional ethics education of nurses, improve nursing moral cultivation, standardize moral behavior in clinical practice, so as to improve the quality of nursing.

Key words: nurse, moral distress, moral sensitivity, latent profile analysis