This study aimed to explore the experience of moral distress in pre-licensure student nurse's during their clinical placement experience. Nurses and student nurses are susceptible to moral distress when faced with ethical dilemmas in nursing practice. For nurses, this may impact their personal and professional relationships, and in some instances results in leaving the profession. The lived experience of moral distress in the pre-licensure student nurse population is under-researched and thus a knowledge-gap related to this phenomenon. The general research question that guided this study was: "What is the lived experience of student nurses who experienced moral distress during their clinical placement experience in their program of study?" The sub-questions that guided the research were: (1) "What patient care experiences evoke feelings of moral distress?"; (2) "How does a student nurse describe the experience of moral distress in a patient care experience?"; (3) "How does the student nurse perceive moral distress in a patient care experience?"; and (4) "What is the impact of the experience of moral distress on the student nurse? Hermeneutic phenomenological research design was used to gather and interpret a student nurse's experience of moral distress. Noddings' ethic of care and Rushton et al. Moral Distress Framework were the theoretical frameworks that guided this study. Twenty-one pre-licensure student nurses from twelve states were interviewed using semi-structured interview protocol. Thematic analysis of the interviews was completed. Study findings suggest that student nurses: 1) identified a triggering event, 2) identified the ethical value violated, 3) experienced emotional and physical symptoms, and 5) did not take corrective action. Themes related to the impact of moral distress on attitude towards the nursing profession were: 1) not supported by clinical faculty, 2) opinion of the profession, and 3) influence on the student nurse practice. The significance of these findings suggest that administrators and other nursing leaders need to develop interventions that can be used to and taught to manage the experience of moral distress. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]