The term moral distress was coined decades ago to describe a phenomenon experienced by nurses when they feel institutionally constrained from making moral decisions they know to be correct. Moral Distress has been linked to anger, guilt, frustration, burnout, and leaving the job or the profession. This phenomenon has been studied significantly in clinical practice nursing; however, there is scant research in academic nursing. This study aimed to explore the moral distress experience of Academic Nurse Educators in public community colleges. A qualitative descriptive research design using semi-structured interviewing was employed to frame this study. Eighteen academic nurses across the United States provided detailed accounts of their experiences with moral distress to help fill an important gap in the literature. Four themes emerged and were used to organize the data analysis. They include (1) The Sources, (2) The Consequences, (3) Resulting Concerns, and (4) Teaching in a Pandemic. Moral distress was found to be a significant issue for Academic Nurse. [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://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]