Moral Injury and Moral Resilience in Health Care Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic.
J Palliat Med
; 25(5): 712-719, 2022 05.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1873838
ABSTRACT
Background:
The 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic placed unprecedented strains on the U.S. health care system, putting health care workers (HCWs) at increased risk for experiencing moral injury (MI). Moral resilience (MR), the ability to preserve or restore integrity, has been proposed as a resource to mitigate the detrimental effects of MI among HCWs.Objectives:
The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of MI among HCWs, to identify the relationship among factors that predict MI, and to determine whether MR can act as buffer against it.Design:
Web-based exploratory survey. Setting/Subjects:
HCWs from a research network in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region. Measurements Survey items included our outcome, Moral Injury Symptoms Scale-Health Professional (MISS-HP), and predictors including demographics, items derived from the Rushton Moral Resilience Scale (RMRS), and ethical concerns index (ECI).Results:
Sixty-five percent of 595 respondents provided COVID-19 care. The overall prevalence of clinically significant MI in HCWs was 32.4%; nurses reporting the highest occurrence. Higher scores on each of the ECI items were significantly positively associated with higher MI symptoms (p < 0.05). MI among HCWs was significantly related to the following MR score, ECI score, religious affiliation, and having ≥20 years in their profession. MR was a moderator of the effect of years of experience on MI.Conclusions:
HCWs are experiencing MI during the pandemic. MR offers a promising individual resource to buffer the detrimental impact of MI. Further research is needed to understand how to cultivate MR, reduce ECI, and understand other systems level factors to prevent MI symptoms in U.S. HCWs.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Palliat Med
Journal subject:
Health Services
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jpm.2021.0076
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS