Moral Injury in Health-Care Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic forces frontline health-care workers to make difficult medical decisions that may result in moral injury. Understanding the extent to which physicians, nurses, and other health-care workers experience moral injury while working in a pandemic is of critical importance to establish preventative measures and trauma-informed treatment. A national sample of health-care workers (n = 109) participated in the study.

The results of a multiple regression analysis indicated secondary traumatic stress was significantly associated with moral injury. Contrary to existing literature, the role of burnout and compassion fatigue in this study was nonsignificant. Mental health professionals may reduce treatment barriers by offering flexible sessions, nontraditional hours, and short-term interventions through tele-mental health platforms to support health-care workers experiencing trauma symptoms.