APS
2024 APS Annual Convention · 2024
Moral Injury and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Narratives from Healthcare Workers
- Hajra Usman
San Francisco VA Health Care System - Haley Mehlman
University of Michigan - Daniel Bertenthal
San Francisco VA Health Care System - Brandon Griffin
Department of Veterans Affairs - Shira Maguen
San Francisco VA Health Care System - Karen Seal
San Francisco VA Health Care System - Natalie Purcell
San Francisco VA Health Care System
Abstract
46 VA healthcare workers completed qualitative interviews about morally distressing work experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Distressing exposures included delivering futile care; restricting patient-family visitation; and perceived inequities in workload, risk, and resource distribution. Poor communication and perceived neglect by hospital leaders were important contextual contributors to moral injury.
Epidemics and Public Health