APS

2024 APS Annual Convention · 2024

Moral Injury and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Narratives from Healthcare Workers

San Francisco, CA · May 2024

Poster · Industrial/Organizational

  • 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

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