ArticleEthics, medicine, and public health2021
Moral injury and the COVID-19 pandemic: A philosophical viewpoint.
Article in Ethics, medicine, and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Moral injury and mental health among health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: meta-analysis.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence, Predictors, and Experience of Moral Suffering in Nursing and Care Home Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Psychosocial Impact of COVID-19 on Intensive Care Unit Personnel: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey Assessment Before, During, and After the First Peak.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Second-Class Care: How Immigration Law Transforms Clinical Practice in the Safety Net.Journal of health and social behavior · 2025Article
- The German translation of the Oxford utilitarianism scale: Validation and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the observations.PloS one · 2025Article
- Moral Stress and Moral Distress: Confronting Challenges in Healthcare Systems under Pressure.The American journal of bioethics : AJOB · 2024Article
- Light Personality Style and Moral Injury Among Chinese Health Professionals.Journal of religion and health · 2023Article
- The Hidden Crisis: Understanding Potentially Morally Injurious Events Experienced by Healthcare Providers during COVID-19 in Canada.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Predict, prevent and manage moral injuries in Canadian frontline healthcare workers and leaders facing the COVID-19 pandemic: Protocol of a mixed methods study.SSM. Mental health · 2022Article
- Moral distress among clinicians working in US safety net practices during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods study.BMJ open · 2022Article
- An Ethical Framework for Visitation of Inpatients Receiving Palliative Care in the COVID-19 Context.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2022Article
- How Could I Do Something So Wrong? Restirring concept of Moral Injury & healing within health care context of COVID-19 pandemic.Asian journal of psychiatry · 2022Article
- Intention-Based Critical Factors Affecting Willingness to Adopt Novel Coronavirus Prevention in Pakistan: Implications for Future Pandemics.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Visitor Restrictions, Palliative Care, and Epistemic Agency: A Qualitative Study of Nurses' Relational Practice During the Coronavirus Pandemic.Global qualitative nursing researchArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMuch has changed in healthcare during the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. Medicine, a profession of traditional principles and virtues, has faced unprecedented challenges in the light of scarce and unequal distribution of ventilators, testing, and personal protective equipment. Healthcare workers have been- and are increasingly likely to be- forced into situations that require difficult decision making under life-and-death conditions. Concepts of "medical necessity" and "maximum benefit" challenge healthcare systems that already struggle to manage unequal treatment and access to services, giving rise to moral distress and moral injury on the front lines.
methodsThis article focuses on moral injury in the context of coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. I review recent literature to highlight the psychological impact of many morally-injurious events that have been reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of a clinical vignette, I point out how healthcare systems adopt many utilitarian policies in times of excessive healthcare burden. A viewpoint is offered that many morally injurious events happen when healthcare workers, traditionally practicing Kantian and virtue ethics, are forced to follow utilitarian policies of healthcare system.
conclusionOne form of moral injury may arise from inherent conflicts between individual deontological moral judgments and organizational utilitarian moral judgments. More research is needed to validate the philosophical viewpoint as well as to explore whether increased awareness and education of key principles within moral philosophy can better equip healthcare workers in situations when public health takes precedence over individual health.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.