ReviewJournal of health psychology2026
Moral distress and moral injury in healthcare: A review and instrument analysis.
Review in Journal of health psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Algorithmic Moral Burden: Pope Leo XIV, Conscience, and Professional Agency in AI-Supported Philippine Healthcare.Journal of religion and health · 2026Article
- Caring for Caregivers: System-Level Solutions to Moral Injury in Burn Teams.Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association · 2026Review
- Toward a framework of moral challenges in military operations: implications for psychological resilience.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Human and veterinary healthcare workers experience poor mental health, including burnout. However, some argue that burnout cannot fully explain their experiences. Moral distress (MD) and moral injury (MI) are gaining research attention, but there is limited consensus on their definitions and associated symptoms within healthcare. We explored how MD and MI are defined and measured in healthcare using the structure of a scoping review. Next, we conducted an item-by-item analysis to examine the instruments measuring these constructs. Our results revealed that MD focuses on antecedents, while MI emphasizes symptoms. A key gap across these instruments is the absence of a timeframe or a severity scale for distress. We also identified moral mindfulness and sensitivity to morally demanding situations as a potential third element. Finally, the potential overlap between MI and burnout's emotional exhaustion and cynicism symptoms creates ambiguity in distinguishing whether an individual is experiencing MI, burnout, or both.
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Registered trials
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.