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Moral resilience and moral injury of nurse leaders during crisis situations: A qualitative descriptive analysis
Background. During a public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse leaders coordinate timely high-quality care, maintain profit margins, and ensure regulatory compliance while supporting the health and wellbeing of the nursing workforce. In a rapidly changing environment where resources may be scarce, nurse leaders are vulnerable to moral injury; however, organizational effectiveness may help to buffer moral challenges in healthcare leadership, thereby fostering greater moral resilience and reducing turnover intention. Aim. To understand mechanisms by which perceived organizational effectiveness contributes to nurse leaders’ moral wellness (i.e., moral injury and moral resilience) and thereby effects work outcomes (i.e., engagement, burnout, and turnover intention). Methods. A cross-sectional survey of nurse leaders (N = 817) from across the United States was conducted using a snowball methodology, independent t-tests, and structural equation modeling to examine theoretical relationships among moral injury, moral resilience, and organizational effectiveness. Results. Higher ratings on every facet of perceived organizational effectiveness were significantly related to greater moral resilience (p<0.001 for all t-tests) and lower moral injury (p<0.001 for all t-tests) among nurse leaders. Structural equation models indicated both moral resilience and moral injury were significant mediators of the relationship between organizational effectiveness and work outcomes. Moral resilience and moral injury significantly mediated the effect of organizational effectiveness on burnout. Moral resilience was also a significant mediator of the relationship between organizational effectiveness and moral injury. Conclusion. Dismantling organizational patterns and processes in healthcare organizations that contribute to moral injury and lower moral resilience may be important levers for increasing engagement, decreasing burnout, and reducing turnover of nurse leaders.
Background. During a public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse leaders coordinate timely high-quality care, maintain profit margins, and ensure regulatory compliance while supporting the health and wellbeing of the nursing workforce. In a rapidly changing environment where resources may be scarce, nurse leaders are vulnerable to moral injury; however, organizational effectiveness may help to buffer moral challenges in healthcare leadership, thereby fostering greater moral resilience and reducing turnover intention. Aim. To understand mechanisms by which perceived organizational effectiveness contributes to nurse leaders’ moral wellness (i.e., moral injury and moral resilience) and thereby effects work outcomes (i.e., engagement, burnout, and turnover intention). Methods. A cross-sectional survey of nurse leaders (N = 817) from across the United States was conducted using a snowball methodology, independent t-tests, and structural equation modeling to examine theoretical relationships among moral injury, moral resilience, and organizational effectiveness. Results. Higher ratings on every facet of perceived organizational effectiveness were significantly related to greater moral resilience (p<0.001 for all t-tests) and lower moral injury (p<0.001 for all t-tests) among nurse leaders. Structural equation models indicated both moral resilience and moral injury were significant mediators of the relationship between organizational effectiveness and work outcomes. Moral resilience and moral injury significantly mediated the effect of organizational effectiveness on burnout. Moral resilience was also a significant mediator of the relationship between organizational effectiveness and moral injury. Conclusion. Dismantling organizational patterns and processes in healthcare organizations that contribute to moral injury and lower moral resilience may be important levers for increasing engagement, decreasing burnout, and reducing turnover of nurse leaders.
Moral distress (MD) is well-documented within the nursing literature and occurs when constraints prevent a correct course of action from being implemented. The measured frequency of MD has increased among nurses over recent years, especially since the COVID-19 Pandemic. MD is less understood among nurse leaders than other populations of nurses. A qualitative systematic review was conducted with the aim to synthesize the experiences of MD among nurse leaders. This review involved a search of three databases (Medline, CINAHL, and APA PsychINFO) which resulted in the retrieval of 303 articles. PRISMA review criteria guided authors during the article review and selection process. Following the review, six articles were identified meeting review criteria and quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Checklist for qualitative studies. No ethical review was required for this systematic review. The six studies included in this review originated from the United States, Brazil, Turkey, and Iran. Leadership roles ranged from unit-based leadership to executive leadership. Assigned quality scores based upon CASP criteria ranged from 6 to 9 (moderate to high quality). Three analytical themes emerged from the synthesis: (1) moral distress is consuming; (2) constrained by the system; and (3) adapt to overcome. The unique contributors of MD among nurse leaders include the leadership role itself and challenges navigating moral situations as they arise. The nurse leader perspective should be considered in the development of future MD interventions.
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in heightened moral distress among health care workers (HCWs) worldwide. Past research has shown that effective leadership may mitigate potential for the development of moral distress. However, no research to date has considered the mechanisms by which leadership might have an influence on moral distress. We sought to evaluate longitudinally whether Canadian HCWs’ perceptions of workplace support and ethical work environment would mediate associations between leadership and moral distress.
Methods
A total of 239 French- and English-speaking Canadian HCWs employed during the COVID-19 pandemic were recruited to participate in a longitudinal online survey. Participants completed measures of organizational and supervisory leadership at baseline and follow-up assessments of workplace support, perceptions of an ethical work environment, and moral distress.
Results
Associations between both organizational and supervisory leadership and moral distress were fully mediated by workplace supports and perceptions of an ethical work environment.
Discussion
To ensure HCW well-being and quality of care, it is important to ensure that HCWs are provided with adequate workplace supports, including manageable work hours, social support, and recognition for efforts, as well as an ethical workplace environment.
Aim
To refine the Rushton Moral Resilience Scale (RMRS) by creating a more concise scale, improving the reliability, particularly of the personal integrity subscale and providing further evidence of validity.
Background
Healthcare workers are exposed to moral adversity in practice. When unable to preserve/restore their integrity, moral suffering ensues. Moral resilience is a resource that may mitigate negative consequences. To better understand mechanisms for doing so, a valid and reliable measurement tool is necessary.
Design
Cross‐sectional survey.
Methods
Participants (N = 1297) had completed ≥1 items on the RMRS as part of the baseline survey of a larger longitudinal study. Item analysis, confirmatory factor analyses, reliability analyses (Cronbach's alpha), and correlations were used to establish reliability and validity of the revised RMRS.
Results
Item and confirmatory factor analysis were used to refine the RMRS from 21 to 16 items. The four‐factor structure (responses to moral adversity, personal integrity, relational integrity and moral efficacy) demonstrated adequate fit in follow‐up confirmatory analyses in the initial and hold‐out sub‐samples. All subscales and the total scale had adequate reliabilities (α ≥ 0.70). A higher‐order factor analysis supports the computation of either subscale scores or a total scale score. Correlations of scores with stress, anxiety, depression and moral distress provide evidence of the scale's validity. Reliability of the personal integrity subscale improved.
Conclusion and Implications
The RMRS‐16 demonstrates adequate reliability and validity, particularly the personal integrity subscale. Moral resilience is an important lever for reducing consequences when confronted with ethical challenges in practice. Improved reliability of the four subscales and having a shorter overall scale allow for targeted application and will facilitate further research and intervention development.
Patient/Public Contribution
Data came from a larger study of Canadian healthcare workers from multiple healthcare organizations who completed a survey about their experiences during COVID‐19.
Background
The 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic placed unprecedented strains on the U.S. health care system, putting health care workers (HCWs) at increased risk for experiencing moral injury (MI). Moral resilience (MR), the ability to preserve or restore integrity, has been proposed as a resource to mitigate the detrimental effects of MI among HCWs.
Objectives
The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of MI among HCWs, to identify the relationship among factors that predict MI, and to determine whether MR can act as buffer against it.
Design
Web-based exploratory survey.
Setting/Subjects
HCWs from a research network in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region.
Measurements
Survey items included: our outcome, Moral Injury Symptoms Scale–Health Professional (MISS-HP), and predictors including demographics, items derived from the Rushton Moral Resilience Scale (RMRS), and ethical concerns index (ECI).
Results
Sixty-five percent of 595 respondents provided COVID-19 care. The overall prevalence of clinically significant MI in HCWs was 32.4%; nurses reporting the highest occurrence. Higher scores on each of the ECI items were significantly positively associated with higher MI symptoms (p < 0.05). MI among HCWs was significantly related to the following: MR score, ECI score, religious affiliation, and having ≥20 years in their profession. MR was a moderator of the effect of years of experience on MI.
Conclusions
HCWs are experiencing MI during the pandemic. MR offers a promising individual resource to buffer the detrimental impact of MI. Further research is needed to understand how to cultivate MR, reduce ECI, and understand other systems level factors to prevent MI symptoms in U.S. HCWs.
Background:
Health care interprofessionals face competing obligations to their patients, employers, and themselves. When ethical conflicts ensue and competing obligations cannot be resolved, health care interprofessionals have reported experiencing symptoms of burnout, moral distress, and other types of moral suffering. Recently, moral resilience or "the capacity of an individual to sustain or restore their integrity in response to moral adversity," has been proposed as a resource to address moral suffering while contributing to well-being.
Objectives:
Develop and validate an instrument to measure moral resilience.
Design:
Phase one: item development and expert review. Phase two: focus groups with health care interprofessionals to refine items. Phase three: psychometric testing.
Setting/Subjects:
Seven hundred twenty-three health care interprofessionals participated; inclusion criteria included being a chaplain, nurse, physician, or social worker, and having practiced at least 1 year. Participants were recruited from seven academic and community hospitals in the Eastern United States.
Results:
One hundred items were created for expert review. Following focus groups to refine items, 35 items remained for psychometric testing. Eighteen items were removed following item analysis. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the remaining items suggested a four-factor solution, titled Responses to Moral Adversity, Personal Integrity, Moral Efficacy, and Relational Integrity, respectively. Overall reliability was α = 0.84. The Rushton Moral Resilience Scale (RMRS) demonstrated convergent validity with the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale-10 and criterion validity with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey.
Conclusion:
The RMRS demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability. Examining the factor structure of moral resilience contributes to burgeoning moral resilience science and enables future research. Moral Resilience offers a promising pathway to support interprofessionals' integrity even when faced with ethical challenges.
This study aims to develop and assess the psychometric properties of a measure of moral injury (MI) symptoms for identifying clinically significant MI in health professionals (HPs), one that might be useful in the current COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. A total of 181 HPs (71% physicians) were recruited from Duke University Health Systems in Durham, North Carolina. Internal reliability of the Moral Injury Symptom Scale-Healthcare Professionals version (MISS-HP) was examined, along with factor analytic, discriminant, and convergent validity. A cutoff score was identified from a receiver operator curve (ROC) that best identified individuals with significant impairment in social or occupational functioning. The 10-item MISS-HP measures 10 theoretically grounded dimensions of MI assessing betrayal, guilt, shame, moral concerns, religious struggle, loss of religious/spiritual faith, loss of meaning/purpose, difficulty forgiving, loss of trust, and self-condemnation (score range 10–100). Internal reliability of the MISS-HP was 0.75. PCA identified three factors, which was confirmed by CFA, explaining 56.8% of the variance. Discriminant validity was demonstrated by modest correlations (r’s = 0.25–0.37) with low religiosity, depression, and anxiety symptoms, whereas convergent validity was evident by strong correlations with clinician burnout (r = 0.57) and with another multi-item measure of MI symptoms (r = 0.65). ROC characteristics indicated that a score of 36 or higher was 84% sensitive and 93% specific for identifying MI symptoms causing moderate to extreme problems with family, social, and occupational functioning. The MISS-HP is a reliable and valid measure of moral injury symptoms in health professionals that can be used in clinical practice to screen for MI and monitor response to treatment, as well as when conducting research that evaluates interventions to treat MI in HPs.
Thematic analysis is widely used in qualitative psychology research, and in this article, we present a particular style of thematic analysis known as Template Analysis. We outline the technique and consider its epistemological position, then describe three case studies of research projects which employed Template Analysis to illustrate the diverse ways it can be used. Our first case study illustrates how the technique was employed in data analysis undertaken by a team of researchers in a large-scale qualitative research project. Our second example demonstrates how a qualitative study that set out to build on mainstream theory made use of the a priori themes (themes determined in advance of coding) permitted in Template Analysis. Our final case study shows how Template Analysis can be used from an interpretative phenomenological stance. We highlight the distinctive features of this style of thematic analysis, discuss the kind of research where it may be particularly appropriate, and consider possible limitations of the technique. We conclude that Template Analysis is a flexible form of thematic analysis with real utility in qualitative psychology research.
In today's competitive global economy, organizations sometimes must make difficult, even distressing changes. For them to be successful, trust is vital. After all, business is conducted via relationships, and trust is the foundation to effective relationships. This book is about trust; the power when it exists, the problems when it doesn't, the pain when it is betrayed, and how to restore it. Drawing on years of research and experience with organizations worldwide, the authors provide a simple yet comprehensive approach to trust that shows how to discuss it constructively, identifies behaviors that build or break trust, and describes steps to rebuild trust and sustain it even through periods of change. This revised, expanded edition features new examples and practical tips, tools, quizzes, and exercises to help readers create work environments where trust grows so that people feel good about what they do, relationships are energized, and productivity and profits accelerate.
In this paper we describe a research project in nursing ethics aimed at exploring the meaning of ethics for nurses providing direct care with clients. This was a practice-based project in which participants who were staff nurses, nurses in advanced practice, and students in nursing were asked to tell us (or describe to us) how they thought about ethics in their practice, and what ethical practice meant to them. We then undertook to analyze, describe and understand the enactment of ethical practice, the opportunities for and barriers to such enactment, as well as the resources nurses need for ethical practice. We drew out implications of these findings for nursing leaders. We identified practice realities that create a climate for ethical or moral distress, and the way in which nurses attempt to maintain their moral agency. Practice realities included nurses' ethical concerns about policies guiding care; the financial, human and temporal resources available for care; and the power and conflicting loyalties nurses encounter inproviding good care. Maintaining moral agency involved use of a variety of ethical resources and the identification of resources needed to provide good care, as well as the processes used to enact moral agency. Nurse leaders are also moral agents. Important implications of these findings for nursing leaders are that they need moral courage to be self-reflective, to name their own moral distress, and to act so that their nursing staff are able to be moral agents. Nurse leaders need to be the moral compass for nurses, using their power as a positive force to promote, provide and sustain quality practice environments for safe, competent and ethical practice.
Objective:
The aim of this study is to examine the mediating roles of organizational trust and structural empowerment on the speak-up behavior of oncology nurses.
Background:
Organizational trust can create opportunities for a good working environment. Structural empowerment is an important factor affecting the speak-up behavior of nurses. The intermediary roles of organizational trust and structural empowerment on speak-up behavior are not specific.
Methods:
A correlational descriptive research design was used, and 232 nurses from 2 different hospital levels (the Ministry of Health hospital and university hospital) responded to 4 questionnaires.
Result:
The results reflect that organizational trust and structural empowerment are a factor on nurses' speak-up behavior.
Conclusion:
The findings demonstrate that a work environment where organizational trust is developed and a structural empowerment framework is in place contributes to nurses' speak-up behavior among oncology nurses.
Goal:
Moral distress literature is firmly rooted in the nursing and clinician experience, with a paucity of literature that considers the extent to which moral distress affects clinical and administrative healthcare leaders. Moreover, the little evidence that has been collected on this phenomenon has not been systematically mapped to identify key areas for both theoretical and practical elaboration. We conducted a scoping review to frame our understanding of this largely unexplored dynamic of moral distress and better situate our existing knowledge of moral distress and leadership.
Methods:
Using moral distress theory as our conceptual framework, we evaluated recent literature on moral distress and leadership to understand how prior studies have conceptualized the effects of moral distress. Our search yielded 1,640 total abstracts. Further screening with the PRISMA process resulted in 72 included articles.
Principal findings:
Our scoping review found that leaders-not just their employees- personally experience moral distress. In addition, we identified an important role for leaders and organizations in addressing the theoretical conceptualization and practical effects of moral distress.
Practical applications:
Although moral distress is unlikely to ever be eliminated, the literature in this review points to a singular need for organizational responses that are intended to intervene at the level of the organization itself, not just at the individual level. Best practices require creating stronger organizational cultures that are designed to mitigate moral distress. This can be achieved through transparency and alignment of personal, professional, and organizational values.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and amplified the longstanding occupational circumstances of nurses. In this article, the authors provide updates to their 2020 institutional recommendations and craft a national plan to tackle burnout and moral suffering.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to explore relationships between organizational factors and moral injury among healthcare workers and the impact of perceptions of their leaders and organizations during COVID-19.
Background:
COVID-19 placed healthcare workers at risk for moral injury, which often involves feeling betrayed by people with authority and can impact workplace culture.
Methods:
Secondary data from a Web-based survey of mid-Atlantic healthcare workers were analyzed using mixed methods. Data were synthesized using the Reina Trust & Betrayal Model.
Results:
Fifty-five percent (n = 328/595) of respondents wrote comments. Forty-one percent (n = 134/328) of commenters had moral injury scores of 36 or higher. Three themes emerged: organizational infrastructure, support from leaders, and palliative care involvement. Respondents outlined organizational remedies, which were organized into 5 domains.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest healthcare workers feel trust was breached by their organizations' leaders during COVID-19. Further study is needed to understand intersections between organizational factors and moral injury to enhance trust within healthcare organizations.
The coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in turbulent times challenging nurse leaders to adopt, adapt, and develop new leadership competencies to navigate current and future challenges. In never-imagined approaches, nurse leaders have responded to a different type of crisis management. In this new era, nursing leadership will need competencies to reshape the future of nursing and nurses' role in caring for patients, families, and promotion of healthy communities along with a focus on reducing health disparities. The pandemic has drawn critical focus on the health and well-being needs of nurses. The American Organization for Nursing Leadership and the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing have offered insights of nursing leadership competencies critical for practice and education in shaping the future.
Aims and objectives:
The aim of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe common characteristics and themes of the concept of moral resilience as reported by inter-professional clinicians in healthcare.
Background:
Research has provided an abundance of data on moral distress with limited research to resolve and help negate the detrimental effects of moral distress. This calls for much needed research on how to mitigate the negative consequences of moral distress that plague nurses and other healthcare providers. One promising direction is to build resilience as an individual strategy concurrently with interventions to build a culture of ethical practice.
Design/methods:
Qualitative descriptive methods were used to analyze descriptive definitions provided by 184 inter-professional clinicians in healthcare attending educational programs in various locations as well as a small group of 23 professionals with backgrounds such as chaplaincy and non-healthcare providers.
Results:
Three primary themes and three sub-themes emerged from the data. The primary themes are Integrity-personal and relational, and buoyancy. The subthemes are self-regulation, self-stewardship and moral efficacy.
Conclusions:
Individual healthcare providers and healthcare systems can use this research to help negate the detrimental effects of moral distress by finding ways to develop interventions to cultivate moral resilience. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Throughout history, warriors have been confronted with moral and ethical challenges and modern unconventional and guerilla wars amplify these challenges. Potentially morally injurious events, such as perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations may be deleterious in the long-term, emotionally, psychologically, behaviorally, spiritually, and socially (what we label as moral injury). Although there has been some research on the consequences of unnecessary acts of violence in war zones, the lasting impact of morally injurious experience in war remains chiefly unaddressed. To stimulate a critical examination of moral injury, we review the available literature, define terms, and offer a working conceptual framework and a set of intervention strategies designed to repair moral injury.
This paper is a description of inductive and deductive content analysis.
Content analysis is a method that may be used with either qualitative or quantitative data and in an inductive or deductive way. Qualitative content analysis is commonly used in nursing studies but little has been published on the analysis process and many research books generally only provide a short description of this method.
When using content analysis, the aim was to build a model to describe the phenomenon in a conceptual form. Both inductive and deductive analysis processes are represented as three main phases: preparation, organizing and reporting. The preparation phase is similar in both approaches. The concepts are derived from the data in inductive content analysis. Deductive content analysis is used when the structure of analysis is operationalized on the basis of previous knowledge.
Inductive content analysis is used in cases where there are no previous studies dealing with the phenomenon or when it is fragmented. A deductive approach is useful if the general aim was to test a previous theory in a different situation or to compare categories at different time periods.
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