Exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers: prevalence, correlates, and impact on job attrition
ABSTRACTIntroduction: Healthcare workers (HCWs) often experience morally challenging situations in their workplaces that may contribute to job turnover and compromised well-being. This study aimed to characterize the nature and frequency of moral stressors experienced by HCWs during the COVID-19 pan...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2024.2306102 |
| _version_ | 1797318643511459840 |
|---|---|
| author | Anthony Nazarov Callista A. Forchuk Stephanie A. Houle Kevin T. Hansen Rachel A. Plouffe Jenny J. W. Liu Kylie S. Dempster Tri Le Ilyana Kocha Fardous Hosseiny Ann Heesters J. Don Richardson |
| author_facet | Anthony Nazarov Callista A. Forchuk Stephanie A. Houle Kevin T. Hansen Rachel A. Plouffe Jenny J. W. Liu Kylie S. Dempster Tri Le Ilyana Kocha Fardous Hosseiny Ann Heesters J. Don Richardson |
| author_sort | Anthony Nazarov |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACTIntroduction: Healthcare workers (HCWs) often experience morally challenging situations in their workplaces that may contribute to job turnover and compromised well-being. This study aimed to characterize the nature and frequency of moral stressors experienced by HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic, examine their influence on psychosocial-spiritual factors, and capture the impact of such factors and related moral stressors on HCWs’ self-reported job attrition intentions.Methods: A sample of 1204 Canadian HCWs were included in the analysis through a web-based survey platform whereby work-related factors (e.g. years spent working as HCW, providing care to COVID-19 patients), moral distress (captured by MMD-HP), moral injury (captured by MIOS), mental health symptomatology, and job turnover due to moral distress were assessed.Results: Moral stressors with the highest reported frequency and distress ratings included patient care requirements that exceeded the capacity HCWs felt safe/comfortable managing, reported lack of resource availability, and belief that administration was not addressing issues that compromised patient care. Participants who considered leaving their jobs (44%; N = 517) demonstrated greater moral distress and injury scores. Logistic regression highlighted burnout (AOR = 1.59; p < .001), moral distress (AOR = 1.83; p < .001), and moral injury due to trust violation (AOR = 1.30; p = .022) as significant predictors of the intention to leave one’s job.Conclusion: While it is impossible to fully eliminate moral stressors from healthcare, especially during exceptional and critical scenarios like a global pandemic, it is crucial to recognize the detrimental impacts on HCWs. This underscores the urgent need for additional research to identify protective factors that can mitigate the impact of these stressors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:54:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-19605d7000f14151a1d4e57a68c00a78 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2000-8066 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:54:20Z |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
| spelling | doaj.art-19605d7000f14151a1d4e57a68c00a782024-02-09T15:14:42ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Psychotraumatology2000-80662024-12-0115110.1080/20008066.2024.2306102Exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers: prevalence, correlates, and impact on job attritionAnthony Nazarov0Callista A. Forchuk1Stephanie A. Houle2Kevin T. Hansen3Rachel A. Plouffe4Jenny J. W. Liu5Kylie S. Dempster6Tri Le7Ilyana Kocha8Fardous Hosseiny9Ann Heesters10J. Don Richardson11MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaAtlas Institute for Veterans and Families, Ottawa, CanadaDepartment of Clinical and Organizational Ethics, University Health Network, Toronto, CanadaMacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, CanadaABSTRACTIntroduction: Healthcare workers (HCWs) often experience morally challenging situations in their workplaces that may contribute to job turnover and compromised well-being. This study aimed to characterize the nature and frequency of moral stressors experienced by HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic, examine their influence on psychosocial-spiritual factors, and capture the impact of such factors and related moral stressors on HCWs’ self-reported job attrition intentions.Methods: A sample of 1204 Canadian HCWs were included in the analysis through a web-based survey platform whereby work-related factors (e.g. years spent working as HCW, providing care to COVID-19 patients), moral distress (captured by MMD-HP), moral injury (captured by MIOS), mental health symptomatology, and job turnover due to moral distress were assessed.Results: Moral stressors with the highest reported frequency and distress ratings included patient care requirements that exceeded the capacity HCWs felt safe/comfortable managing, reported lack of resource availability, and belief that administration was not addressing issues that compromised patient care. Participants who considered leaving their jobs (44%; N = 517) demonstrated greater moral distress and injury scores. Logistic regression highlighted burnout (AOR = 1.59; p < .001), moral distress (AOR = 1.83; p < .001), and moral injury due to trust violation (AOR = 1.30; p = .022) as significant predictors of the intention to leave one’s job.Conclusion: While it is impossible to fully eliminate moral stressors from healthcare, especially during exceptional and critical scenarios like a global pandemic, it is crucial to recognize the detrimental impacts on HCWs. This underscores the urgent need for additional research to identify protective factors that can mitigate the impact of these stressors.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2024.2306102Moral stressorshealthcare workersjob attritionmoral distressmoral injuryEstresores morales |
| spellingShingle | Anthony Nazarov Callista A. Forchuk Stephanie A. Houle Kevin T. Hansen Rachel A. Plouffe Jenny J. W. Liu Kylie S. Dempster Tri Le Ilyana Kocha Fardous Hosseiny Ann Heesters J. Don Richardson Exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers: prevalence, correlates, and impact on job attrition European Journal of Psychotraumatology Moral stressors healthcare workers job attrition moral distress moral injury Estresores morales |
| title | Exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers: prevalence, correlates, and impact on job attrition |
| title_full | Exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers: prevalence, correlates, and impact on job attrition |
| title_fullStr | Exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers: prevalence, correlates, and impact on job attrition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers: prevalence, correlates, and impact on job attrition |
| title_short | Exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers: prevalence, correlates, and impact on job attrition |
| title_sort | exposure to moral stressors and associated outcomes in healthcare workers prevalence correlates and impact on job attrition |
| topic | Moral stressors healthcare workers job attrition moral distress moral injury Estresores morales |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20008066.2024.2306102 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anthonynazarov exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT callistaaforchuk exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT stephanieahoule exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT kevinthansen exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT rachelaplouffe exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT jennyjwliu exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT kyliesdempster exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT trile exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT ilyanakocha exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT fardoushosseiny exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT annheesters exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition AT jdonrichardson exposuretomoralstressorsandassociatedoutcomesinhealthcareworkersprevalencecorrelatesandimpactonjobattrition |