Moral Injury: How It Affects Us and Tools to Combat It

• Published in: MedEdPORTAL Vol. 19; p. 11357
• Main Authors: Arquette, Connor, Peicher, Valerie, Ajayi, Antonette, Alvarez, Dora, Mao, Alice, Nguyen, Tram, Sawyer, Anthony, Sears, Connie Martin, Carragee, Eugene J, Floyd, Baraka, Mahanay, Bernadett, Blankenburg, Rebecca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Association of American Medical Colleges 2023
• Subjects: Burnout; Case-Based Learning; Diversity; Equity; Flipped Classroom; Humans; Leadership; Moral Injury; Morals; Original Publication; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Burnout; Inclusion; Diversity; Equity; Case-Based Learning; Flipped Classroom; Moral Injury
• ISSN: 2374-8265; 2374-8265
• DOI: 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11357

Moral injury comprises feelings of guilt, despair, shame, and/or helplessness from having one's morals transgressed. Those underrepresented in health care are more likely to experience moral injury arising from micro- and macroaggressions. This workshop was designed for interprofessional health care providers ranging from students to program leadership to raise awareness about moral injury and provide tools to combat it.
This 75-minute interactive workshop explored moral injury through a health care lens. It included components of lecture, case-based learning, small-group discussion, and individual reflection. Participants completed anonymous postworkshop evaluations, providing data on satisfaction and intention to change practice. We used descriptive statistics to analyze the quantitative data and applied content analysis to the qualitative data.
The workshop was presented at two local academic conferences. Data were collected from 34 out of 60 participants, for a response rate of 57%. Ninety-seven percent of participants felt the workshop helped them define and identify moral injury and was a valuable use of their time, as well as indicating they would apply the information learned in their daily life. One hundred percent would recommend the workshop to a friend or colleague. Almost half felt they could implement strategies to address moral injury after participating in the workshop.
This workshop proved to be a valuable tool to define and discuss moral injury. The materials can be adapted to a broad audience.