Addressing Moral Injury in Emergency Medicine

Abstract

Moral injury, which is described as the psychological distress that results from actions, or lack of them, that go against one's beliefs or values, has become front and center among issues facing the practice of emergency medicine. Although it predates the COVID-19 outbreak, the pandemic has played a significant role in the increased rate of burnout, and even suicide, among emergency physicians. This paper includes several clinical vignettes to highlight incidents that may occur in the emergency department (ED) whenphysicians experience violations of their moral codes, leading to distress and moral injury. Thesescenarios explore the conflicts posed between competingbioethical principles such as beneficence, nonmaleficence, end-of-life decision-making, medical futility, respect for self-determination (autonomy), resource scarcity and triage, duty to care, and physician impairment. There are significant similarities between moral injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with some authors describing moral injury as a subset of PTSD. We explore these commonalities to provide coping mechanisms and mitigation strategies for those suffering from moral injury. Physicians experiencing moral injury may benefit from the many available evidence-based treatments for PTSD to identify and manage moral injury and to support patient care and personal well-being.