The Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Workers Moral Emotions and Workplace Commitment

Abstract

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a major heath crisis that is continuing to have a profound impact on healthcare organizations worldwide. As infection rates surge, there has been global shortages of personal protective equipment, critical medications, ventilators, and hospital beds, meaning that healthcare workers are facing increasingly difficult workplace situations. In this conceptual study, we argue that these situations can lead to moral emotions of contempt, anger, and disgust. This paper explores these moral emotions and their impact healthcare workers’ organizational commitment in the context of COVID-19. Drawing from the moral emotions and organizational commitment literatures, we develop a process model to demonstrate how healthcare workers’ professional commitment is amplified while their organizational commitment is decreased. The potential for positive organizational outcomes from negative moral emotions is discussed, followed by theoretical and practical contributions of the model, and finally, directions for future research are identified.