Most clinicians in the U.S. safety net practices reported "moral distress" during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an Aug. 26 report from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
The distress of medical professionals working in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic is well documented in media and supported by academic research. However, equal attention has not been given to the moral distress of clinicians who worked in other settings during the same period.
More than 72 percent of clinicians reported feeling either mild or intense levels of moral distress during the first year of the pandemic due to limits on the care they could provide for their patients, witnessing their patients struggle, and challenging work situations. Supporting data came from more than 2,000 primary care, dental and behavioral health clinicians working with low-income patients in safety net clinics.
"Most people receive their health care in office settings, and many clinicians working there experienced moral distress from how the pandemic limited the care they could provide to patients and from witnessing the pandemic’s effects on patients and coworkers," said the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine physician and researcher Donald Pathman, MD, MPH.
Moral distress was defined by the survey as when one witnesses or does things that contradict deeply held moral and ethical beliefs and expectations.
Among survey respondents, 28.4 percent reported no moral distress, 44.8 percent reported mild or uncomfortable levels, and 26.8 percent described their moral distress as "distressing" or "Intense."
The report notes that moral distress contributes to burnout, compassion fatigue, disengagement from patients and job turnover.