AimsTo explore factors associated with nurses' moral distress during the first COVID‐19 surge and their longer‐term mental health.DesignCross‐sectional, correlational survey study.MethodsRegistered ...nurses were surveyed in September 2020 about their experiences during the first peak month of COVID‐19 using the new, validated, COVID‐19 Moral Distress Scale for Nurses. Nurses' mental health was measured by recently experienced symptoms. Analyses included descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Outcome variables were moral distress and mental health. Explanatory variables were frequency of COVID‐19 patients, leadership communication and personal protective equipment/cleaning supplies access. The sample comprised 307 nurses (43% response rate) from two academic medical centres. ResultsMany respondents had difficulty accessing personal protective equipment. Most nurses reported that hospital leadership communication was transparent, effective and timely. The most distressing situations were the transmission risk to nurses' family members, caring for patients without family members present, and caring for patients dying without family or clergy present. These occurred occasionally with moderate distress. Nurses reported 2.5 days each in the past week of feeling anxiety, withdrawn and having difficulty sleeping. Moral distress decreased with effective communication and access to personal protective equipment. Moral distress was associated with longer‐term mental health.ConclusionPandemic patient care situations are the greatest sources of nurses' moral distress. Effective leadership communication, fewer COVID‐19 patients, and access to protective equipment decrease moral distress, which influences longer‐term mental health.ImpactLittle was known about the impact of COVID‐19 on nurses' moral distress. We found that nurses' moral distress was associated with the volume of care for infected patients, access to personal protective equipment, and communication from leaders. We found that moral distress was associated with longer‐term mental health. Leaders should communicate transparently to decrease nurses' moral distress and the negative effects of global crises on nurses' longer‐term mental health.
Multidisciplinary healthcare workers describe interactions with "difficult" patients that have shaped their lives and their clinical practice. The narrators recall navigating the push-pull of empathy ...and frustration to forge therapeutic patient relationships in inhospitable, under-resourced environments. Their stories offer glimpses into the traumatized people hiding behind "difficult" patient facades. This commentary explores how the narrators engaged in empathy and obligation to build trusting relationships with patients. To protect themselves and their patients, healthcare workers must engage beyond individual clinical duties to help remodel American healthcare. They should be encouraged to advocate for implementation of trauma informed care and to engage in public discourse about transforming healthcare for the good of healthcare workers, patients, and families.
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