Are Your Nurses Experiencing Moral Injury? What You Can Do to Support Your Team

Moral injury occurs when a person feels they must take actions, or witness actions, that violate their deeply held moral beliefs. Nurses, who entered the profession with a calling to care for others, may experience moral injury when they are unable to ensure that patients receive the care they need. When nurses find themselves in situations where they feel they cannot live up to their own values, or where their teams are not meeting high standards of care, they may experience negative feelings about themselves, such as guilt or shame, as well as feelings of being devalued and voiceless, which can lead to distrust of colleagues or of the leaders of their organization.