Miss Rongqing Shao1, Mrs Yu Wang1, Mr Roger Worthington2
1Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China, 2University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom
Biography:
Shao is a master’s student with research interests in medical ethics, moral distress, and moral injury, and has been focusing on clinical ethical dilemmas and the well-being of healthcare professionals. Her articles have been published in the Chinese Journal of Medical Ethics, Medicine and Philosophy, and Qeios, an international platform for academic exchange. She has participated in the 72nd All-Russian Scientific Conference of Young Scientists and Students with International Participation and the 22nd and 23rd sessions of the Medical Ethics Section of the Chinese Medical Association and has given oral presentations at the student forums.
Wang is a professor at Harbin Medical University with research interests in medical ethics and medical professionalism. Wang has previously been a visiting scholar at the University of Auckland and has participated in several international conferences on medical ethics. Wang does research in applied philosophy, social and political philosophy, and ethics.
Dr Roger Worthington is a consultant in ethics, medical education, and global health. He is Co-chair of the HESI SDG Publishers Compact Fellows group and a former adjunct at Yale University (USA) and Bond University (Australia). He has held several academic positions and consultancy roles in the UK and beyond and lectured extensively around the world. He has a PhD in philosophy from the State University of New York (Buffalo, USA) and an MA in medical ethics from Keele University.
Abstract:
Background and Aims:
Moral injury – the betrayal of one’s moral and professional values – is a negative factor affecting physicians’ well-being, however, few studies have examined moral injury and its predictors in healthcare professionals. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the prevalence, associated factors, and predictors of moral injury in Chinese physicians.
Methods:
This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted from September 14 to October 27, 2023, in mainland China. A total of 549 physicians completed the online self-administered questionnaire through the WeChat app. The 10-item Moral Injury Symptom Scale-Health Professional (MISS-HP) was used to assess the severity of moral injury symptoms, and the Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES) was used to measure exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs).
Results:
The results of the study showed a mean score of 42.07 (SD=13.67) for the ten-item MISS-HP, the prevalence of moral injury among the physicians was 31.6%. Using multiple linear regression, we identified five main predictors of moral injury: exposure to PMIEs, job dissatisfaction, lack of organizational support, witnessing patient suffering or death, and mental health needs.
Conclusions:
Chinese physicians reported experiencing different types of PMIEs and suffering from moral injury-related symptoms in their clinical practice. The findings contribute to the understanding of risk factors for moral injury among physicians and highlight the importance of intervening. This is important because moral injury can negatively affect the well-being of healthcare professionals, which in turn can affect the stability of the healthcare team and the quality of care they provide.