Understanding and addressing moral distress caused by COVID-19
Strategies for dealing with moral stress
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria's health care workers are likely to encounter moral distress, anxiety, and regret arising from ethical challenges in cancer care.
Professor Clare Delany, Clinical Ethicist and Chair of the Victorian COVID-19 Cancer Network (VCCN) Clinical Ethics Expert Advisory Group, explains that moral distress typically occurs when a clinician has to implement a decision made by somebody else, and which they believe is wrong. It is different to “ordinary” distress about a tragic situation, such as the death of a patient despite everyone’s best efforts. Moral anxiety refers to a state of being worried or afraid of a decision that may have to be made in the future, and moral regret refers to a feeling that an important value was not fulfilled.
