Moral Distress among Frontline Physicians and Nurses in the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

Marina Maffoni, Elena Fiabane (), Ilaria Setti, Sara Martelli, Caterina Pistarini and Valentina Sommovigo
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Marina Maffoni: Psychology Unit of Montescano Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, IRCCS, 27040 Montescano, Italy
Elena Fiabane: Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine of Genova Nervi Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, 16167 Genova, Italy
Ilaria Setti: Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, Unit of Applied Psychology, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Sara Martelli: Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, Unit of Applied Psychology, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Caterina Pistarini: Department of Neurorehabilitation of Pavia Institute, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri, IRCCS, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Valentina Sommovigo: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-23

Abstract: During the COVID-19 health emergency, healthcare professionals faced several ethical demanding job stressors, becoming at particular risk of moral distress. To date, only a few scales have been developed to evaluate moral distress among frontline professionals working in contact with COVID-19 patients. Moreover, although many healthcare professionals from various disciplines were converted to COVID-19 patient care, no study has yet analyzed whether the resulting change in duties might represent a risk factor for moral distress. Thus, this study aimed to investigate how and when the change in duties during the emergency would be related to healthcare professionals’ psycho-physical malaise. To this aim, a first Italian adaptation of the Stress of Conscience Questionnaire (SCQ) was provided. In total, 272 Italian healthcare professionals participated in this cross-sectional study. Healthcare professionals who had to perform tasks outside their usual clinical duties were more likely to experience moral distress and then psycho-physical malaise. This was particularly likely for those who were extremely concerned about becoming infected with the virus. The results also indicated that the Italian adaptation of the SCQ had a one-factor solution composed of six items. This study provides the first Italian adaptation of SCQ and practical suggestions on how supporting professionals’ well-being during emergencies.

Keywords: moral distress; COVID-19; change in duties; fear of being infected; stress of conscience; healthcare; psychophysical malaise (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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