Potential sources of moral distress during COVID-19: Perspectives of hospice interdisciplinary teams
Publication Date: 05/16/2022
ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19 on hospice Interdisciplinary team (IDT) members’ self-reported stress and identify possible sources of moral distress.
MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted using Qualtrics to understand the impact of COVID-19 on quality improvement initiative implementation and hospice IDT members’ general and dementia-specific care provision. Directed qualitative content analysis was used to analyze hospice IDT members’ responses from five open-ended survey questions that were indicative of stress and possible moral distress.
Results
The final sample consisted of 101 unique respondents and 175 comments analyzed. Three categories related to sources of moral distress based on hospice IDT member survey responses were identified: (1) impact of telehealth, personal protective equipment (PPE), and visit restrictions on relationships; (2) lack of COVID-19-specific skills; and (3) organizational climate. Sources of moral distress were categorized in 40% of all responses analyzed.