Building resilience in the face of moral suffering
In recent years, the issues of moral injury and moral suffering have become widely discussed within the field of nursing. These conversations have taken on particular urgency as the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many nurses to death and patient suffering on an unprecedented scale.
Our guest for this episode is Dr. Cynda Rushton, a Professor of Clinical Ethics at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and School of Nursing. After beginning her career in the pediatric ICU, Dr. Rushton became acutely aware of the moral suffering that clinicians face in the course of doing their jobs — suffering that she says often goes unacknowledged. She eventually decided to pursue a career in bioethics, and has dedicated her professional life to helping nurses and nurse leaders find ways to build their resilience.
In her conversation with Dan, Dr. Rushton talks about the interventions that she thinks can best help nurses meet the unique challenges that come from working at the bedside today and how to maintain their integrity in the face of moral suffering.
Links to recommended reading:
- Moral Resilience Transforming Moral Suffering in Healthcare
- Johns Hopkins Institute of Bioethics
- How Johns Hopkins University Improved Nurse Resilience by Addressing Moral Distress
- The Burden of Caring: The Moral Injury of COVID-19
The full transcript for this episode can be found here: http://www.trustedhealth.com/the-handoff-podcast/cynda-rushton
