Carey, L.B. & Hodgson, T. (2018) Spiritual Care and Moral Injury: 21st Century Issues for Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Practitioners. 4th International Spirituality in Healthcare Conference: "Spirituality at the Crossroads", 20-21 June, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Moral injury is gaining increasing notoriety as a latent syndrome beyond PTSD that can inflict not only military personnel returning from overseas deployments but others within our community who have encountered ‘high stakes’ traumatic and bioethical situations (e.g., doctors, nurses, paramedics and other allied health practitioners including chaplains). The acknowledgement of ‘moral injury’ is fundamentally a contemporary recognition that trauma (in its various forms) can cause much deeper inflictions and afflictions than just physiological or psychological harm, for there may also be moral wounds affecting the ‘soul’ that are far more difficult to heal—if at all! What is moral injury? Are spiritual care interventions appropriate? Is there a role for physicians, nurses and allied health practitioners in providing spiritual care to address moral injury? This presentation explores moral injury and considers the potential role of health care personnel providing appropriate holistic care.
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