Moral Injury and Telemental Health Services: An Overview on Clinician Impact

Abstract

Moral injury develops from enduring complex moral conflicts that occur when one's beliefs and values are violated by committing, perpetrating, failing to prevent, or witnessing acts that transgress one's deep moral compass. In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the extraordinary impact to patients and health care systems around the globe, telemental health has rapidly expanded as a means to optimize resource use and comply with social distancing mandates. Social determinants of health, which include financial inequity, have influences on pandemic situations, such as physical distancing and lockdowns, resulting in disproportionate delays in timely mental health diagnosis and management. The current article discusses an overview of how the demands of the pandemic have forced mental health clinicians working in telemental health to face a wide range of complex ethical and moral dilemmas. [ Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 60 (11), 49–54.]