The COVID‐19 pandemic has presented many novel situations that have amplified the presence of moral distress in healthcare. With limited resources to protect themselves against the virus and strict safety regulations that alter the way they work, healthcare providers have felt forced to engage in work behaviours that conflicted with their professional and personal sense of right and wrong. Although many providers have experienced moral distress while being physically in the workplace, others suffered while at home. Some healthcare providers worked in facilities that were unable to open during the pandemic due to restrictions, which could contribute to a sense of powerlessness and guilt. The current study assessed whether the ability to see patients each week impacted the relationship between an employee's moral distress and their mental health strain, burnout, and maladaptive coping. A total of 378 healthcare providers responded to weekly surveys over the course of 7 months (April 2020–December 2020). Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to examine the study variables over time. Results showed that moral distress predicted an individual's mental health strain and burnout, even after controlling for the prior week. However, moral distress was not a significant predictor of maladaptive coping. Interestingly, there was not a significant difference between the average ratings of moral distress between those who were able, and those who were not able to see patients, meaning that both groups experienced symptoms of moral distress. However, cross‐level moderation results indicated that the ability to see patients magnified the relationships between moral distress and mental health strain and burnout over time. Implications of the results and recommendations for how moral distress should be addressed among healthcare providers are discussed.

No abstract

Employees in high-risk occupations can experience stigma associated with developing mental health problems and getting treatment for problems that can oftentimes be attributed to traumatic events encountered at work. The present study examined the perceived unit climate of support for mental health as a predictor of changes (over the course of 3 months) in the perceived stigma associated with seeking treatment, positive and negative attitudes toward treatment seeking, and a preference for handling mental health problem oneself, as well as talking with fellow unit members and a mental health professional about a mental health problem. Active-duty military personnel (N = 349 at Time 1, N = 112 matched at Time 2) completed measures assessing unit climate and individual beliefs about treatment at two points in time separated by 3 months. The results of structural equation modeling revealed strong evidence for perceived unit climate of support for mental health at Time 1 predicting a change in perceived stigma and attitudes toward treatment seeking at Time 2. A more positive perceived unit climate of support was associated with decreases in stigma, more positive attitudes toward treatment seeking, and less negative attitudes toward treatment seeking. Among those soldiers with a mental health problem (N = 164), a more positive perceived unit climate for mental health was associated with a greater likelihood of talking with a fellow unit member about the problem and receiving mental health treatment. Implications of the results for unit-level interventions in high-risk occupations are discussed.

The goal of the current study was to examine the interactive effect of perceiving a calling and meaningful work on employee attitudes. Specifically, we explored the multiplicative effect of perceiving a calling and meaningful work on work engagement, affective, and normative occupational commitment using a prospective design. Results indicated that meaningful work moderated the relation between perceiving a calling and affective occupational commitment. Specifically, the effects of perceiving a calling on affective occupational commitment were stronger for those who perceived less, but not more, meaning in their work. The interactive effect of perceiving a calling and meaningful work did not predict work engagement or normative occupational commitment. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Using a 12-week experience sampling design, this study examined the interaction between negative and positive events in predicting work engagement and burnout in a sample of nurses. Additionally, this study explored the moderating effect of affective occupational commitment as a moderator of work events and work engagement/burnout relation. Results indicated that positive and negative events, as well as their interactive effects significantly predicted both work engagement and burnout. In addition, occupational commitment moderated the association between negative events and burnout. Specifically, the association between negative events and burnout was stronger for nurses who reported high occupational commitment. Positive events did not interact with occupational commitment to predict work engagement or burnout. Similarly, occupational commitment did not moderate the link between negative events and work engagement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.