Exploring factors of moral injury, post traumatic stress disorder and burnout in healthcare staff

Abstract

Recent research has reported a high prevalence of adverse mental health outcomes in healthcare staff following the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current piece of work explores psychological wellbeing in healthcare staff during the COVIID-19 pandemic. The meta-analysis aims to determine the relationships between burnout and its dimensions on turnover intention among healthcare staff working during the COVID-19 pandemic. 745 publications were identified through targeted literature searches in December 2023. This resulted in the inclusion of 26 studies and a total of 9413 healthcare staff. Four correlational meta‐analyses on the relationship between turnover intention and total burnout, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment using random effects models were conducted.

The empirical literature sought to identify whether post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moral injury during the pandemic mediated the relationship between initial risk/protective factors and post-pandemic levels of burnout and PTSD. This study conducted secondary data analysis on longitudinal data from three time points of the Northern Ireland COVID-19 Staff Wellbeing Survey from February 2021 to May 2023. Path analysis was used to test models in which exposure to specific healthcare occupational experiences at the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic were hypothesized to influence post-pandemic burnout and PTSD, with paths mediated by moral injury and PTSD.

Thesis is embargoed until 31st July 2027.

Date of Award	Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	Business Services Organisation
Supervisor	Kevin Dyer (Supervisor), David Curran (Supervisor), Julie-Ann Jordan (Supervisor) & Donncha Hanna (Supervisor)