Strengthening Key Protective Factors for Moral Wellbeing

Strengthening What Shields Us – Protective Factors for Moral Wellbeing

Moral injury refers to the emotional, psychological, and spiritual distress caused by external events that conflict with our values, moral code, or ethical principles.

Last week I presented a webinar for members of Speech Pathology Australia about moral injury and how we can support ourselves and our colleagues. Like many health professionals, speech pathologists are reporting higher levels of overwhelm, fear and uncertainty of change, a sense of guilt associated with making decisions that have significant impact on the people with whom they work and a feeling of unfairness and powerlessness associated with the systems in which they work.

The rising tide of moral injury in the health sector isn’t caused by a lack of care or commitment. Quite the opposite. It’s driven by good people working in flawed, under-resourced, and at times psychologically unsafe systems where doing the right thing often feels impossible.

During the webinar I discussed some core strategies to protect ourselves and each other.

One of the strongest protective factors we have is high-quality professional and clinical supervision. Not the kind that simply ticks a box or adds another task to an already crowded schedule,but the kind that is genuinely transformative.

Supervision, when done well, helps us:

• Reflect on our work with a trusted other

• Process the emotional weight of ethical strain

• Reconnect to purpose and professional identity

• Cultivate clinical excellence without sacrificing wellbeing

It also provides a buffer against the wicked problems of our systems including funding cuts, compliance burdens, and challenging workplace dynamics. Supervision offers a place to make sense of what we are carrying and how we are affected, and importantly, how to respond with care for ourselves, not just our clients.

To truly protect professional wellbeing and prevent moral injury, we also need:

• Psychologically safe workplace cultures, where people feel valued, respected and heard

• Skilled, values-aligned leaders who lead with a people lens, not just a productivity lens

• Workplaces committed to learning and reflective practice, not compliance-driven “box-ticking”

• Recognition of self-leadership where employees are supported to take responsibility for their own wellbeing, boundaries and growth and have the space to process emotions.

Protective factors help us stay well. They create the conditions for us to bring our best to our work, to grow through challenges, and to support one another with compassion and clarity.

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