Untangling Difficult Emotions on the Job

Being a nurse or midwife involves significant emotional demands that can increase during difficult times (e.g., a pandemic). People experience very different emotions after the same events, despite choosing the same course of action. The need to always be “on the job” can significantly increase stress for nurses and midwives, which is known as emotional labour. Nurses and midwives are sometimes forced to make undesirable decisions to achieve the best care possible based on the available resources for their patients, which can result in moral injury. Employee silence in health care challenges the role of nurses and midwives as patient advocates