Collaborative spiritual care for moral injury in the veterans Affairs Healthcare System (VA): Results from a national survey of VA chaplains.
Abstract
The psychospiritual nature of moral injury invites consideration regarding how chaplains
understand the construct and provide care. To identify how chaplains in the VA Healthcare
System conceptualize moral injury, we conducted an anonymous online survey (N = 361; 45% response rate). Chaplains responded to a battery of items and provided
free-text definitions of moral injury that generally aligned with key elements in
the existing literature, though with different emphases. Over 90% of chaplain respondents
indicated that they encounter moral injury in their chaplaincy care, and a similar
proportion agreed that chaplains and mental health professionals should collaborate
in providing care for moral injury. Over one-third of chaplain respondents reported
offering or planning to offer a moral injury group. Separately, nearly one-quarter
indicated present or planned collaboration with mental health to provide groups that
in some manner address moral injury. Previous training in evidence-based and collaborative
care approaches appears to contribute to the likelihood of providing integrated psychosocial-spiritual
care. Results and future directions are discussed, including a description of moral
injury that may be helpful to understand present areas of emphasis in VA chaplains'
care for moral injury.
Type
Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/24754Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1080/08854726.2021.2004847Publication Info
Wortmann, Jennifer H; Nieuwsma, Jason A; King, Heather A; Fernandez, Paola; Jackson,
George L; Smigelsky, Melissa A; ... Meador, Keith G (2021). Collaborative spiritual care for moral injury in the veterans Affairs Healthcare System
(VA): Results from a national survey of VA chaplains. Journal of health care chaplaincy. pp. 1-16. 10.1080/08854726.2021.2004847. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/24754.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
More Info
Show full item recordScholars@Duke
George Lee Jackson
Adjunct Professor in Population Health Sciences
Areas of expertise: Epidemiology, Health Services Research, and Implementation Science
George L. Jackson, Ph.D., MHA is a healthcare epidemiologist and implementation scientist
with a background in health administration. He joined the faculty of the UT Southwestern
Medical Center in February of 2023 as a Professor and Director of the Advancing Implementation
& Improvement Science Program in the Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health. 
Heather Alyse King
Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences
Areas of expertise: Implementation Science, Health Services Research, and Health Measurement
Keith G. Meador
Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Religion and mental health Theology and medicine Psychosocial variables in depression
in the elderly Pharmacoepidemiology in nursing homes
Jason A Nieuwsma
Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Nieuwsma is a clinical psychologist whose interests are broadly related to different
aspects of integrative mental health care. He has conducted work in the areas of health
psychology, primary care-mental health integration, cross-cultural psychology, implementation
science, and extensive work focused on integration of spirituality and health. In
addition to being an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral
Sciences at Duke, Dr. Nieuwsma has served for over a dec
Alphabetical list of authors with Scholars@Duke profiles.

Articles written by Duke faculty are made available through the campus open access policy. For more information see: Duke Open Access Policy
Rights for Collection: Scholarly Articles
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info