https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/health-care-workers-are-scared-sad-exhausted-mdash-and-angry/ > Front line health care professionals, particularly nurses, physician assistants and doctors, are experiencing a range of complex emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. They risk their lives to save others. They place their loved ones at risk because of their exposure. This makes them fearful. They are forced to make hard decisions concerning life and death, and witness and support those patients die alone and often painfully. This makes them sad. This is the state of affairs in a number of hot spots within the United States and around the world. But there is another common emotion they may be experiencing that is less talked about: anger. > Front line workers’ anger stems from potentially morally injurious situations. Moral injury is commonly defined as the strong feelings resulting from violating one’s core moral beliefs. Many scholars focus on the distress resulting from committing acts that go against one’s moral code. However, Jonathan Shay, a U.S. military psychiatrist, originally defined moral injury as betrayal of what is right by leaders in a high-stakes situation. This definition of moral injury is more appropriate for the COVID-19 pandemic because our leaders, from hospital administrators to the President, have failed us and betrayed our trust. Studies find that low trust is associated with more clinician stress and may compromise patient care.