Table 1.

Selected Internal and External Approaches to Support an Ethical Environment, Moral Agency, and Clinician-Staff Well-Being

Internal Approaches	Benefits
1.Explicit policies to protect staff from harm (e.g., breaks and rest periods, staffing, use of personal protective equipment; limits to the number of hours worked per shift)	•Respects staff, protects their well-being, and enhances their contributions to quality patient care
2.Access to palliative care, ethics consultative service, chaplaincy, and other In-house resources	•Promotes organizational transparency and commitment to supporting patients, families, and staff
3.Innovative resources: Virtual moral resilience rounds; Resilience in stressful events (RISE); Moral distress consultative service	•Recognizes unique ethical challenges faced by clinicians and innovative mechanisms to foster well-being
4.Use of Artificial Intelligence: Robotics	•Advances solutions when physical distancing is required and aids nursing staff by transporting supplies, disinfecting rooms, and using telemedicine technology to communicate with patients and families (Murphy, Adams, & Gandudi, 2020)
Selected External Approaches	Benefits
1.Medical and nursing students providing childcare	•Provides basic human needs for clinicians to support their well-being, lessen worries and anxieties over children, strengthens, supports, and protects their rights
2.Hospital systems providing temporary housing
3.Volunteers delivering food
4.Legislation to protect the rights of essential workers