I do not know if this author is a doctor, nurse, or some other provider in England’s National Health Service (NHS), but it does strike at one of the [many] problems of dealing with moral injury: it tends to strip the person of their humanity, leaving them bereft in the soul. These two stanza’s of her poem touch upon this aspect:
Fifty thousand deaths and rising, it is all we fear, But there are many others we fail to see. Of patients failed by a system of care, And a daily reminder of moral injury. We don our armour and put up a wall, And distance ourselves from suffering. Effortless to stay detached, by means of a call, No hand, no touch, no tender embracing.
This holiday season, don’t lose your humanity. Those suffering from moral injury, take a look at the armor you are wearing: is it serving you or just weighing you down? May you find your own humanity again in these blighted times.
Read the whole poem here.