Reflections: When Moral Injury and Compassion Fatigue Strike: Apologize to Patients, Forgive Ourselves.

This pandemic has caused trauma to so many, including professionals who stand guard ready to handle crises, such as child and adolescent psychiatrists like me working in the emergency department. We have seen acuity increase in emergency rooms across the country ² ; boarders are waiting longer for beds on inpatient units ³ -all while the country has been systematically shutting down alternative levels of care, closing doors to alternative options to decant our already straining emergency rooms. ⁴ .
(Copyright © 2023 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)