School of Psychological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
N Z Vet J. 2024 Jul;72(4):201-211. doi: 10.1080/00480169.2024.2342903. Epub 2024 Apr 29.
To generate a taxonomy of potentially morally injurious events (PMIE) encountered in veterinary care and develop an instrument to measure moral distress and posttraumatic growth following exposure to PMIE in the veterinary population.
Development and preliminary evaluation of the Moral Distress-Posttraumatic Growth Scale for Veterinary Professionals (MD-PTG-VP) employed data from veterinary professionals (veterinarians, veterinary nurses, veterinary technicians) from Australia and New Zealand across three phases: (1) item generation, (2) content validation, and (3) construct validation. In Phase 1 respondents (n = 46) were asked whether they had experienced any of six PMIE and to identify any PMIE not listed that they had experienced. In Phase 2 a different group of respondents (n = 11) assessed a list of 10 PMIE for relevance, clarity and appropriateness. In Phase 3 the final instrument was tested with a third group of respondents (n = 104) who also completed the Short Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Rating Interview (SPRINT), a measure of posttraumatic stress, and the Stress-Related Growth Scale-Short Form (SRGS-SF) a measure of perceived posttraumatic growth. Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated between respondent scores on each of the MD-PTG-VP subscales, the SPRINT, and the SRGS-SF to assess construct validity.
A 10-item taxonomy of PMIE encountered in veterinary care was generated in Phase 1. Items were deemed relevant, clear and appropriate by veterinary professionals in Phase 2. These were included in the developed instrument which measures frequency and impact of exposure to 10 PMIE, yielding three subscale scores (exposure frequency, moral distress, and posttraumatic growth). Assessment of construct validity by measuring correlation with SPRINT and SRGS-SF indicated satisfactory validity.
The MD-PTG-VP provides an informative tool that can be employed to examine professionals' mental health and wellbeing following exposure to PMIE frequently encountered in animal care. Further evaluation is required to ascertain population norms and confirm score cut-offs that reflect clinical presentation.
Once fully validated this instrument may be useful to quantify the frequency and intensity of positive and negative aspects of PMIE exposure on veterinary professionals so that accurate population comparisons can be made and changes measured over time.
生成兽医护理中可能涉及道德伤害的事件（PMIE）分类法，并开发一种工具，以衡量兽医人群接触 PMIE 后的道德困境和创伤后成长。
采用澳大利亚和新西兰兽医专业人员（兽医、兽医护士、兽医技术人员）的数据，通过三个阶段开发和初步评估兽医专业人员的道德困境-创伤后成长量表（MD-PTG-VP）：（1）项目生成，（2）内容验证，和（3）结构验证。在第 1 阶段，要求受访者（n=46）回答他们是否经历过任何 6 种 PMIE，并确定他们经历过但未列出的任何 PMIE。在第 2 阶段，另一组受访者（n=11）评估了一份 10 种 PMIE 的清单，以确定其相关性、清晰度和适当性。在第 3 阶段，第三组受访者（n=104）使用最终工具进行测试，他们还完成了简短创伤后应激障碍评定量表（SPRINT），这是一种创伤后应激的衡量标准，以及应激相关成长量表-简短形式（SRGS-SF），这是一种感知创伤后成长的衡量标准。计算了 MD-PTG-VP 各分量表、SPRINT 和 SRGS-SF 上受访者得分之间的斯皮尔曼相关系数，以评估结构效度。
在第 1 阶段生成了兽医护理中遇到的 10 项 PMIE 分类法。在第 2 阶段，兽医专业人员认为这些项目具有相关性、清晰性和适当性。这些项目被纳入开发的工具中，该工具用于衡量接触 10 种 PMIE 的频率和影响，产生三个分量表分数（暴露频率、道德困境和创伤后成长）。通过测量与 SPRINT 和 SRGS-SF 的相关性来评估结构效度，表明具有令人满意的有效性。
MD-PTG-VP 提供了一种信息丰富的工具，可以用来检查专业人员在接触动物护理中经常遇到的 PMIE 后的心理健康和幸福感。需要进一步评估以确定人口正常值并确认反映临床表现的分数截止值。
一旦完全验证，该工具可用于量化兽医专业人员接触 PMIE 的频率和强度的积极和消极方面，以便可以进行准确的人群比较并随着时间的推移进行衡量。
