We are here to warn you of an invisible actor that is hurting Texas and national health care at its core. It’s call moral injury. As you read this column, moral injury is directly affecting Corpus Christi residents — contributing to the shortage of physicians in the area via burnout.
Moral injury happens when a doctor’s or nurse’s moral compass has been damaged. When they find that, despite their best efforts, they are incapable of doing the right thing for someone else or are put in a position where their actions cause harm despite best intentions. Moral injury happens every time a Corpus Christi doctor prescribes a treatment plan, and an insurance company denies that plan. When a Nueces County nurse is stuck caring for more patients than she knows she can reasonably care for.
Physicians and nurses are among Texas’ most trusted professionals. Three-fourths of Americans believe nurses have very high honesty and ethical standards, according to a Gallup poll taken in 2025. But we are seeing Texas nurses and physicians quit the health care field at an unprecedented rate. Moral injury is hurting our health care workforce and, therefore, hurting the quality of patient health care in Corpus Christi as the Caller-Times reported in 2025…