2.4.A Recognising Moral Injury Stressors in Higher Education: A Scoping Review
Tracks
Concurrent Session D
| Thursday, May 21, 2026 |
| 4:45 PM - 5:10 PM |
| Room 4 |
Overview
Presenter: Dr Adam Burston
Speaker
Dr Adam Burston
Associate Professor / Head Of Discipline
Australian Catholic University
Recognising Moral Injury Stressors in Higher Education: A Scoping Review
Abstract Document
Higher education institutions are increasingly shaped by commercialisation and managerialism, creating structural and cultural shifts that intensify academic workloads across teaching, research, and service domains. These pressures often constrain academics from acting in accordance with their ethical values, resulting in moral distress; a significant stressor that can lead to moral injury if unrecognised.
This scoping review explores the extent of research on moral distress within academia and its implications for organisational wellbeing and productivity. Guided by PRISMA-P methodology, 2,310 records were identified, with 77 full-text articles reviewed and six studies meeting inclusion criteria.
Findings reveal that moral distress in academia has far-reaching consequences for staff, students, and institutions, contributing to burnout, diminished autonomy, and compromised educational quality. Recognising moral distress as a precursor to moral injury is critical for developing organisational strategies that support academic wellbeing and sustain institutional effectiveness.
This scoping review explores the extent of research on moral distress within academia and its implications for organisational wellbeing and productivity. Guided by PRISMA-P methodology, 2,310 records were identified, with 77 full-text articles reviewed and six studies meeting inclusion criteria.
Findings reveal that moral distress in academia has far-reaching consequences for staff, students, and institutions, contributing to burnout, diminished autonomy, and compromised educational quality. Recognising moral distress as a precursor to moral injury is critical for developing organisational strategies that support academic wellbeing and sustain institutional effectiveness.
Biography
Adam Burston is Associate Professor/Head of Discipline (Nursing), School of Nursing, Midwifery & Paramedicine, and Research Fellow (Nursing Research and Practice Development Centre). Completing a PhD in 2017 exploring the incidence of moral distress in the aged care workforce, Adam continues to research in areas including nursing workforce, education, moral distress, bioethics, and pressure injury care.
Adam has an extensive and varied background in healthcare, in various acute care nursing specialties. He has authored book chapters on ethical practice, safety, peri-operative nursing, cardiac nursing, respiratory nursing, and nursing management of pain.
As an academic he has particular interest in undergraduate nursing education, specifically transition to university (commencing students), healthcare ethics, and inter-professional practice, gaining peer recognition for this work when awarded a Senior Fellow of Advance Higher Education (AHE). He has led multiple scholarship projects designing, implementing, and evaluating the use of technologies in education. Adam Burston has presented his work internationally, demonstrated emerging success securing competitive funding, and is an active HDR supervisor.
