Health Care Workers' Battle with ‘Moral Distress'

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss the philosophical ideas that worsen the “moral distress” currently plaguing doctors and nurses.

Among the topics covered:

How many health care workers are leaving their jobs or considering doing so;
The conditions health care workers face as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic;
The psychological harm experienced by those who work in these conditions
The political causes of the challenges facing health care workers;
How altruism infects people’s view of health care workers;
Whether the unvaccinated are wholly to blame for the situation;
The role of health care workers’ own acceptance of altruism in their “moral distress”;
The moral attitude health care workers should have;
The gulf between altruism’s positive reputation and its destructive effects;
How we should view people who seek health care after making unhealthy choices.

Mentioned in the discussion are an excerpt from Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged called “The Forgotten Man of Socialized Medicine” and Leonard Peikoff’s essay “Health Care Is Not a Right.”

The podcast was recorded on January 19, 2022. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here.