It'd be nice if, for once, we don't follow our usual pattern by patting the warriors on the head and then going out of our way trying to ignore them.
Opinion: Covid-19 is taking a terrible toll on nurses. They deserve much more help.
Covid-19 can be a nightmare, especially if it becomes severe and requires hospitalization. But imagine the agony of seeing this nightmare over and over again, every day. Such is the intense stress on acute-care nurses, those in hospitals at front lines of the pandemic, and it is taking a terrible toll.
Across the country, evidence suggests nurses and other heath-care workers are experiencing a confluence of painful traumas: fear of becoming infected; strain from witnessing so many deaths, seeing people die alone; and worry about their own families.
In the early months of the pandemic, the problem was shortages, chaos and uncertainty. In response, health-care workers displayed heroic stamina and resiliency. Although there have been pockets of vaccine hesitancy, the American Nurses Association reports that 88 percent of nurses have been vaccinated or plan to be. But the pandemic is taking a toll on mental health. Acute-care nurses are suffering burnout, and many are quitting or considering doing so. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 426,000 workers left jobs in health care and social assistance in September 2020, while preliminary data indicate 589,000 quit this September, a quit rate that is the highest since data was first collected two decades ago.
The distress was captured in the third survey of mental health and wellness by the American Nurses Foundation, based on responses from 9,572 nurses between Aug. 20 and Sept. 2. Two-thirds or more reported stress, frustration and exhaustion within the previous two weeks. About a third said they had sought professional mental health support since the pandemic began. Asked whether they intended to leave their position in the next six months, 21 percent said yes, and 29 percent said maybe. When asked why, 47 percent said “work is negatively affecting their health and well-being.” Burnout has skyrocketed: “Today, 34% of nurses are not emotionally healthy, with substantially high numbers among emergency department, critical care, and young nurses.” These results were more serious than a similar survey taken earlier.
“They have given their all for a year and a half or two years,” Annette Kennedy, president of the International Council of Nurses, said recently. “They have worked long hours. They have worked without breaks, and they have been called to do a duty without protective equipment and without support. They are now burnt-out. They’re devastated. They are physically and mentally exhausted.”
The American Nurses Foundation survey said more than a third of nurses are now 55 or older, but it is the younger generation who will succeed them that struggles “disproportionately with mental health.” More than boxes of doughnuts and takeout pizza, nurses need respect from patients and managers, relief from the massive pandemic patient overload and understaffing, mental health support on-site, and all the support that the government and private sector can muster. Hopefully, the day will come when the American Journal of Nursing won’t be carrying letters to the editor that echo one it ran recently under the headline “Burnout at the Bedside.”
In the early months of the pandemic, the problem was shortages, chaos and uncertainty. In response, health-care workers displayed heroic stamina and resiliency. Although there have been pockets of vaccine hesitancy, the American Nurses Association reports that 88 percent of nurses have been vaccinated or plan to be. But the pandemic is taking a toll on mental health. Acute-care nurses are suffering burnout, and many are quitting or considering doing so. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 426,000 workers left jobs in health care and social assistance in September 2020, while preliminary data indicate 589,000 quit this September, a quit rate that is the highest since data was first collected two decades ago.
The distress was captured in the third survey of mental health and wellness by the American Nurses Foundation, based on responses from 9,572 nurses between Aug. 20 and Sept. 2. Two-thirds or more reported stress, frustration and exhaustion within the previous two weeks. About a third said they had sought professional mental health support since the pandemic began. Asked whether they intended to leave their position in the next six months, 21 percent said yes, and 29 percent said maybe. When asked why, 47 percent said “work is negatively affecting their health and well-being.” Burnout has skyrocketed: “Today, 34% of nurses are not emotionally healthy, with substantially high numbers among emergency department, critical care, and young nurses.” These results were more serious than a similar survey taken earlier.
“They have given their all for a year and a half or two years,” Annette Kennedy, president of the International Council of Nurses, said recently. “They have worked long hours. They have worked without breaks, and they have been called to do a duty without protective equipment and without support. They are now burnt-out. They’re devastated. They are physically and mentally exhausted.”
The American Nurses Foundation survey said more than a third of nurses are now 55 or older, but it is the younger generation who will succeed them that struggles “disproportionately with mental health.” More than boxes of doughnuts and takeout pizza, nurses need respect from patients and managers, relief from the massive pandemic patient overload and understaffing, mental health support on-site, and all the support that the government and private sector can muster. Hopefully, the day will come when the American Journal of Nursing won’t be carrying letters to the editor that echo one it ran recently under the headline “Burnout at the Bedside.”
And right now, the most important first step in helping those people we love to call heroes is to keep pushing for vaccinations across the board.
Covid could be endemic illness by next year with more vaccine uptake, Fauci says
Anthony S. Fauci, the United States’ top infectious-disease expert, said Tuesday at a Reuters summit that covid-19 could be reduced to an endemic illness in the United States by next year — but only if more unvaccinated people get vaccinated and more fully vaccinated people get booster doses.
“I think it’s conceivable” that could happen by next year, Fauci said in a virtual interview. “I hope we do, and it might even be likely, if we implement a good vaccination of the unvaccinated and a really good uptake of boosting those who are fully vaccinated.”
Fauci said reaching endemic level, to him, means the virus may not be eliminated but “that infection is not dominating your life.” He added: “People will still get infected. People might still get hospitalized, but the level would be so low that we don’t think about it all the time and it doesn’t influence what we do.”
Federal officials continue to limit who can receive boosters for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, recommending them only for people age 65 and up or those who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus because of their health, their job or where they live. (People who initially received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are eligible if they are above the age of 18 and received their last dose at least two months before.)
But a growing number of Democratic and Republican governors and other officials are circumventing that guidance to offer boosters to anyone over 18 in hopes of staving off a spike in coronavirus cases over the holidays. Officials in states including Colorado and Arkansas have endorsed boosters for all adults in recent weeks — and more states and jurisdictions are expected to follow. When asked if the Centers for Disease Control and Protection will expand eligibility for boosters soon, Fauci answered, “I hope so.”
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