- U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy last week issued an advisory regarding the burnout and resignation crisis in the healthcare community, underlining the severity of the problem.
- The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated pre-existing morale problems for medical professionals frustrated with changing job demands that they say affects their ability to care for patients.
- Early retirements and career changes could lead to significant shortages in nurses, doctors and other healthcare workers, hindering future medical care in the U.S.
COVID hospitalizations and deaths may be down from their surge peaks, but the nation’s hospitals and clinics still face a population in crisis: the healthcare workers themselves.
Overworked medical professionals, who risked their health and their families’ well-being to help patients through the pandemic, are now dealing with a public that is increasingly distrustful in a politicized environment where hospital violence is not uncommon. Staffing shortages and the administrative demands of an increasingly complicated medical system have also created frustration for those who see care for fellow human beings as their calling.