Since the pandemic began , alarming stories of dire working conditions have surfaced from healthcare organizations throughout the United States . Healthcare workers have voiced concerns about their own safety , as well as the safety of their families and friends .
Healthcare facilities have had to operate with severe shortages of personal protective equipment ( PPE ), beds and ventilators . Doctors and nurses have described exposure to death at a level they have never before experienced . Families have grieved their inability to be with loved ones who lay dying alone in isolation units .
One nurse recounts her experience working in a COVID-packed ICU . “ I ’ m burnt out on COVID ,” says Mikki Sullivan , a nurse who has returned home to Arizona after working on a COVID-19 unit in New Jersey in the early days of the pandemic . During that time , she said she had seen more death in two months than in the more than 20 years of her nursing career . “ That stuff stays with you forever … I was an emotional wreck when I got back ,” she said . “ I saw a therapist because of the stress .” While she is willing to work a COVID-19 unit again , she said many healthcare staff she worked with would not — or would get out of the profession entirely . “ I think a lot of people are going to be emotionally done ,” Sullivan said . “ I think this is [ taking ] a toll on healthcare workers ” ( McNeil , 2020 ).
Does Sullivan represent an isolated case or has COVID-19 exacted a similar toll throughout the healthcare system ?
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