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experienced trauma as a result of COVID- 19 . Twenty-one percent said they planned to leave their positions within the next six months , while another 29 percent were considering leaving .
Boyd talks about how the application of business models to health care , including the introduction of productivity quotas , has changed the experience for professionals working in the industry .
“ We ’ re in the business of caring for others , and if your capacity for compassion becomes crushed , it ’ s compassion fatigue . And your ability to connect with your patients is also crushed because you ’ re only allowed ten minutes to connect with them , then what ’ s left ? I think there are an awful lot of physicians who are leaving the field . And nurses , too . There ’ s just a lot of people who are like , they ’ re done ,” she says .
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ON A WEDNESDAY morning in February , the neonatal intensive care unit at Women and Infants Hospital is a bubble of calm , a quiet oasis in the otherwise bustling hospital complex bordering Providence ’ s Jewelry District . Everything about the space is designed to evoke a sense of peace for parents navigating a stressful time , from its green and beige walls to the nurses speaking in hushed but confident voices as they walk the halls . In a room at the end of the hall , where staffers gather to start their day , a whiteboard lists the needs of patients while a Pinterest-worthy sign charges them with their most important task : “ Keep the tiny humans alive .”
Here , more than in other areas of the hospital , decorations and personal touches indicate that many of the patients will be here several months before they are ready to go home . Private rooms , once filled with grandparents and cousins , are now restricted to parents due to pandemic visitation policies . Sometimes , even that small comfort goes away . In one room , a nurse in full personal protective equipment cradles a child whose mother tested positive for COVID-19 a few days before .
“ This family can ’ t come visit , so the nurse is taking on that role ,” says Karen Dreyer , a nurse who has worked in the NICU for twenty-four years .
120 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY 2022