PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Feelings of inadequacy, anger, fear, frustration. Those words describe emotions many of us have felt during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, those emotions have been magnified and multiplied among medical professionals who say they are burnt out, with many ready to change careers.
Some of those health care workers shared that as part of testimony before the Pennsylvania House mental health caucus.
Tarik Khan, the president of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, said that people may call them heroes, but they feel powerless as they stand by a patient’s bed while that person takes their last breath.
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“Additionally, some nurses experienced their colleagues dying of COVID-19 and seeing them actually being hospitalized at their facility, and then watching them pass away,” Khan said.
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Jennifer Collins with Lancaster General Hospital points to a study that finds three out of four healthcare workers say they’re burnt out, while one out of five plans to leave the profession.
She shared anger about watching so many Americans ignore mitigation efforts, and now turning their nose up at the vaccine.
“This is a blatant contrast to what our healthcare workers are seeing every day, and they really feel disrespected," said Collins.
That echoed Dr. Robert McNamara, professor and chair of emergency medicine at Temple University Hospital.
“Don’t they see what we see? All these stresses watching people die, why not wear a mask? Why not socially distance?” McNamara said.
He says there were several times along the way where they thought they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but it turned out to be the headlight of another train.
McNamara also described how the suicide rate is already high in the medical profession, but physicians are concerned about seeking out mental health treatment, out of concerns the state medical board.
Khan said there are bills in the State House and Senate that would set minimum staffing levels to help nurses.