\u201cWe\u2019re tired \u2014 emotionally, physically, mentally tired,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re all showing up, day after day. In the beginning, nurses were heroes. Today, we\u2019re almost an afterthought.\u201d<\/p>\n
In interviews, nurses across the country describe plummeting morale during the latest pandemic surge, marked by utter exhaustion and growing workloads. Some thought the availability of coronavirus vaccines would alleviate the burden on hospitals. Instead, emergency rooms were swamped this summer and early fall, often filled with the young and unvaccinated. The crisis has exacerbated staffing problems that existed before the pandemic, leaving nurses shouldering increasing responsibilities as covid-19 patients fill their units. Some nurses are leaving hospital jobs for more lucrative travel nursing positions. Others are leaving the profession altogether.<\/p>\n
[Melanie] Mead said nurses at her hospital may now care for five to seven patients at once, sometimes up to 11 on evening shifts. Before the pandemic, it was closer to three to five.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere might be some days I\u2019m just eyeballing, making sure they\u2019re doing okay and medicating them and running off to another patient. Sometimes I don\u2019t have that personal connection, and I miss that,\u201d Mead said. \u201cI really miss that \u2014 we just don\u2019t have enough time in the day with the amount of patients, which is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nurses are exhausted. Mentally, emotionally, they\u2019re dealing with so much. And in Mississippi, they\u2019re leaving in droves, being pulled from permanent positions by exponentially higher pay for traveling gigs. My latest, with the very talented @paulina_milla<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/rEVbWkXUIg<\/a><\/p>\n — Sarah Fowler (@FowlerSarah) October 15, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n