[May 6, 2022] Last week’s tragic suicide of a nurse at a Kaiser hospital in Santa Clara, California, has highlighted the heavy emotional burdens which have been placed on health care workers for more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The growing mental health crisis among overworked and traumatized healthcare workers is reflected in the mass exodus of nurses from the profession.
Olivia, a California intensive care unit (ICU) travel nurse whose name has been changed to protect her identity, has spent the past two years of the pandemic in some of the most over-stressed locations across the state.
“I’ve seen pictures of me from a long time ago. I’m happy,” she said. “That person is no more. “We’ve been under a lot of stress. I can’t think straight. I have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I have anxiety. I can barely leave my house. I have an 8-year-old I have to care for.”