The whole world watched the saga unfold during the height of the pandemic: Nurses bending over intubated patients, sleeping in hallways after days of work with no break, holding hands and phones as dying patients said their final good-byes to loved ones.
I saw the saga myself, as my son, an emergency room nurse, shared stories from the back porch because he — and countless others — chose to quarantine outdoors during the worst of the COVID-19 surges, living in his truck to protect his family. The relentless grind took a physical and emotional toll on nurses, who are now leaving their jobs in historic numbers.
