During a visit to Grady Memorial Hospital Thursday, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy sounded the alarm over burnout among health care workers reeling after more than two years of caring for patients suffering from an ever-changing and often mystifying virus.
The physical and emotional toll has been immense, and many health care workers are quitting their jobs.
Murthy said the strain brought by COVID also explains why 1 in 5 doctors and 2 in 5 nurses say they plan to leave the profession. Murthy said he hears the word “trauma” used, again and again, to describe the past two years for health workers.
