Why 1 in 5 Health Workers Quit During the Pandemic

It was an issue even before the pandemic.

Healthcare workers were (and still are) exhausted.

Tasked with treating an increasingly older, sicker, disgruntled population, that only became more so during a global health crisis.

More than 3,600 healthcare workers died in Covid’s first year. Among them, the median age of mortality was only 59; whereas the median mortality age in the general population from covid was 78. Nurses and support staff members died in far higher numbers than physicians, and twice as many workers died in nursing homes as in hospitals.

A Morning consult poll of 1,000 healthcare workers provided more sobering statistics.

Nearly 1 in 5 (18%) healthcare workers have quit their jobs during the pandemic, with a similar number considering leaving. Additionally, 12% have been laid off or lost their jobs due to budget cuts.

Most health facilities including clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, and laboratories are left scrambling to fill vacancies. Public health departments are also losing staff to retirement, exhaustion, partisan politics, and higher-paying jobs.

While it’s true nearly all sectors are shedding jobs — chief among them hospitality and food service — health worker shortages may have a lasting impact on our society.

Unhealthy outcomes

During the pandemic, in an effort to free up space and maximize available personnel, routine health screenings were paused. In some cases, even continuing care was reduced, put on hold, or cancelled outright. Patients resumming care are returning to a healthcare system as understaffed as ever.

With these patients returning to health facilities, employees are finding they’re treating patients requiring more procedures, medication, and attention than before the pandemic. In most cases, suspending or delaying care only makes treating the underlying condition more difficult and time consuming.

Healthcare workers who persisted during the Covid crisis, risking their lives as well as their families before vaccines and viable treatments were even available, are waking up to a grim reality. One where Covid still poses a risk — albeit reduced — and treating a patient population in need of more attention than ever before.

An article in Becker’s Hospital Review, quoted Dr. Kaushik, a urologist at UT San Antonio: “You have physicians, you have nurses, dropping out, retiring early, leaving practice, changing jobs. You’re experiencing loss of manpower in a field that was already short on manpower before the pandemic hit.”

Primary care doctors, also referred to as family care or general practitioners, have gone the way of the White Rhino, practically extinct in the medical field well before the pandemic.

Patients are increasingly seeking specialists and face longer wait times; all while agencies who pay premium hourly rates pull nurses from staff positions, further exacerbating shortages.

This equates to less available care hours and overwhelmed practitioners across the board. The hazards of the healthcare environment, unmitigated stress, all while institutions look to maximize profit doesn’t bode well for maintaining morale; and the situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon.

Navigating this system now, and into the future, will require being prepared and proactive.

Remember, when it comes to Covid-19, the majority of hospitalized patients and those admitted to ICUs are unvaccinated, and typically have other health ailments complicating their care and recovery.

To avoid hospitals or urgent cares, talk to your doctor about vaccinations, and begin practicing preventative health measures like maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly.

Schedule screenings and well visits. Should you need a specialist, call multiple offices, leave your contact information and ask for call backs in the event they have cancellations.

We can’t assume everything will revert to pre pandemic status, or sit around hoping for improvement. You can pe patient, sure, it’s better to be proactive and prepared.