Want to Support Our Healthcare Workers? Support the Schools That Train Them.
Fred Freedman
February 16, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an unimaginable toll on our lives, livelihood, and mental well-being. As we enter the third year of this global crisis, the emergence of new variants like Omicron and the threat of future ones have left everyone somewhere between exhausted and “over it.” Nowhere is this more evident than among our frontline workers, who put their lives – and their loved ones’ lives – at risk every time they punch the clock and start a new shift.
For those in healthcare, it’s more than just the risk of exposure keeping them up at night. They also face the risk of burn-out. According to the American Hospital Association, the nursing and allied professional workforce is facing dire shortages. The U.S. needs more than 200,000 new registered nurses (RNs) each year to meet increasing healthcare needs along with replacing retiring nurses. And a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that nearly 30% of healthcare workers are considering changing professions altogether, and six out of ten reported impacts to their mental health as a result of their work during the pandemic. My native Arizona, home of Pima Medical Institute, is no exception: at present, there are over 1,500 unfilled jobs at hospitals statewide.
