Public Health at Greater Risk as Healthcare Workforce Weakens

Nurses do not feel like heroes anymore. Many of them, since last year, has voiced out their feeling of being expendable rather than being treated as heroes as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Unfortunately, the Texas Board of Nurses reported that many registered nurses have already been notified to change their status to inactive since 2020.

(Photo: Getty Images)
A nurse removes his protective equipment at the University Hospital of Charleroi on November 5, 2020, in Charleroi, Belgium. The intensive care unit at the University Hospital of Charleroi (Hospital Marie Curie) is struggling with an increase of patients suffering from Covid-19. The unit is understaffed, with what staff they do have now exhausted from the long hours and stressful work. For the first time in two months, the number of people hospitalized for Coronavirus in Belgium has dropped slightly, from 7,487 patients to 7,405 in the Covid departments of hospitals. (Photo by Jean-Christophe Guillaume/Getty Images)

Increased Numbers of Registered Nurses Changes Status to Inactive

According to Texas News Today, nurses are busier this year than last year because of the new COVID-19 wave hitting the country. Texas MedClinic COO Dr. David Gude said that they see increased numbers of infections even higher than the same time last year.

In all 19 locations of Texas MedClinic in Austin, New Braunfels, Bulverde, and San Antonio, they see almost 1,200 patients everyday. Many of these visits are due to COVID-19 infections and vaccines, although they also accept procedural occupational medicine and services to employers.

The Texas Board of Nursing has recorded a 91% increase in the number of registered nurses notifying them to change their license status to inactive in 2020, which is only one-third of the total number of nurses in the board's data.

Gude said that their emergency is fortunate enough to have their staff who are optimists, especially in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic when many sick people come in, and their workload is heavier than usual. The hospital is now preparing to collect data on minor visits in preparation for the season of returning to school.

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Why Nurses Are Quitting During the Pandemic

Early in the pandemic, one of the major problems that healthcare workers were facing was the shortage of medical apparatus and personal protective equipment (PPE). This added to their worries as they might get infected easily without proper protection, not to mention the burnout they feel due to the increased number of patients in hospitals.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, nearly 10,000 healthcare workers have died during the first months of the pandemic. Medical professionals, especially nurses, said that they sometimes think of whether they should continue doing their job and sacrifice their safety or quit their jobs.

As reported by NBC News in 2020, 62% out of over 1,000 medical professionals said that they are planning to quit their profession altogether, citing that nurses are neither trained like soldiers nor trained to address biological threats without proper protection. Moreover, being constantly called a "hero" by the public only added to the pressure.

Improving Health Worker Safety

Last September 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) reminded governments that they have a legal and moral responsibility of ensuring the health and safety of their healthcare workers. They call on their Member States and stakeholders to take the following five steps in improving the safety and well-being of their healthcare workers:

Create safety policies and strategies that will benefit not only patients but as well as healthcare workers.
Develop and implement national programs for the health, safety, and well-being of healthcare workers.
Safeguard healthcare workers from violence in their workplace.
Boost mental health and psychological well-being of healthcare professionals.
Ensure the availability of enough PPEs to protect healthcare workers from physical and biological hazards.