Burnt-Out Nurses Push Back as Staff Shortages Strain Hospitals
Data suggest more hires actually wind up cutting costs
Nurses and supporters demonstrate during a strike against staffing shortages in western Pennsylvania.
Photographer: Nate Smallwood/BloombergFallout from the nursing shortage that’s plaguing U.S. hospitals got so bad that 16% of the nurses at one western Pennsylvania facility left last year, and 220 of those remaining staged a five-day walkout that halted elective surgery.
Sandra Harrison, an operating room nurse who’s spent her 39-year career at ACMH Hospital, teared up as she recounted working without even a lunch break and years of missed family and events. Her colleague, Stephanie Barrett, is exhausted from doing two, three and sometimes four jobs at a time. “I think pretty much almost everybody has considered, if not leaving health care altogether, taking a different path in nursing,” Barrett said. “I don’t know anybody who hasn’t.”