Prognosis
Nurse Burnout Reaches New High as Latest Omicron Variant Surges
More are considering leaving the profession than one year ago.
A nurse works on the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) floor treating Covid-19 patients at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.
Photographer: Allison Dinner/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Many people may be moving on from Covid, but nurses certainly aren’t — and as the latest variant sweeps the US, the mental stresses on the profession have reached new highs.
A survey of 2,500 nurses released Wednesday finds that 64% are looking to leave the health-care profession, a nearly 40% increase from a similar survey a year ago. Three-quarters of those surveyed said they’ve experienced burnout since the pandemic began and half said they had experienced feelings of trauma, extreme stress or PTSD.