Mental Health Challenge Affects US Health Workers

A new research from the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has raised an alarm on the mental health crisis for health workers around the country.
Using nationwide survey data between 2018 and 2022, a new report from the agency found that nearly half of health workers reported feeling burned out in 2022, up from under a third four years prior. Health workers’ reports of being harassed at work more than doubled, as well.
The report was made public yesterday and also shows that health workers face worse mental health outcomes than employees in other industries.
The findings came on the heels of the largest health care worker strike in United States history, in which 75,000 unionized employees of Kaiser Permanente cited feelings of burnout and chronic staffing shortages during a walkout in five states and the District of Columbia.
Healthcare workers strike in front of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Centre, as more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers went on strike from October 4 to 7 across the United States, in Los Angeles, California, United State October 4, 2023.
Kaiser Permanente labor deal shows why short, disruptive strikes are becoming more common,”While usually health workers care diligently for others in their time of need, it is now our nation’s health workers who are suffering, and we must act,” said Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s Chief Medical Officer.
Even before the covid-19 pandemic, Houry added, health workers’ jobs were demanding: providers face long hours and unpredictable schedules, exposure to infectious diseases, and often-challenging interactions with patients and their families.
Previous research has found that health care workers — especially nurses, health support workers and health technicians — face an increased risk of suicide compared with people who do not work in the medical field.
“Caring for people who are sick can also be intensely stressful and emotional,” Houry said. “Although you do everything you can to save a life, I still remember some of the tough patient cases I had, where I gave the bad news about an advanced cancer diagnosis to a working spouse or the time I was unable to resuscitate the young toddler after a car crash.”