Mississippi's nurses are resigning to protect themselves from Covid-19 burnout

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Thu, 2021-08-26 10:53 — mike kraft

'I think we already broke': Mississippi's nurses are resigning to protect themselves from Covid-19 burnout Earlier this month, Mississippi ICU nurse Nichole Atherton resigned, worn down by the stress, young patients and preventable deaths that have overwhelmed the state's hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Madeline Holcombe, Erica Hill and Laura Dolan, CNN CNN

(CNN) Earlier this month, Mississippi ICU nurse Nichole Atherton resigned, worn down by the stress, young patients and preventable deaths that have overwhelmed the state's hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It looks heroic," Atherton, of Singing River Ocean Springs Hospital, told CNN. "But that's not what it is. It's sweaty and hard and chaotic and bloody. And it's hard to live in this every day and then go home and live a normal life."

Mississippi now has at least 2,000 fewer nurses than it did at the beginning of the year, according to the Mississippi Hospital Association's Center for Quality & Workforce. The staff shortages add to the growing strain on the state's hospital system -- both due, in large part, to the Covid-19 pandemic.

When asked if the health care system is reaching a breaking point, Singing River Nursing Manager for Personal Care Buddy Gager said, "I think we already broke."

State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said Tuesday that Mississippi set a new record of Covid-19 related deaths. And of the 875 staffed ICU beds across the state, more than 93% are in use and more than 63% of those beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. ...

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