COVID-19 Outbreak Information Updates (Reboot) [over 150.000,000 US cases (est.), 6,422,520 US hospitilizations, 1,148,691 US deaths.]

COVID hospitalizations and deaths may be down from their surge peaks, but the nation's hospitals and clinics still face a population in crisis: the healthcare workers themselves.

Overworked medical professionals, who risked their health and their families' well-being to help patients through the pandemic, are now dealing with a public that is increasingly distrustful in a politicized environment where hospital violence is not uncommon. Staffing shortages and the administrative demands of an increasingly complicated medical system have also created frustration for those who see care for fellow human beings as their calling.

Professional burnout and frustration, pre-existing conditions before COVID, were aggravated by the pandemic, resulting in mental health challenges for some healthcare workers; resignations and early retirements for others; and a jolt to morale overall. Although the severity of hospitalizations and deaths has subsided, cases are rising in many parts of the country and there's a cumulative cost now coming due, medical professionals said.

"The first two years of the pandemic, you could liken that to an adrenaline rush. And then the sheer exhaustion and emotional fatigue that comes after that is what we're in right now," said Karen Grimley, chief nursing executive for UCLA Health in Los Angeles. "With the death and the prolonged illness and the inability to let family members in to comfort their loved ones, being the person who held that patient's hand while they passed away because nobody else could, those were devastating blows to some of our best nurses."

If doctors and nurses aren't feeling in tip-top condition, that could put the country's healthcare system at risk, according to the nation's top doctor, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

"Health worker burnout is a health crisis for all Americans and it has to be addressed as a national priority," Murthy told USA TODAY. "I've been worried about the burnout crisis that's taking place among our health workforce. It's one that preceded the pandemic... but COVID has made things dramatically worse."

The well-being of the nation's highly trained health force is so concerning that Murthy last week issued a surgeon general's advisory, a call for attention and action reserved for urgent public health issues. The title states the situation plainly – "Addressing Health Worker Burnout" – and the report, released during Mental Health Awareness Month, details the challenges and proposes solutions. It continues a focus on mental health problems exposed or aggravated by COVID and follows a December surgeon general advisory on the youth mental health crisis.

Burnout is characterized by physical and emotional exhaustion and can lead to anxiety and depression, as well, Murthy said. Healthcare workers are strong and resilient, he said, but heavy administrative demands, lack of support in some areas and all the damage wrought by the pandemic make him concerned about the mental health of the medical workforce...............

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/we...sedgntp&cvid=bf11f09d868442b99d9e9b0459dbc38b