Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1414493
32 PATIENT & CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE 'Horrific working conditions' & 'no end' in sight: 3 nurses tell NYT what working this surge is like By Gabrielle Masson T hree nurses wrote to e New York Times in August about the conditions they're work- ing in aer the news publication ran several stories about the profession amid COVID-19. Below are some excerpts from the nurses: "I am routinely expected to care for upward of 12 patients at a time by myself," wrote J. Hagemann, RN, an emergency room nurse in New York City. "I risk patient safety and human dignity and my license every time I come to work. I've had 20 patients by myself for entire shis. It feels like a war zone." e wages offered to travel nurses aren't inflated, the author concluded, writing that the rates are "fair compensation for the horrific working condi- tions in healthcare." "I have never put so many people in body bags," wrote Karen Gregory, RN, a nurse in Massachu- setts. "And the world is tired of hearing about how overwhelmed I am." "I started nursing at the beginning of the AIDS crisis," Ms. Gregory continued. "People like to compare the two. ere is absolutely no compari- son. I did not fear sickening my family with HIV. Even in the large Boston hospital where I worked there were nowhere near the number of deaths in such a short time as I have seen with COVID." "Coping with this fourth delta wave has made me feel the most helpless, sad and angry since the beginning of the pandemic," wrote Corinna Beyer, a front-line nurse in Denver. "e burnout and PTSD used to feel like a temporary chapter. I see no end now." Vaccine hesitancy and failure to achieve global vaccine equity, thereby allowing variants to flour- ish, is "devastating," according to Ms. Beyer. "If you get sick, I hope there are healthcare workers le to take care of you," Ms. Beyer concluded. "We stopped feeling like heroes long ago." n 80% of female surgical residents face gender bias & 4 more study findings By Mackenzie Bean W omen in surgical residency programs are far more likely to ex- perience discrimination or sexual harassment than their male peers, a study published July 28 in JAMA Surgery found. Researchers surveyed 6,764 residents enrolled in 301 general surgery programs nationwide about their experiences with gender discrimina- tion and sexual harassment during the 2018-19 academic year. Five findings: 1. About 80 percent of female residents reported experiencing gen- der discrimination, compared to 17.1 percent of male residents. 2. The most common type of gender discrimination was being mistak- en for a nonphysician — often by patients or family members — with 77 percent of female residents reporting the experience. Just 4 percent of male residents reported the same. 3. Women who were pregnant and men who had children were more likely to experience discrimination. 4. Female residents were more likely to experience sexual harassment (42.5 percent) compared to male residents (21.5 percent). 5. The most common form of harassment was crude, demeaning or explicit comments reported by 37.3 percent of female residents and 19.5 percent of male residents. n 6 notes on PA job satisfaction in 2021 By Erica Carbajal T wenty percent of physician assistants cited the amount of paper- work and EHR requirements as the least rewarding part of the job, according to Medscape's latest PA career satisfaction report published July 21. Five more report findings: 1. Forty-one percent of PAs selected helping people/making a differ- ence in people's lives as the most rewarding aspect of the job, making it the most popular answer. 2. Given the option, 82 percent of respondents said they would choose PA as a career if they could do it over again. 3. Most respondents (67 percent) said the COVID-19 pandemic had no effect on their job satisfaction. 4. Fifty-two percent of survey respondents said they practice inde- pendently with a physician on site, while about a quarter practice under direct physician supervision. 5. Fear of transmitting COVID-19 to a family member was the prima- ry concern for respondents working through the pandemic, with 44 percent selecting the answer. A total of 5,826 PAs responded to the survey, which was conducted between November 2020 and February 2021. n