Healthcare workers have been saying they are becoming increasingly stressed and depressed at work for years, now a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backs up those claims.
A nationwide survey of healthcare employees found that 13.4% reported being harassed in 2022, double the number from 2018.
Thomas Kleinhanzl, the chair of the Maryland Hospital Association’s board of trustees and president of Frederick Health, says that is happening in local hospitals as well.
“These trends had been felt in hospitals across our state for some time, even before COVID. And I think COVID Just simply made the conditions worse,” he said. “In my organization, we've doubled down on safety and safety awareness. We've put metal detection in place.”
About 32% of workers reported staffing shortages, compared to 25.7% in 2018.
The survey also outlines widespread burnout, anxiety and depression.
“The number of days US health workers reported their mental health was not good in the past 30 days increase more than other workers between 2018 and 2022,” said Dr. Casey Chosewood, the directors and senior medical officer at the Office for Total Worker Health at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The study comes at a time when healthcare workers are pushing for better working conditions.
Employees of Kaiser Permanente just finished the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history, protesting poor working conditions, low wages and short staffing levels.
The two parties negotiated a wage increase and better pipeline for hiring.
“To label our current and long-standing challenge a ‘crisis’ is an understatement,” Chasewood said on a call with reporters Tuesday. “Many of our nation’s health care systems are at their breaking point, staffing crises, lack of supportive leadership, long hours of work and excessive demands and flexibilities in our nation’s health systems, all must be addressed.”
Pharmacy workers at CVS and Walgreens are now threatening to strike on Nov. 1.