From day one, healthcare workers have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic healthcare facilities were experiencing a shortage of workers, specifically nurses. As the pandemic progressed this shortage was all too apparent and has just continued to worsen. However, support and acknowledgment of healthcare professionals at the beginning of the pandemic increased from the public boosting morale. But as COVID-19 continues to rage on, fatigue and frustration have increased from the public and healthcare workers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the ineffectiveness of U.S. healthcare institutions and a system that is not built for its employees. This has prompted research into this area as we are seeing a drastic change in the landscape of healthcare within the last two years.
Although discussion of healthcare workers has stayed consistent due to the pandemic, it has spiked within the last three days. The key term “healthcare workers” received 389,220 mentions in the last week, “nurses” received 651,897, and “doctors” received 899,674. A large increase in the conversation has been due to the implementation of vaccine mandates for some healthcare facilities. Taking a deeper look into the most used words in the discussion “mandate”, “vaccinated”, “unvaccinated”, “fired” and “shortages”, among others are noticeably present.
While the controversy of vaccines continues, many are blaming the nursing shortage on these mandates, however, there are many other reasons that may lead to healthcare workers leaving the industry. Burnout in the healthcare profession is not uncommon, and with the onset of additional patients, stress, and death from the Corona Virus, nurses may be reaching their limit sooner than before.
In addition to workplace trauma brought on by the pandemic, nurses are also facing physical violence and verbal abuse by patients, patient family members, and civilians outside of the hospital. Our research suggests, that the sentiment around “nurses”, “doctors”, and “healthcare workers” is largely negative. However, this may speak more to the effects and feelings towards COVID-19 rather than the work of these professionals. While still low in comparison to historical averages, there has been an increase in violence in 2021, specifically in homicide rates and nonfatal assaults. This may be one explanation for the rise of physical altercations directed towards healthcare professionals, in addition to aggressive and negative feelings.
Due to the pandemic healthcare workers are largely discussed in relation to the virus. For all three key terms, #covid19 was one of the most used hashtags. While the pandemic has been surrounded by controversy, feelings of distrust for medical institutions may be a secondary factor in the increase in violent altercations and negative sentiment towards healthcare professionals. Current protocols are being put in place to protect those in the medical field in the hopes that they can continue to protect the public during this pandemic.
