CNN | Traumatized and tired, nurses are quitting due to the pandemic

 

Rachel Ellsworth’s nursing job became more and more stressful and despairing throughout the pandemic.

(CNN) – Nursing was more than a career to Rachel Ellsworth. She says she was “called” to the work.

For 10 of her 12 years in nursing, Ellsworth was an indefatigable intensive care nurse. The work energized her, and she felt privileged to witness some of the most important moments of people’s lives, when their worlds shifted for better or worse. Though she did all she could to save them, she also found purpose in giving her patients a “peaceful, dignified death” when it was time.

“I was the kind of person who went into work every day, like, literally, ‘Let’s go save lives,’ for 12 years” she said. “I was just so excited to be there, so full of hope and compassion.”  —read more