(Kirsten Fenn/ CBC Health News) — As health-care workers feel the exhaustion of the pandemic setting in, some doctors say medical organizations must do more to prevent burnout among front-line employees.
“During the early phases [of the pandemic], we actually had a little bit of a galvanization and a calling that was very inspiring,” said Dr. Rod Lim, director and section chief of the pediatric emergency department at the Children’s Hospital in London, Ont.
“But through this period of time now into the second wave, almost a year into this, absolute fatigue has set in, and … we’re absolutely in crisis.”
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 crisis has placed unprecedented pressure on health-care professionals. And although people are no longer taking to the streets or their balconies to cheer them on, emergency workers are still heading to the front lines day in and day out.
Now the medical community is sounding the alarm about the pandemic’s impact on mental well-being, after a Quebec doctor died by suicide last month. (..)