The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has launched Hear Us Out (https://www.hearusout.com/), a nationwide effort to report nurses’ reality from the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and urge those who have yet to be vaccinated to reconsider.
In response to the surge of the delta variant, a dramatic increase in younger Americans dying and the Food and Drug Administration’s first full approval of a COVID-19 vaccine, AACN is advocating on behalf of the acute and critical care nursing community, as the profession and healthcare systems are being pushed to a breaking point.
As the situation escalates, nurses are leaving hospital settings or the profession altogether in record numbers. The sustained and extreme demands of caring for unvaccinated, hospitalized patients are taking their toll. A recent AACN survey of more than 6,000 acute and critical care nurses quantified the impact of the past 18 months on the profession:
- 92% of nurses surveyed said they believe the pandemic has depleted nurses at their hospitals and, as a result, their careers will be shorter than they intended
- 66% feel their experiences during the pandemic have caused them to consider leaving nursing
- 76% say that people who have yet to be vaccinated threaten nurses’ physical and mental well-being
- 67% believe taking care of patients with COVID-19 puts their own families’ health at risk
AACN is inviting nurses to record short selfie videos sharing their experience. Take it horizontally and upload it here. You could be featured on HearUsOut.com or on the organization’s social media channels.