Kaiser Burnout causes Low Turnout
Burnout is defined by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to be a psychological state of work-induced mental and physical stress. This condition seems to have spread with the coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2020, filling hospital hallways with coughing patients and exhausted staff. This became apparent at the start of October when a nationwide walk-out of health care workers against Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit health care company, remained active for three days. The collective call for reform included compensation for cost-of-living expenses, improvement of hiring practices and a raise of the current minimum wage. It is considered the largest health care walk-out in U.S. history, with more than 75,000 workers participating from multiple states. Emergency medical care and hospitals remained open during the walkout.
COVID-19 is considered a major source of burnout for both clinical and non-clinical support staff, such as food service staff and lab technicians. Due to work overload caused by the virus during its peak, employees and equipment were strained to maximum capacity (NLM). Effects are evident in the staffing shortages and large turnover in Kaiser and similar organizations; more than 5 million medical workers nationwide left their jobs during the pandemic, leaving gaping vacancies in their wake (Reuters). In fact, Kaiser itself has 11% of unfilled positions. Many workers in health care continue to face burnout, and the October strike is just one of many examples of a stressed system failing to adapt to workers’ needs. Dr. Tracey Imley, Regional Assistant Medical Director for Kaiser Southern California and Hawaii, describes some burdens of those who work extensive hours during this difficult time.
“Being in the health care industry is tremendously rewarding,” Imley said. “Getting to help people for a living is a job that brings joy to me everyday. That being said, we know that the pandemic [has been] difficult for many including those in the health care field. Many of those in the health care industry saw higher disease burden during the pandemic that was coupled with fears of catching the more deathly forms of COVID-19 in 2020 [as well as] the fears that [they] could spread it to their loved ones.”
The increased protection and basic benefits such as paid leave that medical workers are protesting for have been more difficult to obtain since the rise of the pandemic (Public Broadcasting System). Domestic service workers have been repeatedly excluded with little access to protective equipment in the midst of the pandemic (Harvard Health Publishing). Caretakers and nurse aides are examples of positions that have been overlooked by the health care sector. When health care organizations function on a care-for-profit model, some can assume how workers’ needs can easily be pushed aside as an afterthought. Even for non-profit health care corporations, when revenue is issued through the state, there are many cases in which ethical standards can drop and leave workers vulnerable to mistreatment. As a volunteer for Kaiser and having a parent working in a medical setting, senior Erica Kim empathizes with these complaints.
“I volunteer at Kaiser [and] my department was affected by the strike. It is true that Kaiser staffing is terribly managed,” Kim said. “My mom [who works at Kaiser] does not really have an issue with pay as she is a specialist, but I cannot tell you how many times she has had to go into work when she should not have to just because [her department is] understaffed.”
The Kaiser employee strike helped spread the word on the institution’s nationwide staff shortages and desired improvement of patient care (Reuters). Results of the walk-out and persistent calls to action included a 21% wage increase, which will benefit frontline health care workers and clients alike in terms of receiving urgent and long-term care. The new contract also requires Kaiser to implement job fairs and workforce development to fill its current vacancies.The October strike may be over, but the injustices raised by the union and health care workers in the U.S. are far from resolved. Considering how much effort it may take to study in preparation for being in the medical field, establishing a system that accounts for nurses, aides, caretakers and those who maintain the cleanliness and power of hospitals and their clients is crucial to create beneficial long-lasting impacts for the general public. As a whole, hospitals and other sites of care should be places where everyone’s health is taken seriously (World Economic Forum). If the understaffed and underpaid situation in U.S. health care continues, consequences are likely to show through further acts of protest advocating for more empathetic and effective systems of medical care. The Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations has reported an uptick in health care strikes; 37 have occurred as of October of this year. As a patient who often visits Kaiser for check-ups, sophomore Ashe Currence mentions collectively recognized flaws in hospital networks.
“People do not recognize how many people it takes to run a hospital,” Currence said. “[This is] because people think of health care workers [as] doctors and nurses, but [forget] positions [such as] receptionists and custodians. American health care corporations just want money, which usually comes at the cost of the well-being of those below them.”
