What viral ER drama ‘The Pitt' gets right about America's nursing shortage
From chaotic triage scenes to the senior attending begging the hospital's chief medical officer to hire more nurses between back-to-back trauma cases, The Pitt holds up a mirror to the everyday experiences of America's health-care workers, particularly those on the frontlines of our nation's emergency rooms. And in doing so, it's highlighting a workforce crisis we can no longer afford to ignore.
At Incredible Health, we work with 1 million nurses and 1,500 health systems nationwide. Our annual reports reflect what The Pitt dramatizes: Nurses are overburdened, under-resourced, and working in situations where they are in real physical danger. In our most recent report on the state of nursing, 88% of nurses say staff shortages negatively impact patient care, and 63% are assigned to too many patients at a time. Another survey of health-care executives found that 78% don't think they have the staff needed to handle a large-scale health crisis.
The risk to patients is very real. Staff shortages force nurses to manage unsustainable patient loads, increasing the likelihood of missed symptoms, delayed care, and burnout that drives even more nurses to leave the profession. It is a vicious cycle that makes all of us less safe.
The Pitt also highlights the violence health-care workers face. Nurses and other health-care workers are being verbally harassed, physically assaulted, and emotionally worn down, often with little institutional support or protection. Half of all nurses report being verbally and/or physically assaulted by a patient or their family in the past year, and 26% say they are likely to leave their jobs because of it. The result is a growing sense of fear and frustration that only accelerates attrition from the profession. No one should have to choose between their safety and their calling.
What The Pitt gets right is what the data has been telling us for years. Nurses are not just caregivers—they're part of the backbone of our health-care system. And they're in crisis. Fixing the shortage won't happen overnight, but there are clear steps health system executives can take to support and retain their nurses, like prioritizing hiring permanent staff instead of temporary nurses, providing growth and training opportunities, offering flexible scheduling, and fairly compensating their staff.
Equally important is addressing the psychological challenges of working in a post-pandemic world—chronic stress, trauma, and burnout that too often go unseen or untreated. Health systems must prioritize workplace safety and well-being, not only to retain talent but to honor the humanity of those who keep hospitals running. This could include establishing zero-tolerance policies for violence against health-care workers, supporting legislation that establishes penalties for violence toward health-care staff, and establishing strong safety plans for staff if any violence occurs in the workplace. Patients and their families can do their part too, by remembering that people treating them are human beings. Extending basic courtesy, kindness, and patience is the right thing to do as health-care workers work tirelessly to provide care.
At a time when public awareness can drive meaningful change, it's heartening to see a cultural moment like The Pitt spark conversations about health-care's most pressing issues. But awareness must lead to action—for the health-care workers who are still showing up every day, and for the patients whose lives depend on them.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
21 Of The Absolute "Dumbest" Reasons People Almost Died That Range From Honestly Kind Of Funny To Scarier Than Any Horror Movie
Recently, I wrote an article sharing people's stories of the absolute dumbest reasons they almost died, and it got really wild! You all really seem to love these, and in response, even more people detailed their own wild, "dumb" near-death experiences. So, I decided to share their answers! Here are some of the best: HBO 1."I was about 8 years old. I was passing around a bowl of hard Christmas candy — my last memory until I took a breath and felt a final whack on my back while hanging upside down by my feet. The piece of candy bounced onto the floor." "Skip ahead about 20 years. I was eating chili when a bean landed across my airway. I couldn't get the attention of my husband or two kids, so I jumped up from the table. That enabled me to blow out the bean. My husband snarled at me, 'What's the matter with you?' I answered, 'Nothing, just choking to death.'" —smartwitch66 2."I ate a Larabar on the first day of law school. Turns out I'm extremely allergic to cashews, which make up Larabars almost entirely. I had a lot of firsts that day: ambulance ride, EpiPen, hospital admittance, and IV." Bloomberg / Getty Images, Jeff Greenberg / Getty Images —foureyedshark 3."It was my first job during high school, in a family-style restaurant kitchen. I was told to clear out and clean the inside of the stand-up refrigerator across from the main grill during a slow period. While wiping the interior down with a damp cleaning rag, I decided the hole near the top needed to be cleaned and, wrapping the rag around my finger, I stuck it into the hole to wipe it out. Yes, it was where the lightbulb would be placed. One moment I was cleaning, the next moment I had been flung across the kitchen and was sitting on the grill. It took a while for my hair to lie back down, and much longer for the burns to heal!" —emoelf137 Related: 4."I was old enough to know better — a tweenager. 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Ironically, the Life Saver almost ended my life." Bon Appétit, Bloomberg / Getty Images —Anonymous 7."This happened this year, during winter. We live in the country, and this was my first winter out of the city, driving backroads. Snow had fallen a fairly decent amount, and as I was driving, I'd seen an oncoming car." "I wasn't sure if they had enough room to pass me safely, so I moved over and started sliding off the road. I hit a batch of trees, and had I not turned the wheel to the left, I would've hit the power utility box a few feet away. Total time was five seconds and I made it back on the road safely. I was shaken, scared, and crying. I'm a city girl and only live in the country because it's cheaper." —Anonymous, 53, Wisconsin 8."I had been around good golfers all of my life. On my honeymoon, one of the golfers was majorly slowing down the course, so I tried ways to speed up our play. 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This was in the late '60s, so it was a very new thing. It had an attached cord you needed to plug in. It was early morning before school, and I didn't really have my eyes completely open yet. I had the bright idea to put my finger between the prongs to find the plug, found it, and got a bad shock. Afterwards, I told my parents about it, and my dad just shook his head and said, 'Well, that was stupid.'" 20th Century Studios / Freeform / Via —Anonymous 14."I was driving a pick-up truck while working in a camping park at 15 years old, came across the field, and saw a friend. I grew up shooting bow and arrows. He turned and shot one at the truck. I was driving, thinking it would hit the windshield and glance off, but it came right through and only stopped at my neck from the quills getting stuck in the windshield." 35007 / Getty Images, ABC —Anonymous, 68, Florida 15."1969, I believe. I lived in suburban Arkansas at the time. Crossing the street to go to school, IN A CROSSWALK, I was hit by a car that took off after dropping off a child in the other lane. The driver was looking to make certain their kid got on the sidewalk safely. She 'punched it' pulling away (her words). Knocked me about 10 feet. The driver was screaming in horror that she had killed me. I spent three days in the hospital. Bruises and a good-sized scrape on the back of my skull from the pavement skid. Someone stole the brand-new Superman comics I spent my allowance on the night before. " NBC —Anonymous, 54, South Dakota 16."For some reason, I thought I could examine and fix an outlet that wasn't working by myself with no guidance. Turns out that not only could I not fix it, but also being electrocuted hurts a lot." —Anonymous, 30 17."When I was a toddler, I went to a pool party and they didn't want us tracking water through the house, so they taught us to pee in the drain behind the pool. So a few days later when I had gotten home, I saw a light socket on the floor, and remembering the drain, I peed in it. Luckily, I stepped away just as a wall of fire burst out of the socket, almost reaching the ceiling. My grandmother walked in just in time to see it. She said she had visions of the house burning down and is shocked to this day that I didn't get electrocuted." —Anonymous, 28, Ventura, California 18."I wondered what it looked like when you used a spray bottle, so I looked straight into the sprayer and squeezed the trigger. A mist of chemicals entered my eyes, nose, and mouth. Yep, it hurt. No lasting damage." —Anonymous Related: 19."I was in elementary school and we were in the pool. I had not learned to swim officially; we learned in our middle school gym class. I thought I was being cool by jumping in the deep end. I nearly drowned. I finally found the side of the pool and grabbed on like nobody's business. Nobody, not even the life guards, had any idea I was in trouble." —Anonymous, 53, Maryland 20."My dad was in the military, and we were living in Ohio. Being the baby and the only girl with two older brothers, I was often at their mercy. One day, when we were in the car, the window was down, and my middle brother told me to stick my head out the window, which I did. He then pushed the up button and got my head in the window with the window going into my neck. Luckily, my dad came out and yelled at him and made him stop. Who knows what would've happened to me." —Anonymous 21."I have a severe peanut allergy, and someone gave me a peanut butter-filled pretzel in sixth grade. I ate it. 🫣" —Anonymous, 21, Michigan IDK about you, but I feel kinda dazed reading some of these! Please leave all your thoughts in the comments below. Or, better yet, share your own dumb near-death story! I love reading these. If you have a story to tell but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous form! Besides, who knows — your comment could be included in a future BuzzFeed article. Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
18-06-2025
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Experts sound alarm over potentially lethal fungus that sounds straight out of 'The Last of Us': 'We're talking about hundreds of thousands of lives'
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USA Today
16-06-2025
- USA Today
Eric Dane reveals right arm has 'completely stopped working' amid ALS battle
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