Emergency nurses are at increased risk for work-related burnout as front-line healthcare workers—specifically secondary traumatic stress (STS) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and COVID-19 has dramatically exacerbated this risk.1, 2 Exposed daily to life-and-death situations—caring for patients with physical trauma, unexpected diagnoses, or being the victims of violence from patients and visitors themselves, signs of nurse burnout include exhaustion, stress, frustration, anger, depression, or anxiety at much higher rates than the general U.S. population.
