Mass Shootings, Fires Shine Spotlight On Emotional Toll Health Care Workers Pay Every Day
Hospitals are starting to recognize how much their workers can be affected by not only events of mass violence but just the day-to-day duties of working in an high-pressure, high-stakes environment.
Los Angeles Times:
As Health Workers Deal With Mass Shootings And Fires, More Hospitals Are Looking To Help Them Cope
The tragedies that play out in hospitals affect not just patients and their families, but the nurses and doctors who care for them. In one day, a hospital staff could treat a child gravely injured in a car accident, lose a patient to a terminal illness and comfort a family member whose loved one is in surgery. Healthcare workers develop a sort of emotional armor, but it can wear thin. Many say they need space to decompress after regularly witnessing the most devastating moments of people’s lives. (Karlamangla, 1/2)
In other news —
Los Angeles Times:
Amid Rising Gun Violence, Accidental Shooting Deaths Have Plummeted. But Why?
A country music festival in Las Vegas: 58 dead. A Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas: 26 dead. The streets of Baltimore last year: nearly 300 dead. Gun violence has received no shortage of attention. But one bright spot has gotten much less: the number of accidental shooting deaths has steadily declined. There were 489 people killed in unintentional shootings in the U.S. in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available. That was down from 824 deaths in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Taking into account population growth over that time, the rate fell 48%. (Lee, 1/1)
