What happened during COVID is still driving emergency workers away

Dr. Allan Drummond believes the early months of the pandemic changed how many front-line health-care workers viewed their profession.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to influence why some emergency doctors and nurses are leaving high-pressure hospital work, according to a longtime Perth physician.

Dr. Allan Drummond, former co-chair of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and an Emergency Room Doctor for more than two decades, says the early months of the pandemic changed how many front-line health-care workers viewed their profession.

His comments follow a national survey suggesting one in 10 emergency physicians has left the specialty. Nearly half of those surveyed reported reducing their clinical hours, while 20 per cent had taken time away.

Drummond says emergency staff continued reporting for duty while seeing doctors and nurses in other countries become seriously ill or die after being exposed at work.

Drummond says eastern Ontario in general experienced significant COVID-19 activity during the pandemic’s early stages.

He says some emergency workers felt they were being asked to accept major personal risks without receiving adequate protective equipment or appreciation.

Drummond says those experiences added to pressures already created by emergency department overcrowding, workplace abuse and unpredictable hours.

He says physicians and nurses can often find other health-care positions with less stress, more regular schedules and better compensation.

Drummond believes the pandemic did not create the hospital system’s long-standing problems, but it contributed to exhaustion and made more workers question whether remaining in the emergency department was worth the toll.

Story by KingstonDaily.ca Staff