Front-line healthcare workers have been carrying a very heavy burden since March 2020. Nurses and doctors and other staff working in hospitals are stressed, exhausted, and burned out. The pandemic is not only taking its toll on the public’s physical health, it is taking a major tole on the mental health of these front-line healthcare workers.

We are starting to see reports of front-line workers experiencing symptoms of PTSD. This is caused by the stress of long, hectic days in the emergency room and being surrounded by death and/or near-death on a constant basis. Mental health professionals will tell you that “vicarious trauma”—i.e., being a first-hand witness to another’s death or injury, is a very common cause of PTSD. We see it all the time in war veterans who witness their comrades get hurt or killed in battle, or first responders who witness violent injuries or deaths while in performing their duties. Now we are seeing it happen to ER nurses and doctors under this pandemic. A job that was already quite stressful has been made even harder by a flood of COVID patients, and the numbers are rising every day.

There are a few legal protections available for these folks relative to getting rest, recovery, and treatment. First, for healthcare organizations subject to FMLA (and most hospitals would qualify), these employees can take up to 90 days leave while their job is protected, so long as the PTSD and/or stress and anxiety is deemed to be disabling by a qualified doctor. Secondly, if the disabling PTSD is caused by stress at work, health care employees in Michigan would be entitled to workers’ compensation for missed time and related medical bills.

The end of the pandemic may seem to be in sight, given the daily news of potentially viable vaccines, but with we are still many months away from widespread distribution. Also, heavy travel over the Thanksgiving Weekend is expect to cause a major spike in cases. In other words, we as a society, and our front-line workers, are still far from being out of the woods. More than likely, these people will grit their teeth and get through the next several months without complaining; after all, they’ve dedicated their lives to making sick people healthy. But when the dust settles, I believe we will see quite a few healthcare professionals dealing with significant mental health issues due to the trauma of this pandemic. When that happens, we as a society should do the right thing and take care of these people, as they’ve taken care of us.

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