The demand for healthcare workers since the start of the pandemic in March 2020 exacerbated an already existing shortage of staff across the U.S.
Dr. Patricia Pittman commented on Bloomberg article: "There was a labor market disequilibrium, and employers had not yet addressed the issues driving nurses to want to retire or return to school,” said Patricia Pittman, director of the Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at George Washington University. “COVID factors were layered on top and made a bad situation worse.” 

Patricia Pittman, PhD, Director of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at George Washington University, engaged in this news article from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). “There’s a feeling of betrayal by the society,” said Dr. Pittman , “There’s incredible frustration that this was avoidable.” Read full commentary and article here.​

Interviewed by CBS12 news, Dr. Patricia Pittman, director of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at George Washington University, said many nurses still harbor resentment toward their employers from the early stages of the pandemic, in part from being forced to work without adequate protective gear. “The nurses say, ’Hey, if I am not going to be treated with respect, I might as well go be a travel nurse,'" she said. “'That way I can go work in a hellhole for 13 weeks, but then I can take off a couple months or three months and go do whatever.'"
Read full article here.