In Their Own Words: COVID-19 and the Future of the Health Care Workforce

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the health care workforce? And how will the pandemic reshape the health care workforce going forward?

It is not hard to find news stories about insufficient personal protective equipment, burnout, and the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on health care workers. But on the ground, in the day-to-day, what has serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic been like for health care workers, in their own words?

We asked a broad range of health care workers – including ICU and ED nurses and physicians, medical and nursing students, emergency medical technicians, and leaders of professional groups within the health care sector – for narrative reflections on their experiences during the pandemic, with an eye toward the future: how can we learn from these experiences and better support their needs going forward?

Their answers will form our latest digital symposium on our blog Bill of Health. This companion event will highlight a few of their stories and provide a venue to discuss the overarching concerns and themes brought out by the symposium.

Register now and check back later for added details about the discussion, which will be moderated by Stephen Wood, Petrie-Flom Center Visiting Fellow and acute care nurse practitioner practicing emergency medicine in Boston.