Thread by @shazmamithani

I think it's time we talk about how healthcare workers are managing the burden of this pandemic. A thread...

Your healthcare workers are tired. We have been fighting to keep you healthy for almost 1 year now, and we cannot handle a third wave. /1

This last 11 months has been terrible for everyone, but the last month brought a glimmer of hope. Hope with the decreasing cases, the arrival of vaccines, and the steadying of hospital numbers. That hope has now been directly challenged by the entry of variant cases of COVID. /2

The variants spread more easily, can be more deadly, and have started to spread in the community. The variants are threatening the hard work we all have done in recent weeks to get control of this virus. They are threatening a spike in cases that could lead to another wave... /3

...which could break both the healthcare system and healthcare workers.

We are absolutely exhausted. We have spent months in the trenches, treating those sick both with COVID-19 and with other medical conditions. We have been doing this in challenging conditions. /4

Conditions where we are constantly putting on and taking off PPE (always worried about a potential breach in protocol), worried about our own safety and that of our loved ones at home, and are trying our best to treat patients within a stressed healthcare system. /5

Our resilience and mental health is at an all-time low. We have taken on the responsibility of not only keeping our patients safe and healthy, but in ongoing public advocacy to keep society safe from this virus. Many will say that this is what we signed up for; but is it? /6

Of course, we signed up to help and care for our patients. But I don't think any of us signed up to do this in an extremely stressed system, during a global pandemic, where going to work puts both our physical and mental health at such extreme risk. /7

All this while often facing public backlash and dismissal of our concerns, and calls to "stay in your lane." This is our lane - protection of the health of the public and the preservation of our healthcare system IS our lane. /8

Personally, I have never been more burnt out. In 5 years of gruelling residency, and nearly 7 years as an attending ER doc, this has been the hardest year of my career. One of the benefits of being a shift-worker in a hectic job is that we are afforded days off between shifts. /9

In the past, this 1-2 day break between a string of shifts does wonders to rest and restore before another stretch of shifts. This is no longer the case. It's taking longer and longer to recover from shifts, which are getting more and more challenging. /10

Patients are sicker, cases hit home more, and I am no longer able to bounce back as easily as I have before. Despite this, my colleagues and I still come to work and give everything to our patients, ever at the expense of our mental health. /11

In the face of all of this, Alberta is proposing easing of restrictions and increasing the risk of a third wave. It's too soon - the variant is a wildcard that we need more information about. /12

The healthcare system is just as stressed as it was before the restrictions were put in place, and healthcare workers are as burnt out as ever.

We are so close to getting a handle on this virus. Please, just give us more time. /13