Parallel Pandemics

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the healthcare system, exposing supply chain and staffing deficiencies, changing the care delivery model, and impacting communication between patients, families, and their caregivers. Even prior to COVID-19, however, there were preexisting vulnerabilities within healthcare due to high rates of burnout among physicians, nurses, and other frontline healthcare clinicians.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has persisted, the signs of clinician burnout have become evident, requiring many healthcare workers to find ways to emotionally detach from and cope with the realities inherent in their day-to-day work.

This is a podcast series accounting for the parallel pandemics of COVID-19 and clinician burnout, while introducing the story of one undocumented patient who helped to reveal the authentic feelings and values of his healthcare team. With historically high mortality rates in the ICU and pervasive emotional and physical fatigue, this ICU team in Marietta, Georgia had the courage to hope and the commitment to care.