The HBO drama The Pitt has quickly captured the attention of viewers everywhere, not just for its sharp writing and cast, but for its harrowing, honest depiction of life inside an understaffed emergency department. While the storylines are fictional, many health-care workers watching will tell you: This is far too real.
From chaotic triage scenes to the senior attending begging the hospital’s chief medical officer to hire more nurses between back-to-back trauma cases, The Pitt holds up a mirror to the everyday experiences of America’s health-care workers, particularly those on the frontlines of our nation’s emergency rooms. And in doing so, it’s highlighting a workforce crisis we can no longer afford to ignore.
At Incredible Health, we work with 1 million nurses and 1,500 health systems nationwide. Our annual reports reflect what The Pitt dramatizes: Nurses are overburdened, under-resourced, and working in situations where they are in real physical danger. In our most recent report on the state of nursing, 88% of nurses say staff shortages negatively impact patient care, and 63% are assigned to too many patients at a time. Another survey of health-care executives found that 78% don’t think they have the staff needed to handle a large-scale health crisis.
Risk to patients
The risk to patients is very real. Staff shortages force nurses to manage unsustainable patient loads, increasing the likelihood of missed symptoms, delayed care, and burnout that drives even more nurses to leave the profession. It is a vicious cycle that makes all of us less safe.
The Pitt also highlights the violence health-care workers face. Nurses and other health-care workers are being verbally harassed, physically assaulted, and emotionally worn down, often with little institutional support or protection. Half of all nurses report being verbally and/or physically assaulted by a patient or their family in the past year, and 26% say they are likely to leave their jobs because of it. The result is a growing sense of fear and frustration that only accelerates attrition from the profession. No one should have to choose between their safety and their calling.
Nurses in crisis
What The Pitt gets right is what the data has been telling us for years. Nurses are not just caregivers—they’re part of the backbone of our health-care system. And they’re in crisis. Fixing the shortage won’t happen overnight, but there are clear steps health system executives can take to support and retain their nurses, like prioritizing hiring permanent staff instead of temporary nurses, providing growth and training opportunities, offering flexible scheduling, and fairly compensating their staff.
Equally important is addressing the psychological challenges of working in a post-pandemic world—chronic stress, trauma, and burnout that too often go unseen or untreated. Health systems must prioritize workplace safety and well-being, not only to retain talent but to honor the humanity of those who keep hospitals running. This could include establishing zero-tolerance policies for violence against health-care workers, supporting legislation that establishes penalties for violence toward health-care staff, and establishing strong safety plans for staff if any violence occurs in the workplace. Patients and their families can do their part too, by remembering that people treating them are human beings. Extending basic courtesy, kindness, and patience is the right thing to do as health-care workers work tirelessly to provide care.
At a time when public awareness can drive meaningful change, it’s heartening to see a cultural moment like The Pitt spark conversations about health-care’s most pressing issues. But awareness must lead to action—for the health-care workers who are still showing up every day, and for the patients whose lives depend on them.
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