How COVID-19 Crushed One's Calling

Source: Cedric Fauntleroy/Pexels

By Yoo Eun Kim and Yoo Jung Kim, M.D

Our altruistic professions are in trouble. Consider education and healthcare. On paper, they are two very different fields, but they are united in their immeasurable importance to the public welfare. Pursuing a career in these fields is often seen as a calling, rather than a mere job. And a major perk of both fields is the satisfaction derived from enabling others to live their best lives.

The pandemic highlighted the importance of healthcare and education; at the beginning of the pandemic, people hailed teachers, nurses, medical assistants, respiratory therapists, social workers, physicians–among others–as "essential workers," people whose jobs were necessary for our society to function at the most basic level. However, the pandemic also placed additional stress on our care-centered fields, leading to staff shortages and burnout.

COVID-19 made it more difficult for those in education and healthcare to do their jobs well, leading to a growing sense of professional moral injury. According to a study from March 2021, 97 percent of teachers reported learning loss in their classrooms compared to the class of students they taught before the pandemic. Similarly, healthcare workers often found themselves unable to provide adequate care for their patients due to a shortage of beds and supplies at the beginning of the pandemic and with every surge.

The pandemic also impacted the mental health of workers in care-centered fields. According to a pre-print published by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Compared with professions in other specialties, including healthcare and office-based workers, teachers reported higher depression and anxiety symptoms. In a cross-sectional survey taken immediately after the first surge, 14 percent of healthcare workers reported higher depression and 43 percent higher anxiety.

These stressors will have grave consequences for the future of our care-focused workforce. According to a study by Rand Corporation, before the pandemic, one out of six teachers contemplated quitting their jobs; during the pandemic, one out of four teachers have considered leaving the field. Furthermore, in a September 2021 survey conducted by the American Nurses Foundation, 21 percent of nurses stated that they intended to leave their position in the next six months, and 29 percent indicated that they might.

The saying, "Do it for the students, patients," is no longer enough to sustain the well-being of our care-centered professionals. While the Great Resignation has impacted every field, we will feel the loss of these our teachers and healthcare workers acutely, and the pandemic has demonstrated that they can no longer be taken for granted. Employers in education and healthcare need to ensure that workers, particularly those who made it through the pandemic, have the support they need. This could be accomplished through a number of ways, such as providing easier access to mental health resources (including protected time to make use of those resources) and paying out "hazard bonuses," to acknowledge their hard work during the pandemic.

Pretending that everything is "business as usual" after the pandemic ignores the plight of our educators and healthcare professionals and validates their decisions to leave their callings. Without a significant overhaul to how we treat our care-focused workers, the future of our society is at risk.

Yoo Eun Kim works in education management in Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in USA Today, Chicago Tribune, The Mercury News, The Korea Times, and other publications.