The sudden and unexpected death of a young person by suicide creates a bleak landscape where it can feel impossible to make sense of the senseless. The April 2022 death of Hillary F. Herskowitz, 25, an alumna of Rutgers University School of Nursing in New Brunswick, remains difficult to understand for her family, friends, and colleagues. However, her passing is helping inspire research into potentially life-saving educational and organizational changes that may ensure increased self-care support is available for health professionals.

According to Assistant Professor of Nursing Catherine Stubin, who has a Ph.D. in nursing science, cases of burnout—caused by cumulative workplace stress—surged among health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said contributing factors include excessive workloads, administrative paperwork burdens that eat into patient-care time, limited control over scheduling, and a deficit in readily available psychological support. Stubin said while there have always been social, cultural, and organizational factors contributing to burnout in the health care industry, these factors were heightened during the pandemic. to read the full story.