STANFORD, Calif. (KRON) – It’s a problem facing healthcare workers across the country, including here in the Bay Area.
Friends of a Stanford nurse who killed herself last week say her death is drawing attention to the importance of mental health for healthcare workers.
A recent study says that during the last two years of caring for COVID patients, nurses and other first responders reported high levels of stress, depression, and fatigue.
Friends and co-workers of 27-year-old Michael Odell are heartbroken.
The Oklahoma ICU roving nurse had been working at Stanford Hospital before killing herself last week.
Josh Paredes was Odell’s best friend. As a fellow nurse, he says the stress of work has become overwhelming for many in the healthcare field.
Paredes thinks it’s important for people to hear Odell’s story.
A recent study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine included a survey of more than 500 doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who have been treating COVID patients.
Within it, they found that 74% said they were depressed, 37% reported experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and 15% said they had thoughts of suicide or self-harm.
Stanford nurse Gabby Ladue assisted in a frantic two-day search for Odell, who abruptly left work and went missing last Tuesday.
The search ended tragically Thursday when Odell’s body was found at the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge.
Ladue says frontline workers across the country need more support right now.
Odell’s colleagues hope that employers will step up their efforts to address the well-being of their workers.
For Paredes, Odell’s death is signaling the need for these conversations.
