(Princeton, NJ, Monday, September 21, 2020) – Nurses see firsthand that often, life simply isn’t fair. Life can change in an instant, and many times, there is no rhyme or reason to it. But other times, there’s so much more to the story. Sometimes, the situation is more than just unfair — it’s inequitable.

Frontline nurses are seeing patients disproportionately impacted by the devastation of a public health crisis. COVID-19 has brought issues of equity to the forefront, and nurses are increasingly seeing patients and families facing these challenges.

Nurses are often even facing some of these challenges themselves—while they sacrifice so much to help patients.

• Nurses are on the floor and are often traumatized by what they’ve been seeing with the pandemic.
• The added stress is contributing to feelings of burnout.

Right now, a person’s ability to protect themselves or their families depend on their income, access to health care, and other factors.

• Paid sick leave from work or a lack of affordable childcare; and
• At least 28 million Americans are living without insurance and nearly one-third of the population is still underinsured.

Health care resources aren’t equally available to all. One example is unequal access to COVID-19 testing. Testing depends on health infrastructure in a community.

SHIFT is a community of nurses on a mission to shape a better future for the nursing profession. SHIFT is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. SHIFT Talk is a new podcast bringing together nurses to get real about the challenges they’re facing on and off the clock.