I've heard the same thing you've heard. In fact, we witness it. We partner with and we work inside our hospitals, so our staff are working in an integrated manner.
It is the moral distress of not being able to provide the care, the burnout, having to deal with the number of deaths you've witnessed from the pandemic, and transferring patients. One of the nurses I know said that she had to hold her nose because she had to transfer patients to another hospital far away from their family. That was the only thing she could do, even though she knew it wasn't best for them or their family. There was just no space.
The reality is that our ICUs are still filling up with people with COVID. COVID isn't over for the health care system. It isn't over for long-term care. I mentioned the impact of health care workers feeling that they were being threatened and protested against by people who were protesting against public health guidelines. It wasn't the ringing of the pots and pans any more. It was how they felt when they were told they couldn't wear their nursing uniforms or their medical uniforms to care.
We need to stand in solidarity with our health care workers. We need to remind Canadians that they deserve the compassion and empathy that you want them to have. I know, and I think all Canadians know, that when you show up to the emergency room for yourself, your loved one or your child, you want your doctor or nurse to be at the best of their game. When they're burnt out and tired, they may not be, and that puts everybody at risk.