About 10,000 nurses to attend National Magnet Conference in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ten thousand nurses are in Philadelphia for a conference. They have a packed agenda, and many are also still haunted by being on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The convention celebrates hospitals that have achieved special designations, and critically, the nurses on the front lines. While COVID-19 is no longer overwhelming health care systems, it's far from forgotten.
Thousands of nurses crowded into the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Thursday for the National Magnet Conference, which runs until Oct. 15.
"In the beginning, it was really scary," Angela Piech, Pennsylvania Hospital Intensive Care Unit clinical nurse, said.
Piech, an ICU nurse for 20 years, was on the COVID-19 unit at Pennsylvania Hospital.
"Everybody went in there expecting a sprint and found we were in a marathon," Piech said.
Nurses attending the conference are coming from hospitals all over the country given special recognition for excellence.
"They really are the best of the best," Kate Judge, American Nurses Foundation executive director, said.
A lot of research is being presented at the conference, including a new survey on how nurses fared during the pandemic. It found that 68% of nurses are stressed, 60% have experienced violence at work and 59% are exhausted.
"Burnout is a big deal because we work short-staffed sometimes," Piech said.
While they might not have time to take a break at work in a massaging chair, here they can while sharing a special kind of nurse camaraderie. But the survey also found that 52% of nurses are considering leaving the profession, according to the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
"I can't imagine health care being good in this country without nurses," Judge said. "I think what we've seen in the pandemic is the country relies on health care and health care depends on nurses."
And nurses say in spite of the challenges, they remain committed to caring for patients.
Also on the agenda for the nurses: they're making donations and raising money to support PHL Cares to help the homeless community.