Two years in, 25,000 Tennesseans have died of COVID and hospitals are reporting widespread burnout

On Saturday, Tennessee hit two years since the first case of COVID was confirmed in Tennessee. By the numbers, the state has tracked more than 2 million cases and will likely break 25,000 deaths this week.

Those who’ve been treating the sickest of the sick say they’re “tired-er than tired.”

“Going into year three of the pandemic, even just saying that kind of sends a shiver down my spine,” nurse Meg Cockrum tells This is Nashville.

At the start of the pandemic, Cockrum was a cardiac nurse but volunteered to work in the Vanderbilt COVID unit after she saw her colleagues could use a break. The early days were uncertain, but less demanding.

“Each year of the pandemic has had its own unique flavor,” she says. “The first year being — total fear, unknown stress, shut down. In the second year, when the vaccine came out, a lot of hope and excitement and hoping that this would be the end of it. And then, thinking about year three? I mean, that just brings instant fatigue.”

More: Facing a nursing shortage, Tennessee hospitals turn to higher pay and international staff

Hospitals remain short-staffed, even though in Tennessee they’re caring for roughly a third of the COVID patients from the peak periods. Some are leaving the bedside or the profession altogether. Others have left permanent staff jobs to take traveling roles that still pay substantially more.

The job remains taxing for those who work in intensive care units. Tennesseans are still dying at a pace that was unimaginable early in the pandemic, with an average of 72 deaths per day in late February.

“In this career, you see death and dying up close,” says Vanderbilt flight nurse Neil Stinson, who has also been working with COVID patients throughout the pandemic. “You’re immersed in human tragedy. I think it’s impossible to witness these things and participate in these things without getting awfully close to an emotional and physical, spiritual level of burnout.”