To: Rob Wittman

From: Morgan Horn, RN, CMSRN, PCCN

Subject: H.R. 1667 Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act

The health care system in our country has been strongly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
these past few years. Specifically, nurses and doctors have been dedicated to caring for
critically ill patients throughout this time and work tirelessly to help support these patients and
their families. The H.R.1667 Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act builds
awareness and promotes improvement of well-being initiatives for these healthcare providers
(Dr. Lorna Breen Foundation, 2021), and I highly support this bill.

Working throughout this pandemic and caring for so many patients has placed a negative
impact on the mental and physical health of nurses and doctors. Many healthcare workers get
burned out from constant strain on their body and mind when seeing negative patient
outcomes. It is important to support these healthcare workers who are caring for our country
by developing programs and strategies to promote proper self-care and treatment for mental
and behavioral health concerns. We must be aware of the positive impact this will have on our
healthcare providers if we are able to encourage them to get the treatment they need to
improve their well-being during such a difficult time.

 In 2020, a survey of 1,119 healthcare workers showed that 39% did not feel they
were receiving the adequate amount of emotional support they needed while caring
for COVID-19 patients (Mental Health America, 2021).
 Before the pandemic, nurses were already experiencing high levels of stress in their day-
to-day work life and the COVID-19 crisis caused more of a mental and behavioral strain
including burnout that has led to many nurses with PTSD ( American Nurses Foundation,
2021).

Recommendation: Vote to pass bill H.R. 1667 Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection
Act. With the continued impact of COVID-19 and the increased need for more healthcare
providers, it is important now more than ever to support them and acknowledge their hard
work. We need to continue to encourage them to get the mental, emotional and physical
treatment they need to have confidence in themselves to continue to care for such sick
patients.

It is important to strive for a healthy country and positive patient outcomes, but we must first
care for the well-being of our healthcare workers because without them we will not thrive. A
mentally and emotionally healthy caregiver provides the care that is needed for positive patient
outcomes.
 References

American Nurses Foundation (2021). Coronavirus response fund for nurses: relief. Retrieved

from https://www.nursingworld.org/foundation/programs/coronavirus-response-

fund/relief/

Dr. Lorna Breen Foundation (2021). About the foundation. Retrieved from

https://drlornabreen.org/about-the-foundation/

Mental Health America (2021). The mental health of healthcare workers in COVID-19. Retrieved

from https://mhanational.org/mental-health-healthcare-workers-covid-19