Noah Wyle: I play a doctor on 'The Pitt.' Real health care workers need our help.

[Jilly_in_VA]

I’ve spent a lot of my life wearing scrubs, although I never passed Anatomy 101.

On "The Pitt," I play an attending physician in a high-intensity emergency department. It’s fiction, but it’s grounded in real stories – shaped by medical advisers who've lived them and delivered with reverence for the professionals we’re honored to represent.

Still, it wasn’t until my mother, a retired nurse, watched a scene where my character lists the names of patients he couldn’t save that I truly grasped the emotional weight of this work, as she shared a flood of stories she’s carried silently for decades. I’ve never seen her respond that way to something I’ve acted in.

And she’s not alone. Since the show premiered, I’ve heard from countless health care workers who’ve told me they finally feel seen. Their stories echo the same themes: exhaustion, compassion and a system that threatens to make their life’s work unsustainable.

Their stories have stayed with me. And that’s why I jumped at the chance when I was approached by FIGS, a health care apparel company with a history of standing up for the health care workforce, to go to Capitol Hill with them this week. While on Capitol Hill, I will advocate alongside a group of FIGS ambassadors made up of 18 extraordinary nurses, doctors, students and other health care professionals.

As part of this grassroots effort, we’re urging lawmakers to act on three urgent, bipartisan issues that are making health care workers’ jobs, and their lives, harder than they need to be: lack of mental health support, crushing administrative burden and financial strain.

Our message is simple: Without a supported, protected and fairly treated workforce, there is no patient care. Whatever other important issues are being debated, this has to be a priority.

Health care workers are experiencing burnout at staggering levels. Half of physicians and nurses report being burned out, and health care workers face a 32% higher risk of suicide than the general population. Even when support exists, many fear that seeking help could jeopardize their license, career or reputation.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2025/06/10/noah-wyle-the-pitt-er-healthcare-burnout/84113515007/

As a retired RN, I can attest to this. I think one reason I changed jobs frequently was to avoid burnout, and why I loved travel nursing so much. I urge everyone to read thw whole article.

[vishnura]

1. ER/The Pitt

After watching the Pitt. I found ER, now I am up to viewing S7 with my wife who is a retired RN and enjoying every minute.

[Jilly_in_VA]

3. After watching The Pitt

I see just how UNrealistic shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy are much of the time. I watch them to pick out errors.

[hlthe2b]

2. Starting with the early-on refusal to recognize COVID-19 infections were workplace-related and allow

workman's compensation for these early, severe, and often fatal infections among health care staff--many who have long COVID to this day and can no longer work... Then, shortages across the board, with hospital administration refusing to address overworked staff... Then, the RW concerted effort to demonize health care workers for everything they CHOSE not to believe or the protections they refused to accept related to COVID-19... Then the escalating greed that has closed so many hospitals and caused HCWs to see patients refused more than absolute emergent care... Then the impact of extremist anti-abortion laws that have made women the ONE group who can and quite often ARE denied life-saving care, with sympathetic staff holding that guilt burden...

Yes, Noah, you are right. But you have just touched the surface...

[mopinko]

4. and w/o immigrants,

we’re doubly fucked. spent a week in the hospital in feb. almost all the nurses had less than 2 yrs in. the 1 ‘old timer’ on the floor was soooo bitter.
this was a ‘top in the country’ hospital, so they were almost all american born. the docs, not so much. surgeon was russian, gi was korean.
also lost 3 docs in the plague. all burned out and retired.

dont let anyone tell u there r only long waits in canada. they’re already here and about to get worse. need to find a new pcp, and i have the ‘next available’ appt w a pretty low rated doc- october. next w an internist was dec.
in chgo. home to several big, top notch hospitals.

[Jilly_in_VA]

6. Many of the nurses I worked with

(this was before 2010, so I'm dating myself) were immigrants. In a couple of hospital in Tennessee, many of the nurses I worked with were from the Philippines. In one unit in northern VA, I counted nurses from *14* different countries outside the US. In another, there were a number from different west African countries, and that was also true of a couple of the others. In my last place of employment, many of the nurses were from India. If the orange slime has his way, there will be NO healthcare workers!

My PCP is American, yes, but several of the others in the practice are not. At least rwo are from the Philippines. My cardiologist is American, but my GI doc is Trinidadian-Indian, and I have no idea yet what my new nephrologist is (his name is Waligora and my husband, who just saw him, says a visit with him was like an hour long chat with the Swedish chef!) but his nurse is definitely Chinese!

[mopinko]

7. philipino nurses used to b common around here.

back in the day we used to run nursing schools in the philippines. i always thought it was a bit cringe that so many came here, cuz they were needed more there.

it strikes me that it’s getting harder and harder to b a nurse. these days many of the programs r bachelors degree. the community college i went to has a 2 yrs program, but it’s pretty basic. many of the grads go on to get 1 or 2 more yrs. if u want to get into management at all, u need that 4 yr.
i dont know how they pay off their loans w what nurses get paid.

[cubbie]

5. Thanks for this info

I was an ER nurse 40 years ago and this amazing show stirred up so many memories and feelings. In addition to showing the stresses of being a healthcare worker, it makes important points about gun violence, drug deaths, abortion, vaccines, homelessness, etc. I hope it reaches a very wide audience!

[ms liberty]

8. Noah Wyle is amazing. The Pitt is a great show. ER was a great show too.