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