A California nurse took her own life on April 29 at Kaiser’s Santa Clara Medical Center.

The nurse, who has not been identified, had a loaded gun and was halfway through a shift that Wednesday night in the emergency room when they committed suicide. Medical personnel in the hospital said that the tragic event took place in a supply room and in front of a coworker. While no name was given, the Independent reported that the nurse was female.

The ER remained open for walk-in patients, but ambulances were diverted to nearby hospitals while Kaiser conducted an investigation, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "Our hearts go out to the family, friends and co-workers affected by this terrible loss. Our teams are on site providing emotional support and resources for staff. We are grateful to our employees and physicians who responded immediately and for the compassionate outpouring of support our Santa Clara team is receiving from colleagues at Kaiser Permanente and other healthcare systems,” Dr. Rakesh Chaudhary, physician-in-chief at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, said in a statement.

While the motivation for the shooting remains unclear, the incident has raised concerns about the availability of mental health resources for nurses, who have been overwhelmed physically, mentally and emotionally by the pandemic. A recent study by the CDC found that over 70% of healthcare workers have anxiety and depression, 38% suffer from PTSD, and 15% have recently thought about suicide and self-harm.

Suicide was also high among nurses even before the pandemic, with a 2019 study showing that male nurses were 41% more likely than members of the general public to kill themselves and that female nurses had a nearly 58% higher chance of doing the same.

Additionally, the pandemic has caused many nurses to switch careers and seasoned veterans to retire early, pushing the onus on those remaining. The suicide at Kaiser coincided with a strike orchestrated the same week by 5,000 nurses at Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children’s hospital in San Francisco, reported ABC7 News.

The group called for safe staffing, wage increases, safer working conditions and the availability of mental health services after years of burnout and overwork. A tentative agreement was reached on Friday. "We are out here trying to get the hospital to listen to us about getting paid, being willing to make good contract agreements with us that will make nursing more sustainable, and improve our staffing, among other things," said Kathy Stormberg, a registered nurse at Stanford and vice president of Crona (Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement), the union representing the nurses during the strike.

Back in January, travel nurse Michael Odell killed himself in the middle of his shift. His body was found in the sea near San Francisco’s Dumbarton Bridge. Odell had previously attempted suicide in April 2020 and then took a hiatus from nursing before reentering the field in January 2022 during the Omicron wave.

Following his death, San Francisco nurse Josh Paredes, a friend of Odell’s started a nonprofit, DontClockOut.org, a digital platform where nurses can find someone to talk to — usually another nurse. "If frontline healthcare workers were truly regarded as heroes, we would have absolute world-class care when it comes to mental health,” he told NBC Bay Area News.

In the same month as Odell’s first suicide attempt, Dr. Lorna M. Breen, the medical director of the emergency department at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, killed herself while visiting family in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her father described her as feeling “detached” from watching a high number of patients die, reported The New York Times.

Kaiser says it is offering emotional support and resources to staff following the nurse’s death. Paredes says he hopes this support will become permanent for nurses everywhere.