What occurred on January 24, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is deeply troubling and profoundly unjust. One of our fellow critical care nurses was killed, and his death has reverberated across the nursing community. He was an American hero, caring for critically ill veterans as a registered nurse, while also contributing to the scientific community through research. What makes this loss particularly devastating is that it occurred within a profession already marked by profound and ongoing grief and violence.This tragedy underscores a painful reality for critical care nurses—our work is already steeped in loss, often carried quietly and without acknowledgment. Critical care nurses routinely shoulder an immense burden of grief while caring for patients who die.1 We experience loss alongside our patients and their families, sometimes without the time, space, or permission to grieve. When a patient dies, we are too often expected to move immediately to the next task or the next crisis. This cumulative professional grief places intensive care unit (ICU) nurses at heightened risk for emotional exhaustion.2 The loss of a fellow critical care nurse compounds this grief in a way that should never have occurred.Beyond grief, ICU nurses also face persistent threats of workplace violence. As the American Nurses Association3 has stated, Evidence suggests that the risk of violence may be even greater in critical care settings: one study has reported significantly increased risk and odds ratios for workplace violence in the ICU environment compared with other clinical settings.4The combined weight of professional grief and workplace violence is unsustainable. Nurses enter the profession to heal others, to protect life, and to care for people in their most vulnerable moments. They are advocates not only for their patients, but for the health and safety of their communities.5 Without meaningful, system-level efforts to protect ICU nurses and address burnout, we will continue to see nurses leave the bedside and the ICU at alarming rates. Although resilience is associated with reduced negative psychological outcomes and improved well-being,6 calls for individual resilience are insufficient at this time. Nurses need adequate institutional responsibility to reduce violence, support processing of grief, and ensure a healthy working environment. Addressing these challenges demands coordinated organizational action, which can include the following: I did not personally know Alex Pretti, yet his loss feels deeply personal. He could have been any one of us. I see him in my colleagues, my friends, and the nurses who show up every day, in and out of work, to condemn dehumanization, as outlined in the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics.5 During this time, critical care nurses must stand together, supporting one another, and continue to collectively demand the safe and nurturing environments that we, and the patients we care for, deserve.
Krista Wonderly (Wed,) studied this question.