WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly one year after the first official COVID-19 diagnosis in the U.S., medical professionals remain on the front lines of a seemingly never-ending pandemic.

“It's been a trying time for all of us, for all my colleagues and all, everyone involved in the care of the patient,” said Helen Cordova, an ICU nurse at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles.

It’s a trying time, with real consequences on the mental health of those we rely on for our health.

According to a recent study conducted by Mental Health America:

• 93 percent of health care workers reported experiencing stress
• 86 percent reported anxiety
• 76 percent were exhausted and burned out
• 75 percent said they were overwhelmed

“If you work in the environment like that, you don't know what's going to come,” said Dr. Eugene Lipov is with the Stella Center, which specializes in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. “It's stressful because you're afraid of not doing your job right. You don't want people dying. You also are afraid you're going to get this communicable disease.”

He said some people working in health care are exhibiting symptoms of PTSD because of the constant psychological toll COVID-19 is taking on them.

“It's very similar to being in a war zone and that actually leads to fight-and-flight system being kicked on,” Dr. Lipov said. “And if it stays on, then you get symptoms of PTSD, such as not being able to sleep, such as all the activity, paranoia - all of that.”

How can workers combat it? Dr. Lipov suggested several steps.

“Number one: you need to get some sleep, meaning turn off the devices,” he said. ”If you can get outside, walk, get some natural light, walk for at least 30 minutes.”

Finally, he said health care workers need to remember to take care of themselves, with the same passion they often show for their patients.

As the Biden administration is expected to recommend booster shots for most Americans who have already received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, medical professionals said one big issue stands out for people who haven’t received any doses at all: overall hesitancy about the shot.

“One of the biggest problems that we have right now with this pandemic is vaccine hesitancy,” Dr. E. Steve Woodle, director of solid organ transplantation at UC Health, said.

According to data from the Ohio Department of Health, more than 440,000 people got their first dose of the vaccine, but not their second.

Woodle said the side effects of the vaccine’s second dose may be what’s contributing to vaccine hesitancy – he worries it may prevent people from getting a third shot.

“I mean, that’s a possibility,” he said. “And, so far, we have not, you know, the incidents of severe reactions to the vaccine are very low.”

There’s one group of patients Woodle said should have little hesitancy: transplant patients who have weakened immune systems.

“We’ve got a significant portion of the population that remains susceptible to infection, and that results in the long-term persistence of the COVID epidemic or pandemic,” he said.

Don Melillo had a liver transplant nine years ago.

“I had a liver transplant, but whether it be a kidney or any other sort of organ transplant,” he said. “And there still has been a lot of doubt, or information, lack of information, really, about how well does it protect us?”

Milillo said as soon as he heard booster shots were available, he went online to make an appointment. The next day, he got his third dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a local CVS.

The data is clear for transplant patients and other patients taking immune-suppressing medications, Woodle said.

“These patients don’t develop as robust a response to the vaccine,” he said. “So, if they have an opportunity to get a third dose or a booster, if you will, they should strongly consider it, and we’re recommending that for our transplant patients.”