A soldier is aware that the US has been a state of low-level conflict, with sporadic bursts of intensity, since 9/11 (or before). Even in a state of peace, there are dangerous deployments (anecdotally, almost every retired Marine I know has some sort of permanent injury from training - most are of the annoying variety - surgically repaired knees - but some are worse).
A pandemic the likes of which we haven't seen for a century is a change in that status quo for medical providers. It also brings a level of work and stress that simply isn't sustainable, regardless of compensation. A human simply can't sustain 80 hour weeks, no matter how much we pay them. Nobody wants to be stressed out all day long because their patients are being even more moronic than normal (see also: South Dakota nurses who deal with COVID-deniers who are literally dying of COVID).
I used the soldier example because we as a society have decided that their PTSD and other burn-out is compensated by medical-care, and the money / benefits that the military pays you. One usually knows the serious risks of developing PTSD from being a soldier before entering. We do the same for Police Officers, and it's for these reasons that cops end up so well paid in many places.
The medical field is similar. We pay them more as a way to compensate them for the utility they bring to the world despite the risks associated with their job.
If I am lacking in empathy, than so is the rest of the world, and my particular instance of this "lack of empathy" is tiny compared to others.
If anything, we should celebrate that market forces are giving mistreated nurses a way out. I think that if anything, we should be very happy that market forces are giving disgruntled nurses a way to stick the finger to their shitty hospital management ("Oh, you won't let me have new PPE? Fu*k you I quit and I'm taking a job that pays 10x as much...")