Childcare stress during COVID-19 linked to burnout in HCWs
Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, UCHealth, Aurora, finds an association between healthcare workers (HCWs) reporting high childcare stress and burnout during COVID-19. The researchers surveyed 58,408 HCWs in 208 organizations from October 2021 to May 2022 on their concerns about…
Joint Commission posts sentinel event stats for first half of 2017
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 20 posted sentinel event statistics from its database through June 30, 2017. Of the top 10 most frequently reported sentinel events during this time period: Falls topped the list with 49 events. Unintended retention of a foreign object was 3rd with 41 events.…
Refreshed outlook for addressing healthcare’s staffing crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing personnel shortages in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASC), which are anticipated to persist. Before the pandemic, nursing supply and demand were already affected negatively by several factors, including approximately 70,000 Baby Boomer RNs retiring per year. As the remaining Baby Boomer RNs retire over…
Healthcare employment up in January
Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in January to a seasonally adjusted 16,112,100 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on February 4. That’s up 18,000 since December. Hospital employment was up by 3,400 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for January was 4.0%, for a total…
Healthcare employment up in March
Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in March to a seasonally adjusted 16,192,400 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on April 1. That’s up 8,300 since February. Hospital employment also was up by 5,100 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for March was 3.6%, for a…
AHA report urges healthcare systems to be creative with staffing solutions
Editor's Note Healthcare systems need to find innovative solutions to address the nursing shortage, according to a 2023 report from American Hospital Association (AHA), reports December 9 Becker’s Hospital Review. The report noted that the US nursing workforce lost over 100,000 people within the last 3 years, which is the…
Healthcare employment up in February
Editor's Note Overall healthcare employment in the US was up in February to a seasonally adjusted 16,184,800 workers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on March 4. That’s up 63,500 since January. Hospital employment also was up by 2,700 jobs. The overall unemployment rate for February was 3.8%, for a…
4,900+ healthcare job cuts in January linked to vaccine refusal
Editor's Note In January, 5,757 workers lost their employment because they refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as ordered by a federal mandate and various local mandates covering private businesses. Out of those workers, 4,934 were healthcare providers, the February 4 Becker’s Hospital Review reports from data gathered by executive…
Changes in US healthcare workforce during COVID-19
Editor's Note This study led by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, finds substantial changes in the healthcare workforce during years 2020 and 2021 of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the findings: Healthcare employment levels fell from 22.2 million in 2019 to 21.1 million in 2020 (a 5.2% decline), and then…
AHA pens letter to Congress regarding healthcare workforce challenges
Editor's Note On March 1, the American Hospital Association (AHA) submitted a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee urging Congress to consider and address the challenges the healthcare workforce is currently facing. As healthcare workers enter the third year of the pandemic, AHA likened current challenges to “a…