Takeaways The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated staffing problems, and although some parameters have improved, challenges remain. Surgical volume took a sharp drop during the pandemic but is now rebounding. Over the years, the gap in difficulty between recruiting RNs and recruiting STs has narrowed. Last month, OR Manager looked back on…

Read More

Editor's Note Although RN employment dropped significantly during the past few years, updated workforce forecasts with numbers similar to those projected prior to the pandemic indicate that the decline was likely temporary. Jama Health Forum published the data February 16. For the study, researchers pulled data on registered nurses aged…

Read More

Editor's Note New survey data indicate most nurses have experienced workplace violence within the past year, and the problem appears to be getting worse. Conducted by National Nurses United (NNU), the nation’s largest union and professional association of registered nurses, the nationwide survey gathered data from nearly 1,000 nurses working…

Read More

Editor's Note Children's Healthcare of Atlanta aims has an unusual strategy for addressing the healthcare worker shortage: providing a pipeline for parents who want to rejoin the workforce.  Officially known as “MomForce,” this pipeline of fresh talent launched in 2013. As reported in Becker’s Hospital Review January 5, the number…

Read More

Editor's Note Palomar Health, a hospital system in Escondido, California, reports improvement in nurse retention after instituting $100,000 sign-on bonuses for new nurses and $100,000 retention bonuses to current staff paid over a three-year period.  Becker’s Hospital Review reported the news on January 17. The $100,000 bonuses were instituted in March…

Read More

Editor's Note Chief Nursing Officers should reestablish academic partnerships in order to strengthen pipelines into the nursing industry that were fractured during the COVID-19 pandemic, according a January 29 analysis in Health Leaders Media. As the healthcare industry nationwide struggles with inadequate staffing, widespread nurse burnout, and many veteran nurses…

Read More

Editor's Note:  Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems lost a total of $8.1 billion to COVID-19 between January 2020 and December 2022, HealthLeaders reported on January 18. In addition to illuminating the new data from The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, the…

Read More

Editor's Note: Rural communities are at serious risk due to hospitals’ increasing inability to offer labor and delivery services, according to a new report from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform. Highlights include: More than half (55%) of rural hospitals in the U.S. do not offer labor and…

Read More

Healthcare systems worldwide, regardless of their size or market, are facing the same challenge: how to meet the growing demand for qualified staff without straining hospital budgets. According to a report by the American Hospital Association, health systems are experiencing a significant workforce turnover that began in 2016. On average,…

Read More

Editor's Note:  Nurse practitioners (NPs) have the best jobs not only in the US healthcare industry, but across all others as well, according to rankings released January 9 by US News & World Report. Divided into 17 categories, the Best Jobs rankings are designed to help job seekers make informed…

Read More