Editor's Note Poor working conditions are driving many nurses to leave the profession, according to a new study from University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR). The findings were published in JAMA Network Open on April 9.  While previous studies have looked at…

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Editor's Note The practice of concierge physicians is expanding as thousands of doctors at large hospital systems shift to a model facilitating high fees and decreased patient load, according to an April 1 report in KFF Health News. The concierge physician model began decades ago in wealthy areas of Florida…

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Editor's Note The gap between demand and supply could result in a shortage of 13,500 to 86,000 physicians by 2036, according to updated projections published March 21 by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Although these figures are smaller than projections in the last report, published in 2021, they…

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Editor's Note The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is releasing an innovative, hospital-tested guide aimed at addressing and mitigating healthcare worker burnout, a CDC March 18 press release reports. This initiative is a cornerstone of the Impact…

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Editor's Note Although burnout rates are high for all healthcare workers, females are particularly susceptible, according to a March 8 report in The Hill detailing a recent survey. Conducted by nursing marketplace firm ShiftKey, the survey found that 86 percent of all women in healthcare reported experiencing burnout, with 64…

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Takeaways Research shows that there are high nurse burnout rates from systemic workplace issues, including unmanageable case-loads, poor communication, excessive administrative burdens and an overall lack of care. Nurse wellness programs—including resilience training, peer-to-peer counseling, and meditation—are critical, because of high exposure to trauma and suffering, but these efforts need…

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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…

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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…

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Editor's Note Healthcare systems are increasingly leveraging peer support programs to help reduce staff burnout and combat problems of loneliness and isolation. Examples cited in a January 4 report from Becker’s Hospital Review include: NYC Health + Hospitals has assigned each unit a “well-being buddy”–a volunteer who checks in on…

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Kim Rosencrans, RN, BSN, has worked as a surgical nurse in a number of successively more senior roles over the past 20 plus years—and she has retained a hands-on approach, even as an OR manager in the Surgery Department at Trinity Health in North Dakota, one of the nation’s largest…

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