May 3rd, 2022 - A nurse took his own life at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center last week, marking the second apparent suicide by a nurse in a matter of months. On April 30, the nurse shot himself in the supply closet halfway through his shift in the emergency department, according to NBC Bay Area. His name has not yet been released out of concern for privacy for his family and colleagues. However, K...

Apr 22nd, 2022 - The number of registered nurses plunged by 100,000 in 2021, representing the steepest drop in the RN workforce in 4 decades, according to a new analysis. From 2019 to 2021, the total workforce size declined by 1.8%, including a 4% drop in the number of RNs under the age of 35, a 0.5% drop in the number of those ages 35 to 49, and a 1.0% drop in the number of those over 50, reported David Auerba...

Apr 21st, 2022 - More than half of all hospitals are improving pay packages and two in every three are offering sign-on bonuses as a means of filling nurse vacancies, according to a 2022 survey of hospital executives conducted by Avant Healthcare Professionals. Both of these represent considerable jumps from before the pandemic, when under 30% of hospitals turned to better pay packages and fewer than 40% looked...

Apr 15th, 2022 - Three years into the pandemic, moral distress, staffing problems, and workplace violence continue to plague nurses across the country, according to results of the latest survey in a series conducted by National Nurses United (NNU). "Nurses are experiencing alarming levels of moral distress and moral injury due to the unsafe working conditions," NNU President Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN, said in a ...

Apr 5th, 2022 - Note that some links may require registration or subscription. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, announced plans to revamp the agency following harsh criticism about its pandemic response. (Washington Post) Senators unveiled a $10 billion COVID-19 aid package that will only provide funds for domestic vaccination, testing, and treatment, after legislators cut $5 billion in global aid. (New Yor...

Mar 31st, 2022 - The Indiana State Board of Nursing violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by not allowing a nurse taking medications for opioid use disorder (OUD) to participate in the Indiana State Nursing Assistance Program (ISNAP), the Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded following an investigation. Specifically, the DOJ found that "the Nursing Board discriminated against Complainant in violati...

Mar 17th, 2022 - How can hospitals hold on to nurses, bring new ones into the fold, and fend off extreme staffing shortages? From more positive images of nurses to more flexible roles, industry experts explored a range of solutions to addressing nursing shortages during an online panel discussion, which was hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center and sponsored by the Federation of American Hospitals. 'Steep Drop...

Feb 11th, 2022 - Experts offered their recommendations for shoring up the healthcare sector during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) subcommittee hearing on Thursday. Recommendations included expanding and diversifying the healthcare workforce and investing in nurse practitioner (NP) residencies. One witness suggested scrapping COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The Association of American Medical C...

Feb 10th, 2022 - New draft guidelines for primary care and other clinicians proposed by the CDC Thursday no longer promote hard thresholds on opioid prescribing. The draft guidance for acute, subacute, and chronic pain is part of a proposed update to the controversial 2016 CDC opioid guideline for chronic pain. The 2016 guideline was interpreted as setting medication dose and duration limits and was misapplied ...

Feb 8th, 2022 - In this video, Amanda Choflet, DNP, RN, of San Diego State University School of Nursing, discusses her recent research into antecedent variables of nurses who died by suicide before the pandemic and the role that healthcare culture plays in mental health. The following is a transcript of her remarks: We know that the pandemic is having a dramatic impact on the psychological burden of nurses ove...

Feb 1st, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic hasn't necessarily dampened nursing students' interest in the profession, according to results of a small survey. Among 161 respondents, 14.3% indicated that the pandemic led to a reduced interest in a nursing career while 54.4% affirmed their interest in becoming a nurse, reported Meredith Kells, PhD, RN, CPNP, of the University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences...

Jan 27th, 2022 - Rates of prescription drug misuse among nurses were nearly double that of the general population, though their overall drug misuse was lower, according to results from a survey study that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate of misuse of prescription drugs by nurses was 9.9% compared with 5.9% for the general population, while the rates of misuse of both illicit and prescription dr...

Jan 25th, 2022 - The American Hospital Association (AHA) is calling on Congress to provide additional funding to help manage workforce shortages and respond to rising costs of labor and equipment. In a letter sent last week, the AHA pressed Congress to "immediately distribute" leftover dollars in the Provider Relief Fund (PRF), and asked for an additional $25 billion in funding. "As part of negotiations surroun...

Jan 12th, 2022 - Researchers now have data to confirm a tightening labor market for nurses, following months of anecdotal reports of hospitals and other healthcare facilities struggling to staff beds. Comparing two five-quarter periods, one prior to the pandemic (October 2018-December 2019) and the other during it (April 2020 to June 2021), revealed lower employment across the nursing field overall, with a 10% ...

Jan 10th, 2022 - Around one in five healthcare workers left medicine during the pandemic -- nearly half a million since February 2020, according to federal data. But even pre-pandemic, some healthcare providers were scouting for other career options. MedPage Today spoke with three nurses who, in an unusual twist, chose to chart their own courses as entrepreneurs, managers, and truck drivers in the transportatio...

Dec 30th, 2021 - As part of an investigation into substance use among nurses amid the pandemic, MedPage Today asked experts and peer support advocates how to identify a nurse who might be struggling with alcohol or drugs and how best to help connect them to care. Deborah Koivula, RN, BSN, CARN, the Eastern Regional Coordinator for the Statewide Peer Assistance for Nurses (SPAN) program in New York, said there a...

Dec 30th, 2021 - Amidst the pandemic's second wave in the fall of 2020, Tiffany Swedeen, RN, a nurse in recovery from substance use disorder, was struggling. Working at an intensive care unit near Seattle for the better part of 16 years, she was used to caring for the sickest of the sick and feeling confident in her skills and abilities. Suddenly though, "I didn't anymore," Swedeen said. Pandemic protocols chan...

Dec 30th, 2021 - Amidst the pandemic's second wave in the fall of 2020, Tiffany Swedeen, RN, a nurse in recovery from substance use disorder, was struggling. Working at an intensive care unit near Seattle for the better part of 16 years, she was used to caring for the sickest of the sick and feeling confident in her skills and abilities. Suddenly though, "I didn't anymore," Swedeen said. Pandemic protocols chan...

Dec 30th, 2021 - As part of an investigation into substance use among nurses amid the pandemic, MedPage Today asked experts and peer support advocates how to identify a nurse who might be struggling with alcohol or drugs and how best to help connect them to care. Deborah Koivula, RN, BSN, CARN, the Eastern Regional Coordinator for the Statewide Peer Assistance for Nurses (SPAN) program in New York, said there a...

Dec 30th, 2021 - To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. The year turned out quite differently than expected, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But in recognition of the contributions made by the healthcare force, the WHO extended the celebratory year by designatin...