Every two years, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers conduct the nation’s largest and most comprehensive research study of the nursing workforce, uncovering the data points that have far-reaching implications for the healthcare system at large and for patient...
Since President Joe Biden took office after promising to institute post-COVID nursing home reforms as part of his election platform, the long-term care industry has vehemently warned that staffing minimums are ineffective at improving patient care and could actively harm residents if implemented.
But this week, KFF reports the...
Lawmakers are now joining the side of nursing homes in calling on the Biden administration to reconsider its proposed mandatory federal staffing minimums for nursing facilities.
Industry stakeholders and other concerned groups have until November 6, 2023 to submit comment letters to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a $100 million grant program for certain universities and health systems in order to bolster nursing recruitment and training numbers.
Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of Arizona (UA) will receive $608,530 and $650,000 respectively through the Advanced...
Data released this month from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing predicts half a million nurses will leave the profession by 2027; federal economists project America's healthcare system will need at least 200,000 new nurses every year through 2026.
The Arizona Board of Regents is tackling the state's clinician shortage...
Northern Arizona University is expanding its accelerated nursing program at its North Phoenix campus to help Arizona address its dire nursing shortage. But many other challenges are discouraging potential nurses from entering or staying in the field.
The NAU-North Valley Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is only three semesters,...Arizona News
Despite an increased interest in entering the medical field, there aren't enough new or potential specialists to meet demands. Across sectors, businesses, advocacy groups and lawmakers are working to drum up interest and increase recruitment efforts.
Average starting salaries for specialties like orthopedic surgery and cardiology are...National News
Last Friday, the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC) held a public virtual meeting to assess payments for hospice services and make recommendations for updating payments. It determined that it would recommend a 3% cut to Medicare base payments made to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in 2024.
The meeting presages the...
As nursing homes across the country are grappling with staff shortages exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration is considering a rule that nursing homes spend most of their Medicaid payments on direct care for residents rather than operations or capital improvements.
According to Modern Healthcare, the rule would...
On Monday, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a Surgeon General's Advisory on the healthcare worker shortage plaguing our nation's medical infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the staffing crunch in hospitals, long-term care facilities and health systems leading to dire, unprecedented shortages across the U.S....
The nursing workforce shortage shows no sign of letting up, with concerns rising for providers both nationally and in Arizona. While the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) debates efforts to intervene with workforce protections from future COVID surges, experts suggest that efforts for recruitment and retention may...
In 2021, nearly one in five healthcare workers left their jobs, exacerbating a crisis for the healthcare workforce at large that pre-dated the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing workforce advocates warn that new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could worsen the crisis in the new year as hospitalizations due to...
On Wednesday, December 22, the state of Arizona reported 2,806 new cases of COVID-19 and 74 new deaths. There have now been 23,816 deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 64.5% of the state is vaccinated at this time. Statewide, 6% of intensive care unit beds and 6% of inpatient hospital beds remain available at this time. Over 40%...
The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has surged in the United States in the past week and now accounts for 73% of new infections. The CDC showed a six-fold increase in Omicron infection in a single week. In the New York area, the Southeast and the Pacific Northwest, the variant is responsible for an estimated 90% of new infections,...
Only 88 intensive care unit beds are currently available for use and 39% of ICU beds are currently in use by COVID-19 patients. Only 6% of all hospital inpatient beds remain available -- 31% are in use by COVID-19 patients. On Wednesday, Arizona reported 3,249 new cases of COVID-19 and 81 new deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only...
On Wednesday, October 5, there were 2,041 new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona, with 39 new deaths. Arizona’s COVID-19 death total of 20,000 amid the state’s third virus surge, is a heartbreaking reminder of COVID's lethality. Under 60% of Arizonans have received one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. Only 7% of hospital intensive care unit...
On Tuesday, August 25, Arizona reported 2,595 new cases of COVID-19 and 38 new deaths related to COVID-19. Arizona is still behind the national average on vaccinations, with 47% of Arizonans fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The national rate is 51.7%.
This information comes from the New York Times' Tracking Coronavirus in Arizona:...
Despite a decline in overburdened intensive care units and COVID-19 cases overall since January, there's still a dire shortage of nurses affecting many care providers in Arizona and across the country.
The Hertel Report's Publisher Jim Hammond spoke to the motivating reasons for the shortage on Arizona360 last Friday:
There's a lot...
Nurses are a foundation of care in hospitals, and harder to find and retain.
Hospitals across the country are suffering financially as the nursing shortage worsens, according to a new report from Moody’s Investor Service.
As the population gets older and chronic conditions become more prevalent, hospitals are stretched to meet...
