Staff recruitment and retention is the top priority of OR leaders going into 2024, according to a November/December survey conducted by LeanTaaS in collaboration with OR Manager. Out of 84 respondents (some skipped), while 76% chose staff recruitment and retention, both improving operational efficiency (65%) and sustaining volume (36%) also…

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Editor's Note Increasing demand for nurses is driving up salaries for RN in the US, an October 4 Careers of the Future projection reports. According to this research from telecommunications company TollFreeForwarding, RNs are projected to see a pay increase of nearly $13 more per hour by 2033.  RNs made…

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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…

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Editor's Note Due to staffing shortages, thousands of qualified applicants were turned away from nursing schools last year, despite the nationwide shortage of nurses, CNN Business October 5 reports. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, nearly 78,200 qualified applications were denied by nursing schools in 2022. Nearly 66,300…

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Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on August 10, announced awards of more than $100 million to educate more nurses and grow the nursing workforce. The awards include: $8.7 million to help licensed practical nurses become RNs $34.8 million to increase the number of primary care…

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Editor's Note Nursing schools across Florida are seeing record high enrollments for fall 2023 classes, the August 25 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The University of Florida College of Nursing, Gainsville, has its largest class since beginning some 70 years ago, with 1,150 students set to pursue a BSN, DNP, or…

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Editor's Note In an opinion piece, Katie Boston-Leary, PhD, MBA, MHA, NEA-BC, director of nursing programs at the American Nurses Association (ANA), says that nurses want to practice nursing and not be the “organizational sponge” that absorbs all other tasks that other professionals will not, can not, or are unavailable…

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Editor's Note The University of Montana, Missoula, recently received a $3.6 million grant from the Health Resource and Service Administration that will fund a program to create a pathway for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) to quickly become RNs. The new LPN-to-RN bridge program will grant credit for experience LPNs have…

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Editor's Note The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s (UTHSC) College of Nursing announced a collaboration with Baptist Memorial Health Care to pilot an Operating Room Scholars program to address the perioperative nursing shortage on July 27. “The program will fill a critical need and has the potential to create…

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In this issue, I am following up the information I shared in the July issue of OR Manager regarding the findings of the 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey. The perioperative nursing shortage is widespread, and what we are now experiencing is as unsettling and challenging as anything we have experienced…

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