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 A week after a walkout of junior doctors in South Korea halted about a third of surgeries at large hospitals in Seoul, the government is threatening prosecution and the revocation of medical licenses if the walkout doesn’t end by February 29. As reported by the Associated Press February…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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 employment in the US rose by 70,300 from January to February, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released on February 2. That is compared to an overall monthly gain of 353,000 in January—similar to the 333,000 gained in December—for a total of…

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Editor's Note For Northwell Health University System, a large hospital system in New York state, saving millions in OR expenses in just a few years’ time was possible not just through meticulous analytics, but also cultural transformation. This was among the chief conclusions of a session led by Adam Becker,…

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Editor's Note The future landscape of perioperative nursing and how healthcare organizations are addressing workforce shortages—particularly through the engagement of temporary staff and travelers—make up an intricate puzzle. Karen Grimley, PhD, MBA, RN, FACHE, NEA-BC, chief nurse executive at UCLA Health, will close the OR Business Management Conference by raising…

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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,…

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