nursing shortage

Across the country, hospitals are desperate for RNs and specialty nurses. Yet, paradoxically, the nursing pipeline has slowed, with educators retiring or returning to clinical work themselves.

In advance of the 2022 legislative session, lawmakers eye ways to bolster education and training programs for nurses and other health professionals to help alleviate industry-wide staffing woes.

In areas overwhelmed by COVID cases, hospitals must rely on traveling nurses to operate ICUs. Hospitals pay a premium for that temporary help, while also struggling to keep their staff nurses happy.

Florida health officials say the number of COVID cases is continuing to trend down, but the president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association tells legislators that staffing concerns remain.

Although COVID pushed many medical professionals to decide to leave the field, medical schools at USF, FSU and UCF saw applicant pools increase by around 1,000 people for the 2021 academic year.

For the minority of nursing students who have refused a COVID shot, the Biden administration's vaccine policy could mean they can’t get the training they need in a hospital or other health care venue.

President Biden has ordered more than 17 million health care workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Some health care employers fear losing large numbers of workers who don't want the shots.

At the forefront of the concerns is a shortage of nurses, which the executives told lawmakers has created an emergency for hospital administrators.

BayCare's CEO issued a “letter to the community” that described a “conundrum” that hospitals have faced because of severe staffing shortages during the pandemic.

USF faculty will also work with the center to do research that will analyze data on the nursing field and come up with methods to keep nurses in Florida.