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Getting creative in the competition for health care workers

Aug 13, 2024
Competition for medical workers can be fierce, requiring incentives like housing assistance or student loan repayments to recruit new hires.
As wages creep up in other industries, health care has to compete. Above, a nurse visits a patient at her home.
John Moore/Getty Images

America’s rural hospitals are in the red

May 17, 2023
A new federal program is dropping rural hospitals a lifeline to keep emergency services available as they struggle to turn a profit.
Battle-tested nurse practitioner Peni Russell is among the bare-bones staff responsible for stabilizing sick and injured patients who come into the rural emergency hospital in San Augustine, Texas.
Elizabeth Trovall/Marketplace

For a rural hospital trying to reopen, hiring is a challenge

Oct 6, 2022
Many rural hospitals have closed during the pandemic, and their staffers found other work far away.
The Haywood County Community Hospital reopened in August after more than a year of renovations. The hospital closed in 2014.
Blake Farmer/WPLN News

Most home care workers are entitled to overtime but might not know it

Nov 24, 2021
A new initiative from the Labor Department aims to up outreach and enforcement related to such issues.
Long-term caregivers and supporters rally in Los Angeles in July for greater investment in the country's caregiving infrastructure.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Apprenticeship gives California health care workers a career boost

Oct 21, 2021
The program helps licensed vocational nurses who work in state prisons to become registered nurses.
A program trains licensed vocational nurses who work in rural areas for the state correctional system to become registered nurses in California's correctional facilities.
Getty Images

More health care organizations impose vaccine mandates on workers

Jul 22, 2021
There are obvious benefits to ensuring health care workers are vaccinated, but mandates have costs too.
India Medley, chief nursing officer at Howard University Hospital, receives the COVID-19 vaccine in December. Many patients expect their doctors and nurses to be vaccinated.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

Despite the pandemic, some jobs in health care have declined

Oct 8, 2020
And with the rise in the use of telemedicine, some job losses, specifically in administrative services, may be permanent.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

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Will hospitals run out of protective gear again as cases rise?

Jun 29, 2020
3M has doubled production of N95 masks, but demand still exceeds supply.
Medical personnel administer a COVID-19 test in West Palm Beach, Florida. As cases begin to rise again, the United States might have an easier time securing personal protective equipment.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

"How long do I plan to stay? As long as necessary." — a home health care worker in quarantine

Apr 21, 2020
There are more than 2 million home health care workers in the U.S. trying to help the elderly and people with disabilities during COVID-19.
Some home health aides are quarantining with their clients.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

COVID-19 wreaks economic havoc, spurs health care hiring

Mar 13, 2020
Job websites have reported a spike in postings, from epidemiologist to registered nurse to data scientist.
The new COVID-19 tracking site went live this week, but the transition could prove difficult for hospitals.
Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images