Children's hospitals and clinicians across the country have faced a barrage of threats and harassment in recent weeks over medical care they provide to transgender children.

As hospitals and health systems continue to grapple with staffing shortages, employers are using perks beyond pay to recruit and retain talent. 

Members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East approved a new four-year agreement with Catholic Health's Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, N.Y.

Thousands of members of the Minnesota Nurses Association are set to launch a three-day strike Sept. 12 at 16 hospitals throughout the state.

Physicians who work at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., are calling on Santa Clara County administrators to take further steps to prioritize employee mental health after the release of a report that they described as inadequate and superficial.

Members of the Washington State Nurses Association have reached a tentative contract that offers $10 per hour raises for Seattle Children's nurses over the next 12 months.

The majority of employees see their employers' policies as performative, according to a recent report. 

Members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers employed at Kaiser Permanente's facilities in Hawaii are set to begin an open-ended strike Aug. 29.

Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., said it has been the target of a large volume of hostile phone calls, social media messages and emails based on misinformation about its about its care for the transgender community.

Members of the New York State Nurses Association are set to protest Aug. 29 outside Syosset (N.Y.) Hospital, part of New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health.  

The California Department of Managed Health Care has opened a targeted enforcement investigation to examine whether Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente is providing timely access to appointments during an ongoing strike by mental healthcare workers.

Nurses at University of Wisconsin Health in Madison have voted to strike in September if their union is not recognized.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced hospital and health system human resources leaders to rethink their approach to staffing shortages and other workforce challenges. This means not only starting something new, but also re-evaluating whether to stop an approach that has been in place but could be tweaked.

Advancing technology calls for updates to workplace violence prevention plans, Daniel Pascale, executive vice president at Margolis Healy and Associates — a professional services firm specializing in security and emergency preparedness — told HR Dive in an Aug. 18 article. 

The following events involving hospital-union labor disputes were recently covered by Becker's:

Nurses at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City, Ore., filed authorization cards with the National Labor Relations Board for a union recognition election, according to an Aug. 23 news release from the Oregon Nurses Association.

Members of the Communication Workers of America and 199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East employed by Buffalo, N.Y.-based Kaleida Health will vote next month on whether to give their bargaining units the authority to call a strike. 

Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee plan to hold a rally Aug. 25 at Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare's Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., to protest what they say is the hospital's failure to address chronic short staffing that jeopardizes patient safety.

Solid training, not high salaries, will retain top talent through resignations and a potential recession, according to an Aug. 22 Forbes article by Andrew McLeod, CEO of Certn, an IT company providing background checks and risk monitoring for employers. 

Members of the Staff Nurses Association, National Union Health Care Workers and Petaluma Staff Nurses Partnership said they plan to hold an informational picket Aug. 24 at Providence Santa Rosa (Calif.) Memorial Hospital regarding issues they have experienced with paychecks.