Syracuse, N.Y.-based St. Joseph's Health is giving back COVID-19 vaccination religious exemptions to workers after a federal court granted a temporary restraining order related to the state's vaccine mandate, according to a memo to staff from Leslie Paul Luke, the system's president and CEO. 

Nurses are leaving hospital settings or the profession amid extreme and sustained demands of caring for unvaccinated, hospitalized patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new American Association of Critical-Care Nurses survey. 

CVS Health is looking to quickly fill 25,000 clinical and retail jobs during a one-day virtual career event this month, according to a Sept. 20 news release.

Some Kentucky health systems have fired employees who did not comply with their workplace's COVID-19 vaccination requirement, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. 

Some employees at IU Health have left the Indianapolis-based organization after choosing not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which had been mandated by the health system. 

A dozen governors have signed legislation restricting COVID-19 vaccine mandates in their states, according to a Sept. 9 report from the National Academy for State Health Policy.

Healthcare jobs are among 20 occupations with the highest projected percent change of employment between 2020 and 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

As hospitals in the U.S. are grappling with nursing shortages, they are not only facing fewer nurses, but they are also facing a widening skills gap as experienced nurses leave the field, according to MedPage Today.

Health systems and states have continued to announce COVID-19 vaccination requirements for employees. Amid these requirements, some organizations have fired workers for noncompliance, and workers have quit over the policies.

Worcester, Mass.-based UMass Memorial Medical Center is grappling with staffing strain caused by a monthslong nurses' strike, a COVID-19 surge fueled by the delta variant and a labor shortage.

While many workplaces, including hospitals and health systems, are allowing medical exemptions in their COVID-19 vaccine mandates, most people are not medically exempt from getting the shot, experts told ABC News.

An attestation form from Conway (Ark.) Regional Health System asks employees requesting a religious exemption from the hospital's COVID-19 vaccine mandate to confirm they will not use certain everyday medications, such as Benadryl, Sudafed and Tylenol, in alignment with their sincerely held religious belief.

Spectrum Health will allow exemptions to vaccinations for employees who prove natural immunity to COVID-19, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based system confirmed to Becker's.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, health systems have evaluated policies and guidelines for employees regarding stickers on badges, or badge reels, to identify a worker's vaccination status. Some organizations provide this as an option for workers, while others don't. Here, healthcare leaders discuss their strategies and reasons for their decision.

Eleven Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital workers have resigned because of the state's mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers, the hospital confirmed to Becker's.

Sixty percent of healthcare workers with children under 12 plan to vaccinate their children immediately against COVID-19 after a vaccine receives emergency use authorization from the FDA for this age group, according new poll results released Sept. 13.

After four travel nurses quit their assignments at Providence St. Joseph Hospital just one day after starting, a staff leader at the Eureka, Calif.-based hospital claimed they developed a training program to acclimate the nurses to the new EHR system. 

Nearly all Henry Ford Health System employees met the Detroit-based system's Sept. 10 COVID-19 vaccine mandate deadline, and others will be suspended for three weeks to give them more time to comply, according to Bob Riney, president of healthcare operations and COO.

The number of U.S. hospitals requiring COVID-19 vaccination for employees continues to grow through individual organization and state mandates. President Joe Biden unveiled new vaccine mandates Sept. 9 as part of his administration's strategy to combat the pandemic, and organizations that have held off on mandates said they anticipate implementing requirements to comply. 

Amid President Joe Biden's plan to vaccinate healthcare workers against COVID-19, hospitals are expressing concerns about potential unintended consequences of the mandates, such as exacerbating workforce shortages.