The Boston-based University of Massachusetts Office of the President, Boston-based Mass General Brigham and Irvine, Calif.-based UMass Global are collaborating to train more than 1,000 under- and unemployed individuals for healthcare's front lines. 

Healthcare workers experienced an uptick in unemployment rates after the pandemic's onset. However, unemployment was far higher in workers outside the healthcare industry during the same period, research shows.

Sixty-nine percent of U.S. healthcare practitioners say that a lack of skilled workers is the biggest threat to the national health system, according to a survey conducted by the World Innovation Summit for Health.

Mission Community Hospital in Panorama City, Calif., has increased the security and police presence on campus following the stabbing of an employee.

Amid a changing work landscape, health systems must adjust recruiting and retention practices to ensure they meet employee needs and expectations across generations. This is particularly true as more older healthcare workers have retired or plan to retire, and as younger generations such as millennials and Generation Z make up large portions of their workforces.  

On Sept. 17, the state of California rescinded its weekly testing requirement for healthcare workers unvaccinated against COVID-19 due to religious or medical exemptions. 

Currently, Houston Methodist is not requiring employees to receive new COVID-19 vaccines targeting omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts issued an executive order to extend previous executive orders made to facilitate hospital planning and to ensure additional healthcare workforce capacity, according to a Sept. 19 news release from the governor's office.

"Quiet quitting" is nothing more than a new phrase for an old phenomenon, according to workforce reporter Derek Thompson. 

Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Healthcare and Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health are rolling out extra security measures as violence against employees surges, the Virginian Pilot reported Sept. 18. 

Centennial, Colo.-based Centura Health is reducing its workforce by about 1 percent across Colorado and western Kansas, the health system confirmed in a statement shared with Becker's Sept. 17.

Bend, Ore.-based St. Charles Health System has lifted COVID-19 vaccine requirements on its workers, the Bend Bulletin reported Sept. 15. 

Martha's Vineyard (Mass.) Hospital is the largest employer on the island, and for months it has operated with a quarter of its staff jobs left unfilled, according to a Sept. 16 report from The Washington Post.

Duke Health has contacted police after two employees became sick Sept. 15 after eating donated homemade cookies, NBC affiliate WRAL reported.

Wyoming is the only state without specific penalties for violence against hospital employees. On Sept. 14, the state's lawmakers rejected a bill that would implement them, Wyoming Public Radio reported. 

After a $66 million year-to-date operating loss, Albany (N.Y.) Med will eliminate 37 roles and reorganize its management, NBC affiliate WNYT reported Sept. 15. 

Over the next three years, high turnover and an ill-prepared healthcare industry could widen the nursing gap by 2.1 million workers, new research suggests. 

The American Hospital Association issued a statement Sept. 14 urging the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety to take steps to improve the immigration process to alleviate the U.S. healthcare worker shortage.

Some Wisconsin healthcare workers have had to push back their start dates due to backlogging in the state's licensing department, Fox affiliate WITI reported Sept. 13. Others have left the state, looking for work while hoping not to encounter similar delays. 

Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Healthcare System aims to hire around 50 nurses and six medical technicians from the Philippines by early 2023, the Herald-Tribune reported Sept. 13.