Contrary to widespread reports of staffing shortages, healthcare employment reached pre-pandemic levels with the addition of 44,200 jobs in February, according to a recent report from Altarum. 

Many cities looking for physicians are also posting jobs for locum tenens physicians, suggesting considerable need, according to a recent report from Doximity. 

Just as healthcare workers are frustrated and burned out, so are patients who often have to wait for long periods of time for care in overcrowded waiting rooms or in patient rooms when clinicians are busy tending to other people or necessary administrative work. 

Workers are fleeing careers affected by COVID-19, taking advantage of vast opportunities in a labor market demanding talent. This so-called "Great Resignation" has carried on through high-profile layoffs and rising inflation — tipping the workforce scale in workers' favor. 

After three years of COVID-19 modifications, employers are well aware that workers want flexibility. The "new normal" is losing its novelty — and workplaces are adapting for the long haul.

UPMC Somerset (Pa.) Hospital's total staff has increased by nearly 7 percent since it merged with Pittsburgh-based UPMC four years ago, one of many signs that leads hospital president Andrew Rush to believe the move is paying off, according to The Tribune-Democrat.

Mandated nurse-to-patient staffing ratios are on trial in legislative sessions nationwide — stalling in some states, clearing hurdles in others. Here are six updates from across the country: 

Members of the Florida Senate Health Policy Committee voted unanimously March 20 to advance a bill that would enhance criminal penalties for people who knowingly commit assault or battery upon workers at a hospital. 

Chuck Lorre — a TV producer and writer known for creating The Big Bang Theory — has donated $30 million to fund Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's new allied health school in Los Angeles.

On-Demand, Flexible, Workforce Marketplace, Latent Supply, 1099 Gig, and Workforce Ecosystem are terms that have become ubiquitous in healthcare workforce crisis leadership and board discussions, but what do they really mean and what works?

Workers in their 20s are missing from the workforce — hundreds of thousands of them, Bloomberg reported March 17. It's hard to pin down a reason why. 

Hospitals and health systems must consider various factors when trying to recruit and retain top talent. While employee feedback has long been among these factors, it has become even more crucial amid today's healthcare challenges, according to Eric Van Duren, chief talent acquisition officer at Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health.

Nursing is a family affair for Maureen Kenney, MSN, and her 26-year-old twin daughters, Emily Kenney, BSN, RN, and Elizabeth Kenney, BSN, RN. 

The upcoming March Madness basketball tournament will cost employers $17.3 billion in lost productivity, according to a recent estimate from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Memorial Medical Center is using its new international nursing program to fill staffing gaps. 

Hospitals and health systems are not alone in experiencing the effects of staff shortages that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. A growing number of Americans are also concerned about the issue.

The State of the Healthcare Workforce

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed House Bill 4016, which will provide $75 million to recruit, retain and train the state's healthcare workforce. 

Nurses and physicians are increasingly opting for contract roles and self-employment, according to a recent study from LinkedIn. The company termed this phenomenon the "Great Untethering." 

Healthcare gained 44,200 jobs in February, down from the average monthly gain of 54,000 over the prior six months, according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.