大流行后卫生保健挑战:护士短缺

医疗保健工作人员——医生, 护士, and allied health professionals—has experienced cyclical shortages in the U.S. 几十年来. Short-staffed facilities increase the workload of existing employees, 导致倦怠和人员流失. 更重要的是, low staffing levels compromise patients’ access to care and the quality of care they receive. Health workforce shortages increase existing inequities in access to care and health care quality in rural and economically disadvantaged areas. 地方, 州, 非营利组织, and the federal government operate numerous programs designed to bolster the health care workforce, 但挑战依然存在.

新型冠状病毒肺炎对护理队伍的持续影响

护士受到新型冠状病毒肺炎的打击尤其严重. 作为最大的健康专业, 包括400多万专业人士, 护士 provided most of the direct care for 新型冠状病毒肺炎 patients during the pandemic. 护士面临着高水平的新型冠状病毒肺炎传播风险, 时间更长, and emotionally exhausting circumstances with patients and their families. At the same time as hospitals endured nurse staffing shortages, 护士 in some other health care 设置 saw closures and limitations on routine care. 在2019冠状病毒病之后, researchers and policymakers are just beginning to understand the impacts of the pandemic on 护士 and the larger health care system. 大流行期间护士的流动率惊人, with nursing joining other professions in the “Great Resignation” that occurred during and after the pandemic. Questions remain about how well the nursing workforce is bouncing back post-pandemic, and what nurse supply and demand will look like moving forward.

The nation continues to experience issues with the distribution of the nursing workforce. Some communities offer less desirable employment opportunities for 护士, so some areas may still face workforce shortages even when the nation’s overall nurse supply is adequate. The Health Resources and 服务 Administration (HRSA) operates programs designed to improve the distribution of the health care workforce and increase nurse supply in medically underserved areas.

韦斯特在做什么

趣赢平台 is undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of HRSA’s Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program and Scholarship Program, 詹妮弗Nooney解释道, 博士学位, 谁在领导这次评估. These programs offer loan repayment or scholarships for qualified nursing education expenses in return for a 2- to 3-year service commitment in medically underserved communities or accredited schools of nursing. 趣赢平台 is assessing whether the program expanded access to care in underserved communities and how long participating 护士 stayed in these communities (or schools of nursing) after their service obligations were complete. The Nurse Corps program received supplemental funding to expand the number of participants in the program during 新型冠状病毒肺炎. 趣赢平台’s evaluation also assesses the impact of the expanded funding on the number of participants and access to care for patients. This work will culminate in an overall assessment of the program’s return on investment and recommendations for improvement.

趣赢平台 offers content expertise to help the health care industry meet health workforce challenges through rigorous research on topics such as supply and demand, 劳动力教育管道, 医疗保健专业人员工作性质的变化, 倦怠和人员流失. We also support robust program evaluations providing insights that can be used to improve interventions and boost the health workforce of tomorrow.