Nurses return to hospitals after pandemic exodus
Hospitals are seeing a return of the nursing workforce after many left their jobs during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The return is likely due to the decline in pay from temporary work and contract nursing that was in high demand during the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reported. In addition, hospitals have buoyed perks to lure workers back and ease shortages. In some cases, hospitals have faced such bad shortages they have been forced to turn away patients.
One strong example of the return to hospital settings is from HCA Healthcare, which is the nation’s largest publicly traded hospital chain. HCA increased nursing hiring 19% in the first three months of 2023 compared to the average across the prior four quarters. Plus, turnover returned to prepandemic levels, the WSJ reported.
Many of the nurses HCA is hiring those who may have been on its payroll previously, with roughly 20% of the company’s 37,000 nurses hired since January 2022 having worked for the company at some point between 2016 and 2022. In addition, HCA’s spending on temporary nurses dropped 21% during the first three months of the year compared to the prior year.
Another healthcare provider, Aya Healthcare, told the WSJ its temporary-nurse pay is down about 28% from a year ago.
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Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."