Latest KFF Health News Stories
California Is Overriding Its Limits on Nurse Workloads as Covid Surges
As covid patients flood California emergency rooms, hospitals are increasingly desperate to find enough staffers to care for them all. But some nurses worry hospitals will use the pandemic as an excuse to permanently roll back their hard-won nurse-patient ratios.
Health Workers Unions See Surge in Interest Amid Covid
Many front-line health workers who have faced a perpetual lack of PPE and inconsistent safety measures believe the government and their employers have failed to protect them from covid-19.
Video: The Healthy Nurse Who Died at 40 on the Covid Front Lines: ‘She Was the Best Mom I Ever Had’
Yolanda Coar was 40 when she died of COVID-19 in August 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. She was also a nurse manager, and one of nearly 3,000 frontline workers who have died in the U.S. fighting this virus, according to an exclusive investigation by The Guardian and KHN.
More Than 2,900 Health Care Workers Died This Year — And the Government Barely Kept Track
The National Academy of Sciences cites journalists’ “Lost on the Frontline” project in a push to expand federal tracking of worker fatalities.
As the Terror of COVID Struck, Health Care Workers Struggled to Survive. Thousands Lost the Fight.
At least 2,900 health workers have died since the pandemic began. Many were minorities with the highest levels of patient contact.
Readers and Tweeters Defend Front-Line Nurses and Blind Us With Science
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Nueva York enfrenta la segunda ola de COVID con disparidades y controversia
El personal médico de Nueva York sabe exactamente lo difíciles y peligrosos que pueden ser los hospitales abrumados y se preparan con cautela cuando las infecciones aumentan.
NYC Hospital Workers, Knowing How Bad It Can Get, Brace for COVID 2nd Wave
Hospitals are in better shape now than in the spring, with more knowledge of how to handle COVID-19 and bigger stockpiles of protective equipment. Still, nurses worry about staffing shortages and unfilled jobs.
For Nurses Feeling the Strain of the Pandemic, Virus Resurgence Is ‘Paralyzing’
COVID-19’s toll weighs heavily on nurses, who can suffer stress and other psychological problems if they don’t believe they are able to help their patients sufficiently.
Need a COVID-19 Nurse? That’ll Be $8,000 a Week
A shortage of nurses has turned hospital staffing into a sort of national bidding war, with hospitals willing to pay exorbitant wages to secure the nurses they need. That threatens to shift the supply of nurses toward more affluent areas.
Anger After North Dakota Governor Asks COVID-Positive Health Staff to Stay on Job
Doctors and nurses say order puts lives in danger, amid a COVID surge and a statewide shortage of health care workers.
Long-Term Care Workers, Grieving and Under Siege, Brace for COVID’s Next Round
As the coronavirus surges around the country, workers in nursing homes and assisted living centers are watching cases rise in long-term care facilities with a sense of dread. Many of these workers struggle with grief over the suffering they’ve witnessed.
Enfermeros itinerantes en alto riesgo frente a condiciones de atención de COVID-19
Desde que la pandemia de COVID-19 causó un terremoto en el sistema de salud, más enfermeros itinerantes viajan de estado en estado, arriesgando sus propias vidas.
‘Is This Worth My Life?’: Traveling Health Workers Decry COVID Care Conditions
Frequently employed by staffing agencies based in other states, nurses and other healthcare professionals can find themselves working through crisis without advocates or adequate safety equipment.
COVID Spikes Exacerbate Health Worker Shortages in Rocky Mountains, Great Plains
COVID-19 infections and quarantines are pulling health professionals off the front lines, exacerbating staffing woes that existed in large, rural states well before the pandemic.
Long-Fought Nurse Practitioner Independence Bill Heads to Newsom
The measure caps one of the most contentious health policy debates in recent memory, potentially altering how Californians get their medical care. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until the end of September to sign or veto it.
They Cared for Some of New York’s Most Vulnerable Communities. Then 12 Died.
Immigrant health workers help keep the U.S. health system afloat — and they’re dying of COVID-19 at high rates.
Teen Artist’s Portraits Help Frame Sacrifice of Health Care Workers Lost to COVID
A 15-year-old high school student in New Jersey is memorializing doctors, nurses and others who died after tending to coronavirus patients.
Más de 900 trabajadores de salud han muerto por COVID-19 en los Estados Unidos. Y la cifra aumenta
Con más casos de COVID, y la grave escasez de equipos de protección, trabajadores de salud se enfrentan de nuevo a peligros mortales, en especial en los estados del sur y el oeste.
