No Silver Bullet: Diagnosing Hospital Workforce Crisis with Peter Buerhaus

One of the biggest challenges facing hospitals during the pandemic is workforce shortages – specifically beside nurses. This crisis started before COVID-19 and will continue after – fueled by a myriad of developing issues. One constant is that we face an increasing need & a decreasing supply of the hospital nurses who are critical to providing the lifesaving care that patients need every day.

Dr. Peter Buerhaus joins Chip to discuss the cyclical nature of these shortages, how COVID has made it worse, and what hospitals and policymakers can do to alleviate some of these challenges.

A nurse by training, Peter is also a health care economist and active researcher on the economics of the nursing workforce. His most recent research was published in Health Affairs titled “Nurse Employment During The First Fifteen Months Of The COVID-19 Pandemic” and detailed critical information about the country’s nursing infrastructure. A short summary of the findings was outlined by Montana State University.

Would you like to hear from a nurse who travelled to one of the nation’s first hotspots to battle COVID-19? Listen to Fighting on the Frontlines with Fiona Chew for a firsthand depiction of saving patients during the pandemic.