“Oftentimes at hospitals there are long waits and long delays,” said Dr. Hospitals say they are reaching a crisis point, straining under the dual forces of more people seeking routine care and surging COVID-19 hospitalizations driven by the Delta variant. Some traveling nurses - who are in high demand nationwide - are turning down California assignments because they don’t want to get vaccinated. Hospitals are struggling to comply with the state’s nurse staffing requirements as pandemic-induced burnout has exacerbated an already chronic nursing shortage nationwide.īut burnout isn’t the only thing compounding California’s nursing shortage: The state’s new vaccine mandate for health care workers is already causing headaches for understaffed hospitals before it is even implemented.
Photo courtesy of Matt MieleĪround California - and the nation - nurses are trading in high-pressure jobs for a career change, early retirement or less demanding assignments, leading to staffing shortages in many hospitals. Matt Miele, a trauma nurse, is looking for a less stressful position after 18 months of fighting COVID.