LABOR
Kaiser nurses in Oakland walk off shift over staffing ratios
More than 2,400 nurses cite ratios the union says have not been honored since a March arbitration ruling.
By
María Chen
POLICY
CMS finalizes rule narrowing observation status
After three years of advocacy by nursing groups, CMS will require hospitals to admit certain Medicare patients within 24 hours.
CLINICAL
Sepsis bundle compliance rose 18% at Mass General after EHR redesign
A two-year study finds that simplifying the order set, not adding alerts, drove the change.
BUSINESS
ICU travel pay collapses to pre-pandemic levels
Crisis-rate contracts that paid $5,000 a week in 2022 are now closing at $2,400.
NEWS
Inside the residency-match algorithm: what changed for 2026
A small tweak to the tie-break rules nudged hundreds of applicants into different programs.
LABOR
Portland paramedics vote to strike over response-time targets
The bargaining unit says the city's eight-minute target is not survivable on current staffing.
CLINICAL
FDA clears first non-opioid for moderate post-op pain
The drug, a Nav1.8 inhibitor, is the first new mechanism approved for acute pain in two decades.
POLICY
How the Great Lakes states are quietly rebuilding rural OBs
Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota have each used Medicaid waivers to fund hub-and-spoke obstetric networks.
CLINICAL
VA pilots ambient AI scribes in 12 primary care clinics
An internal evaluation found visit notes shrunk by 38% with no measurable change in clinical accuracy.
BUSINESS
OR turnover times fell at three Midwest systems after black-belt redesign
A regional collaborative shaved a median nine minutes off case-to-case turnover by simplifying instrument trays.
LABOR
Cleveland Clinic begins phased rollout of self-scheduling for nursing shifts
The system says it will give 14,000 inpatient nurses control over up to 60% of their schedule by Q3.
POLICY
Senate HELP committee advances bipartisan bill on agency-fee disclosure
The bill would require staffing agencies to disclose their fee structure on every contract over $10,000.
CLINICAL
Mayo's bloodstream-infection rate hits five-year low after central-line redesign
A reworked insertion bundle and a no-blame dashboard cut CLABSI by 41%, the system reports.
BUSINESS
Northwell to lay off 1,400 administrative staff in $200M cost cut
The system says clinical roles are not affected; the union is skeptical.
CLINICAL
GLP-1 prescribing climbs 22% among non-endocrinology providers
Family medicine and internal medicine now account for the majority of new starts, claims data show.
POLICY
California to require staffing-ratio audits across long-term-care facilities
The new rule, effective July 1, applies to all SNFs and assisted-living facilities with more than 50 beds.
NEWS
How HCA's break-room redesign got nurses back to actual breaks
A pilot at four Florida hospitals tracked the friction that turned a 30-minute break into 12.
NEWS
Scrubswire 100: the people shaping the floor in 2026
Our annual list of the clinicians, organizers and researchers worth watching this year.
CLINICAL
FDA panel split on extending RSV monoclonal to high-risk under-2s
An advisory committee voted 9–7 in favor; agency staff signaled they may go further than the panel.
LABOR
Houston paramedic union reaches contract 14 months past expiration
The deal, ratified Thursday, includes a $5/hour structural raise and a 24-hour-on/72-hour-off pilot.
POLICY
Hospital-at-home enrollment plateaus as rural broadband still lags
CMS data show enrollment has been flat for three straight quarters in counties without fixed wireless.
POLICY
Nurse practitioner full-practice authority moves through three statehouses
Bills in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Indiana would remove physician-collaboration requirements.
NEWS
OB-GYN match data: applicants up 11% post-Dobbs litigation
After a two-year drop, applicant interest in OB-GYN training rebounded sharply this cycle.
BUSINESS
Why Beaufort Memorial reopened its night pharmacy
The 197-bed coastal hospital decided pharmacist coverage from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. was not, in fact, optional.
LABOR
OSHA finalizes new lifting safety rule for hospital workers
The rule requires written safe-patient-handling programs at all hospitals with more than 100 beds.
CLINICAL
First U.S. RSV outbreak in a NICU traced to a visitor mistake
Eleven neonates contracted RSV after a visitor ignored a posted screening sign, a hospital review found.
BUSINESS
AdventHealth pilots biometric clock-in for OR teams
Six surgical floors swapped badge-reader clock-in for a fingerprint reader. Compliance climbed; a few staff quit.
NEWS
What fellows actually pay to interview for cardiology spots
A first-of-its-kind survey found median out-of-pocket interview costs of $4,800 for cardiology applicants.
CLINICAL
ER hold times in Atlanta climbed 8% in the first quarter
Boarding increased at every Grady-area hospital. The state has not commented.
CLINICAL
AHA endorses optional non-fasting lipid testing in primary care
The shift, long established in international guidelines, removes a logistical hurdle for screening.
POLICY
Federal grant pushes telehealth into 47 county jails
A $42M HRSA grant funds tele-psychiatry, tele-addiction medicine, and tele-OB capability in jails across 11 states.
BUSINESS
Memphis nurse-practitioner clinic survives second year on $0 marketing budget
Word-of-mouth and a Spanish-language WhatsApp channel did the work.
LABOR
Why a 'sit-down breakfast' became HCA's latest retention experiment
A small protocol at three Texas hospitals: 20 minutes, off the floor, every morning. Turnover dropped 14%.
POLICY
Chicago to fund safe-harbor housing for healthcare workers
A $30M city program will subsidize transitional housing for nurses and aides recovering from workplace assault.
LABOR
An Iowa critical-access hospital is paying off med-school loans for new staff
A $200,000 sign-on bonus, paid as direct loan retirement, with a six-year service requirement.
POLICY
AAPA pushes for prescriptive authority parity in 14 states
The PA professional society is making a coordinated state-by-state push to align prescribing rules with NPs.
CLINICAL
What the new Joint Commission staffing review really measures
A close read of the methodology, with a CMO who survived three on-site reviews this year.
BUSINESS
Walgreens shutters in-store clinics in 14 states
The drugstore chain will close 217 VillageMD-branded clinics by Q3, citing reimbursement headwinds.
LABOR
Sutter to launch in-house travel agency for its own nurses
The Northern California system will pay full travel rates to its own nurses willing to flex across its 30 hospitals.
CLINICAL
First-year burnout rates among PAs match physicians, study finds
A national survey of 4,800 first-year PAs found burnout-positive screening at 47%, statistically indistinguishable from interns.
NEWS
An ER nurse's eight days reporting from Gaza
Anya Hassan, an emergency nurse from Detroit, joined a medical mission to Khan Younis. This is her diary.
LABOR
Why Inova replaced its 90-minute new-grad orientation video
Engagement metrics from the LMS were brutal. The redesign was less brutal than expected.
POLICY
CDC quietly revises sepsis surveillance definitions
The change, posted Friday afternoon, will affect the published rates at virtually every academic medical center.
BUSINESS
What hospital exec compensation actually looks like in 2026
An analysis of publicly filed Form 990s shows median CEO comp up 4.2% over the prior cycle.
CLINICAL
Texas Children's pilots in-home pediatric infusion
A small program is putting infusion nurses in patients' living rooms — and saving the system about $640 per visit.
NEWS
The match is over. Now what?
Four chief residents on what they wish they had known the week after the match.
CLINICAL
Indiana paramedics certified to begin field blood transfusions
A six-county pilot makes Indiana the eleventh U.S. state to authorize prehospital whole-blood programs.
POLICY
Federal court strikes down Florida nursing-home staffing rule
A district court ruled the state lacked authority to enforce the rule against facilities receiving federal funds.
CLINICAL
Why a Brooklyn ER tracks 'meaningful goodbyes' as a quality metric
An emergency department at Maimonides started measuring something the rest of the field doesn't.