The COVID-19 pandemic created a rapid change in care environments without sufficient training or support for most. For the healthcare system to be able to properly respond to the pandemic, as well as future public health challenges, there is a need for greater access to guidelines, training tools, and other support for patient care.

This research brief describes a series of playbooks, developed by the North Carolina Health Workforce Research Center and a team from the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) program, that provide health care systems, states, the federal government, and other stakeholders with updated, state-of-the-art resources to promote local flexibility to respond to workforce challenges and shortages during the pandemic and beyond.