To help policymakers plan for allied health workforce changes, they need easily accessible data. The Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Washington has multiple dashboards that allows users to explore publicly available data on current allied health workforce trends. This dashboard allows users to compare the age distributions of different allied health…
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified long-standing workforce issues and further weakened the financial position of many rural health facilities as they have attempted to mobilize their workforce while struggling to absorb the added costs of patient care and invest in the additional resources needed for pandemic response. The federal government has addressed some of these…
Birth doulas, who support pregnant women during the perinatal period, have positive impacts on pregnancy and birth outcomes, particularly among underserved populations. However, health workforce-related barriers challenge the development of robust doula services in the United States. This article examines various approaches to train, recruit, and employ doulas, as well as what system-level changes are…
Background checks are intended to ensure a quality workforce, but they may also exclude qualified workers. Though these background checks may appear straightforward, they rely on information from a variety of sources, and are governed by a complex regulatory environment. Various laws, industry norms, and court precedents shape what background information is gathered and/or maintained….
Health workforce research and planning consists of using supply data at multiple levels (ie, national, state, local, etc). Unfortunately, the variation in the allied health workforce means that supply data for these workers is less likely to be easily available. This report compares allied health workforce supply data (including 9 separate occupations) across multiple years…
The primary role of the clinical laboratory workforce is to collect and analyze biological specimens to provide patients and medical providers information for preventing, diagnosing, treating, and managing disease. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role that the clinical laboratory workforce plays in the healthcare system. This policy brief focuses on 6 clinical lab…
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted access to and the delivery of behavioral health services for both patients and social work providers. This webinar describes how practicing social workers transitioned to tele-behavioral health services during the pandemic. Presenters discuss challenges, practice innovations, and ethical/equity-focused implications to increase the use tele-behavioral health beyond the pandemic. Recommendations to ensure…
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dynamic effect on the health workforce. Redeployment, furlough, and layoff are among the terms used to describe various work statuses. Some terms are related and overlapping, potentially causing confusion for employees, media, policymakers, and researchers who may be interested in tracking health care employment trends throughout the pandemic. This…
Increasing nursing workforce diversity is essential to quality health care. Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs are a primary path to becoming a registered nurse and an important source of nursing diversity. While public institutions contribute the highest total number of diverse ADN graduates, private for-profit institutions have the highest percentage of non-white graduates. This…
This webinar focuses on registered nurse (RN) research using the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN). Topics include the path to registered nursing; the validation of estimates of state-level RN distribution by hospital employment setting; and characteristics of RNs in long-term care.
