As part of the University of Michigan’s mandate, Michigan Medicine staff members are required to receive full COVID-19 vaccination. Unless there’s a union contract allowing people to refuse one.
And that is the case with the Michigan Nurses Association.Hospital and union officials confirmed the collective bargaining agreement between the two groups only encourages vaccines for nurses rather than mandates them.
Some 60 million people across the country's rural areas rely on small local hospitals for medical care. But as the delta variant rages on, the hospitals that provided a lifeline to these communities now find themselves drained of the resources that sustained them: nurses.
A boom in demand for travel nurses, who work short stints at hospitals around the country to fill high-demand positions, has exacerbated a longtime staffing issue, with rural nurses enticed away by salaries that can be almost 10 times what they made in their hometown.
Louisiana’s largest hospital systems are requiring their employees to be fully vaccinated, but a minority of nursing staff say they are still considering leaving their jobs instead of getting the jab, citing concerns over personal liberty, lack of long-term studies, and discredited conspiracy theories.
The fourth Covid-19 wave has hit Louisiana hard, with the delta variant causing a surge in new cases that outpaced any of the waves that came before it. “The speed with which delta just took over the landscape, I don’t think we quite anticipated that,” said Dr Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans health department and an ER doctor.
Some of Long Island’s frontline heroes are competing for the ultimate prize on "America’s Got Talent."
The Northwell Nurses Choir, which is made up of 18 nurses, have garnered standing ovations and rave reviews while performing on the nationwide competition.
Nearly half of all nurses who work for a local health care company say they are considering leaving the industry after working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an internal union survey.
The survey of registered nurses at Kaiser Permanente found 42% say they are considering leaving the industry altogether because of how they are being treated.
It comes as Kaiser Permanente and its nurses are working to come to an agreement on contracts, which are set to expire at the end of the month.