Taking a break from who is hiring and who was hired, we rounded up some reading on the state of the healthcare workforce. Like many things in our lives for the few years the pandemic has taken a toll on it, the healthcare workforce might be on the top of the list of disruption. With 18% of healthcare workers having left their jobs and another 12% being laid off, what are the solutions for healthcare as a whole? You can’t open a paper, magazine, or watch news and not hear about the crisis that has evolved. Here are some insights and reports.
In the News
Advisory Board
Around the nation: 31K Kaiser Permanente workers strike over pay, staffing – Last week, around 31,000 RNs and other frontline Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers launched an open-ended strike, calling for better wages and staffing, in today’s bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, Hawaii, and Tennessee.
Newswire
30% Healthcare Surge vs. The Remote Work Ceiling: Defining the 2026 U.S. Employment Shift – Analysts from the global job search platform Jooble used internal company data to identify key shifts in the behavior of American employers and job candidates throughout 2025. Their findings reveal a market increasingly defined by pragmatism. American workers consistently showed an interest in fast pay. The market anticipates an even tougher struggle in 2026 for flexibility and AI competency.
Maryland.gov
Maryland Department of Labor opens 2026 grant applications to strengthen healthcare workforce – The Maryland Department of Labor announced the opening of competitive grant applications for the 2026 cycle of the Direct Care Workforce Innovation Program (DCWIP) and the Career Pathways for Healthcare Workers Program (CPHWP). The programs will invest a total of $750,000 in Maryland’s current and future frontline healthcare workers—supporting their recruitment, retention, and career advancement.
Dossier
What the Healthcare Workforce Crisis Means for Nurse Leaders – The healthcare workforce is in a period of significant disruption, as evidenced by persistent retirements, elevated turnover, rising clinical complexity, increasing digital skill expectations, and rapidly evolving models of care. Nurse leaders are navigating these converging pressures while remaining accountable for workforce readiness, regulatory compliance, and patient outcomes.
Congressman Dave Joyce
Joyce Introduces Legislation to Increase Nurse Faculty Workforce – Representatives Dave Joyce (OH-14), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jen Kiggans (VA-02), and Lauren Underwood (IL-14) introduced the Nurse Faculty Shortage Reduction Act. This bill would help address the shortage of nursing faculty by providing financial support to new and early-career faculty members, helping recruit and retain qualified educators. Specifically, it would create a grant program that closes the gap between clinical nursing and nurse faculty roles, operating alongside the existing Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Nurse Faculty Loan Repayment Program (NFLP). Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
Medely
Medely Introduces Workforce Orchestration, Redefining How Healthcare Systems Manage Clinical Labor
Medely announced the launch of its workforce orchestration platform, marking a strategic evolution beyond staffing and into workforce operations. Unlike traditional staffing solutions that react after gaps appear, Talent Fusion, Medely’s workforce orchestration platform, takes a proactive approach to healthcare labor. Talent Fusion combines scheduling, credentialing, labor supply, utilization, and performance data to provide leaders with a real-time view of their entire workforce, enabling them to make informed staffing decisions before gaps disrupt care delivery.
Federal News Network
VA reorganization to shift health care workforce to hubs with growing veteran population – By Jory Heckman – The Department of Veterans Affairs is looking to shift more of its health care workforce to facilities facing a growing veteran population, and draw down staffing levels in places where the veteran population is shrinking. Top VA officials told the Senate VA Committee that its long-awaited agency reorganization plan is about reining in hiring, because workforce growth hasn’t always translated into more appointments for veterans.
To Read
Campus Security Today
Healthcare Trends Report 2026: AI, Workforce Strain, and Rising Safety Risks – In 2025, healthcare leaders faced a convergence of pressures: a persistent financial squeeze, an intensifying workforce crisis, and an increase in workplace violence against care providers, all while navigating the rapid expansion of artificially intelligent tools across clinical and operational systems. Together, these factors are forcing leaders to fundamentally rethink strategy, technology investment, and the employee value proposition.
Cross Country Search
Healthcare Workforce Shortages in 2026: Why Leadership Gaps Are Creating New Career Opportunities – Healthcare workforce shortages have been building for years, but in 2026, their impact is being felt far beyond bedside staffing. The most critical challenge facing healthcare organizations today isn’t just a lack of clinicians, it’s a growing shortage of experienced leaders. As retirements accelerate, burnout persists, and care models evolve, hospitals and health systems are struggling to fill director-, executive-, and operational leadership roles. For experienced healthcare professionals, this shift is creating unprecedented career opportunities.
Cigna
The top health care trends for 2026 and how they will impact U.S. employers – By Giselle Abramovich – America’s health care landscape is undergoing profound transformation. Cost pressures are mounting as pharmaceutical innovation accelerates, chronic conditions rise, and economic forces reshape how care is delivered and financed. For employers, the challenge is no longer just managing year‑over‑year increases, it’s navigating a system that has become more complex, while meeting rising workforce expectations for flexibility, personalization, and a more seamless health care experience.
PSQH
2026 Healthcare Safety Predictions: Empowering Staff and Strengthening Workforces – By Andrea Greco – As we enter 2026, it’s never been more important to empower and protect the healthcare workforce. Healthcare organizations continue to face persistent staffing shortages and high turnover while combating increasing levels of violence. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that healthcare and social service workers are five times more likely to suffer a workplace violence injury than workers overall, and Black Book Research uncovered that of the 100% of staff who reported experiencing or witnessing workplace violence, nearly all believe current safety protocols are inadequate.
United State of Care
New United States of Care Analysis Highlights Key Health Care Issues for the Year Ahead – By Natalie Davis – United States of Care (USofCare) named its predictions for the top issues that will shape health care experiences, conversations, and policy discussions in the year ahead. Informed by insights from CEO and Co-Founder Natalie Davis and the organization’s experts, USofCare’s analysis reflects thousands of conversations with people across all 50 states about their health care. Together, these insights point to affordability as a defining concern—alongside a growing sense that challenges across the health care system are escalating faster than solutions.
StaffDNA
Healthcare Staffing Trends That Will Shape 2026 – 2025 was a pivotal year for the healthcare industry, and many of its events directly affected hiring. From the rapid integration of AI to sweeping regulatory changes, 2025 saw several notable trends affecting healthcare hiring organizations and job seekers alike. These shifts weren’t fleeting. Many of 2025’s top trends have major implications for healthcare staffing well into the new year and beyond. Events of last year have already started reshaping workforce strategies and talent demand in healthcare.
Mercer
Inside Employees’ Minds 2026: Healthcare employees remain under pressure – Healthcare workers face rising pressures from staffing shortages, burnout, and financial strain. To retain talent, employers must ensure stable schedules, fair pay, clear career paths, and transparent AI role changes. Creating a sustainable work environment is key to supporting and engaging your workforce. Will staff in healthcare keep showing up when coverage is thin, career prospects are slim, and the work keeps changing for the worse? Employers may be about to find out.