Nursing shortage

Alondra Orozco found out after graduating from nursing school that she is ineligible to be licensed as a registered nurse in Missouri because of her immigration status. Her professors were unaware of the law, but she’s not giving up.

The nursing home industry is still reeling from COVID, which exacerbated pre-existing challenges in long-term care – difficulties hiring and retaining staff and a population more reliant on government-funded care chief among them.

A federal rule will require long-term care facilities to have a minimum number of nursing staff on hand at all times to take care of residents.

An inspections backlog grew in Missouri during the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated more recently by staffing shortages and a spike in complaints that have tapped available resources

Hospitals relied on travel nurses during the pandemic, but they came at a high cost. Now, states including Missouri are considering legislation to crack down on hospital spending.

The percentage of nursing positions that are vacant at St. Louis-area hospitals has risen sharply since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the Missouri Hospital Association. The report found vacancies for registered nurses in the metro area increased from 11% in 2020 to 20% in 2021.

Missouri and Illinois rank last in the nation in hours of care nursing home residents receive from workers each day. Advocates for nursing home residents say the Biden administration's plans to call for increased staffing could help residents.

It was common knowledge in the nursing home business, but perhaps not to the families trusting those facilities with a loved one’s care.

Unions representing health care workers, including those who work in nursing homes, support a new federal rule that requires their members to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis is spending $7 million to expand a simulation center where nursing students use high-tech robotic mannequins and computers to learn and prepare for human patients.