Nurses

Carrie Willis ran a COVID ward at St. Luke’s East Hospital in 2020 and 2021. Five years after Kansas City began restricting gatherings and ordering people to stay at home, Willis says health care — and her life — will never be the same.

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.

A landmark federal staffing mandate has prompted fierce disagreement between resident advocates and the nursing home industry.

Around 14% of all staff positions at Missouri hospitals were vacant in 2023. That rate is lower than it was at the height of the pandemic, but still higher than in 2019.

Western Kansas is projected to see large population declines in the coming years, but immigration may be the key to stemming the losses. The communities that have embraced their diversity have seen their population stabilize and the local culture shift. Plus: To stay open, rural nursing homes across the Midwest are prioritizing nurses.

We normally think of trees as being good for the environment. But in parts of the Midwest and Great Plains, they're actually heating up the earth as woodlands take over grasslands.

The trend was already underway when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed rural and small-town nursing homes to close permanently. Yet, some communities are finding ways today to re-envision nursing homes while keeping staff at the forefront.

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.

About 1,000 nurses at Research Medical Center in Kansas City and Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park want more support and higher staffing levels. They started negotiations for a new contract this week with the hospitals’ owner, HCA Healthcare, a for-profit hospital giant with profits topping $5 billion.

The state will repay educational costs for health care workers who are willing to work in underserved areas. Another program will increase the number of medical residencies in Missouri.

One Kansas hospital was planning to start welcoming 100 nurses from the Philippines this fall. But a lengthy backlog in visa applications has put that on hold, possibly for a year or longer. Plus: A handful of states have not adopted the federal government’s option to extend postpartum care coverage for mothers on Medicaid.

A new, national survey shows the majority of nurses in the U.S. have seen or experienced racism in the workplace. Leading professionals say such discrimination’s impact is far-reaching.