How a bidding war for Covid-19 nurses hurts the pandemic response — Quartz
Early in the pandemic, hospitals were competing for ventilators, Covid tests, and personal protective equipment. Now, sites across the country are competing for nurses. The fall surge in Covid cases has turned hospital staffing into a sort of national bidding war, with hospitals willing to pay exorbitant wages to secure the nurses they need. That threatens to shift the supply of nurses toward more affluent areas, leaving rural and urban public hospitals short-staffed as the pandemic worsens, and some hospitals unable to care for critically ill patients.
