Kristin Kuchno

More than half of U.S. healthcare workers plan to change roles in the next year, according to a recent survey from Strategic Education. Fifty-five percent of respondents said they plan to search for job openings, interview for new positions or switch roles within a year — either within their current…

While recruitment demand for physicians remains steady, search times continue to rise, and turnover persists, according to the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment’s annual benchmarking report.  The report, released Sept. 10, is based on data from 128 health organizations on 15,244 searches, 61% of which were for physicians.…

Nurse retention remains a major challenge for U.S. hospitals, as emotional fatigue and generational differences reshape how healthcare leaders support their nursing teams.  Becker’s spoke with seven health system nursing leaders about difficulties they encountered in addressing burnout and supporting their nurses.  Question: What is one aspect of nurse retention…

Between July 7, 2023, and June 30, 2024, Houston-based University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center had the highest percentage of patient rating scores at 9 or 10 among all cancer hospitals exempt from reporting to Medicare’s Inpatient Prospective Payment System. Eleven cancer hospitals are required to participate in the…

Hartford, Ky.-based Ohio County Hospital has saved more than $40,000 a year by converting all of their nurses to salaried positions. The change came about during COVID, when 50% of night shift nurses in the medical-surgical unit were staying for only six to eight months, and what staff remained were…

In my early days as medical director in the neonatal intensive care unit, I learned quickly that leadership isn’t about having all the answers; rather, it’s about building collaborative teams and creating space for others to contribute meaningfully. That same philosophy shaped how I approach mentorship today. Whether I’m supporting…

Registered nurses at HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in Fort Walton Beach have voted in favor of unionizing. In a two-day vote, from Sept. 10-11, more than 65% of nurses voted to join National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United, according to a union news release. “I am absolutely overwhelmed and…

CMS on Sept. 15 released new details on how states can apply for the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program.  The program, enacted under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and expanded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, aims to improve access, care quality and infrastructure in rural communities.…

Nonprofit hospitals are experiencing a markedly uneven financial landscape in 2025, with profitability trends diverging sharply by region and hospital size, according to Kaufman Hall’s latest National Hospital Flash Report.https://www.kaufmanhall.com/insights/research-report/national-hospital-flash-report-july-2025-data While overall operating margins are up 4% year to date compared to 2024, the picture is far from uniform. Large…

For nursing informatics leaders, the job is less about chasing the latest gadget and more about navigating competing demands. On one side are shrinking budgets, exhausted clinicians and the breakneck pace of digital change. On the other is the promise that technology can lighten workloads and improve patient care. Caught…

The proportion of pediatric radiologists — among all radiologists in the U.S. — decreased from 6.4% to 4.6% between 2016 and 2023, according to a study published Sept. 8 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.  Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia analyzed private payer claims data and…

How will the recent federal budget legislation – the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) – slowly and inevitably undermine rural hospitals? Here is how it will happen. The OBBB over time will significantly reduce the number of individuals receiving Medicaid benefits while simultaneously cutting back on Medicaid reimbursements. Cutting…

More than 100,000 Americans are waiting for organ transplants, and each day, an average of 13 die before a donor becomes available. Despite broad public support for organ donation — surveys suggest nearly 9 in 10 adults are in favor of registering — far fewer people take the step of…

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to obtain medical records from Boston Children’s Hospital related to gender-affirming care, ruling that the Justice Department’s subpoena was improper and “motivated only by bad faith,” according to court documents obtained by Becker’s. Here are five things to know about the…

Competency tracking is an important part of nursing professional development, used to ensure new hires and experienced staff are meeting skills requirements tied to orientation, annual education and regulatory standards. At Chicago-based Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, tracking nurse competencies once meant navigating a cumbersome paper…

On average, supply costs accounted for 13% of hospitals’ expenses in 2024, according to the American Hospital Association’s annual “Cost of Caring” report released April 30.  In 2024, total hospital expenses grew 5.1%, outpacing the overall inflation rate of 2.9%, according to the report.  “Though expense growth has started to…

South Miami, Fla.-based Larkin Health System has denied rumors that an anesthesiologist who posted a video celebrating the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk works for the organization. After Kirk was killed Sept. 10 at a Utah university, the woman posted a video to her Instagram account (which has since…

Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth and Pueblo (Colo.) Community College’s nursing program have teamed up to create the Ascend Career Program to help strengthen the local healthcare workforce. The program offers Pueblo-based UCHealth Parkview Medical Center staff the opportunity to enroll in PCC’s associate degree in nursing program, with UCHealth covering the…

As of Sept. 10, the FDA has approved more than a dozen glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists for diabetes, weight loss, cardiovascular disease and other indications. The approved indications for brand-name GLP-1s: Adlyxin (lixisenatide) Type 2 diabetes in adults Bydureon (exenatide) Type 2 diabetes in patients ages 10 years and older…

A growing number of states are taking action to ensure broad access to COVID-19 vaccines as respiratory virus season approaches. The state-level moves come after the FDA limited approval of updated shots to individuals 65 and older, and those with at least one condition that puts them at high risk…

Eighteen health systems were featured on Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work Institute’s annual “Best Workplaces in Health Care” list. Arlington-based Texas Health Resources ranked as the No. 1 large healthcare employer for the second year in a row.  Fifty total large healthcare employers were recognized. The rankings were…

Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger and Microsoft’s Nuance Communications have agreed to a $5 million settlement over a 2023 data breach that affected 1.2 million patients. Patients sued the organizations in a class-action lawsuit after the data of 1.2 million patients was found on a former Nuance employee’s laptop. The ex-staffer has…

Heart disease and cancer were the leading causes of death in the U.S. in 2024, according to a CDC report published Sept. 10.  The analysis is based on 99.9% of 2024 death records as of June 1, 2025. Here are five things to know from the CDC report: The number…

The Trump administration is moving forward with tighter oversight of Medicaid state-directed payments. CMS issued preliminary guidance on Sept. 9 on implementing the new limits tied to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, offering states additional time to prepare before a final rule is released. Under the guidance, state-directed payments…