doctors and nurses

Leslie Clayton, a physician assistant in Minnesota, says a name change for her profession is long overdue. "We don't assist," she says. "We provide care as part of a team."

Health & Safety

Physician assistants want to be called physician associates, but doctors cry foul

12:41pm December 03, 2021

by Jordan Rau

PAs say the new title would clarify that they work in a team and don't require direct oversight by M.D.s. Doctors say it obscures the fact that PAs have less education and training than physicians.

(from left) Kevin Dedner founded Hurdle, a mental health startup that pairs patients with therapists. Ashlee Wisdom's company, Health in Her Hue, connects women of color with culturally sensitive medical providers. Nathan Pelzer's Clinify Health analyzes

How Black tech entrepreneurs are tackling health care's race gap

5:01am November 29, 2021

by Cara Anthony

Determined to improve the way doctors connect with their patients, a new wave of innovators are using technology to match people of color with culturally competent professionals.

Left to right: Filipino American health care workers Karen Cantor, Karen Shoker, and John Paul Atienza were among many who cared for COVID patients in the early days of the pandemic.

Health & Safety

Filipino American health workers reflect on trauma and healing on COVID's frontlines

10:53am November 09, 2021

by Rosem Morton

They have shouldered an outsize share of COVID-19's burden, statistics show. Many lost family members; others got sick themselves, recovered and carried on. Meet the caregivers.

Around 42% of respondents in a recent NPR poll said someone in their household had used telehealth. Of those, 82% reported satisfaction, yet nearly two-thirds — 64% — would have preferred to see their nurse or doctor in person.

Health & Safety

Patients say telehealth is OK, but most prefer to see their doctor in person

2:33pm October 18, 2021

by Yuki Noguchi

An NPR poll finds that while a large majority of people using telehealth during the pandemic were satisfied, nearly two-thirds prefer in-person visits. That may foretell telehealth's future.

Hospitals in Idaho, like St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, remain full after the summer delta surge pushed many to their limits.

With hospitals crowded from COVID, 1 in 5 American families delays health care

5:13pm October 14, 2021

by James Dawson

Putting off surgeries or routine treatments for serious illnesses has become common during the pandemic, a new NPR/Harvard poll finds.

Matthew Crecelius, a traveling contract nurse who has worked in a dozen hospitals since the pandemic began, says that he can recall numerous instances where health care worker burnout has had a direct impact on patient care.

Health & Safety

Health workers know what good care is. Pandemic burnout is getting in the way

1:23pm October 02, 2021

by Yuki Noguchi

The pandemic has intensified burnout among health care workers. They say it's eroding their passion for the job and the quality of patient care. Here's how some of them are trying to solve it.

Cox Medical Center in Branson, Mo., is implementing a personal panic button system for hundreds of its employees. Assaults of hospital staff tripled from 2019 to 2020, the hospital says.

Health & Safety

A Hospital Gives Its Staff Panic Buttons After Assaults By Patients Triple

6:23pm September 30, 2021

by Deepa Shivaram

From 2019 to 2020, assaults on hospital staff by patients tripled at Cox Medical Center in Branson, Mo. Now personal panic buttons are being implemented to alert hospital security more easily.

Nurse Katrina Philpot (left) protests against COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates in Santa Fe, N.M., in August.

Health & Safety

In The Fight Against COVID, Health Workers Aren't Immune To Vaccine Misinformation

1:18pm September 18, 2021

by Deepa Shivaram

About a quarter of U.S. health care workers have refused the COVID-19 vaccine as of July. They share demographic traits with other unvaccinated people and are putting hospitals in a tough spot.

At work every day, Agnes Boisvert attends to ICU patients "gasping for air" and dying from COVID-19. But communicating that harsh reality to her skeptical community has been a challenge.

COMIC: How One COVID-19 Nurse Navigates Anti-Mask Sentiment

9:11am March 06, 2021

At work every day, Agnes Boisvert attends to ICU patients "gasping for air" and dying from COVID-19. But communicating that harsh reality to her skeptical community has been a challenge.

People lined up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site in Disneyland's parking lot in Anaheim, Calif. on Jan. 13. The state says all residents 65 or older are now eligible to receive the vaccine.

OPINION: Moral Tragedy Looms In Early Chaos Of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

7:00am January 16, 2021

As states suddenly expand the categories of people eligible for the first scarce shipments of vaccine, who will be watching to make sure those hit hardest by the pandemic aren't left behind?