Addressing the Healthcare Staffing Crisis: The Impact of Outdated Policies and Regulations

Written By April Noel

The U.S. healthcare system is facing an alarming crisis: a severe shortage of hospital staff, particularly nurses. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the demand for registered nurses (RNs) is projected to grow by 6% from 2022 to 2032, yet the supply remains insufficient. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the issue, leading to widespread burnout, early retirements, and a wave of career departures. Meanwhile, restrictive policies and outdated regulations hinder hospitals from deploying innovative solutions to address the crisis.

This staffing shortfall impacts patient care quality, hospital efficiency, and the well-being of existing healthcare professionals. But two key tangible solutions stand out: expanding virtual nursing education and cutting unnecessary bureaucratic red tape to enable workforce mobility and innovation.

The Reality of the Shortage

Data from multiple reports, including the AACN and recent studies on hospital staffing, underscore the magnitude of the problem:

  • More than 100,000 RNs left the workforce between 2020 and 2021, and another 610,000 plan to leave by 2027 due to stress, burnout, and insufficient workplace support.

  • U.S. nursing schools turned away over 78,000 qualified applicants in 2022 due to faculty shortages, limited clinical sites, and budget constraints.

  • Hospitals nationwide are operating at critical staffing levels, leading to higher patient loads, increased medical errors, and worsening patient outcomes.

  • According to a Health Workforce Analysis published by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in November 2022, federal authorities project a shortage of 78,610 full-time RNs in 2025 and a shortage of 63,720 full-time RNs in 2030.

  • A 16% reduction in staffed U.S. hospital beds since the pandemic has contributed to a persistently high hospital occupancy rate of 75.3%, compared to 63.9% before the pandemic (Leuchter et al., 2025).

  • Projections indicate that without intervention, hospital occupancy could reach 85% by 2032, signaling a national crisis in bed availability and care access (Leuchter et al., 2025).

Telehealth and Digital Health Solutions: Addressing the Workforce Shortage and Burnout

Telehealth and digital health technologies have emerged as powerful tools to combat the clinician shortage and alleviate burnout by:

  • Expanding access to care in rural and underserved areas, reducing the burden on overworked hospital staff.

  • Enhancing work-life balance for clinicians through remote monitoring and virtual consultations, enabling flexible work schedules.

  • Reducing administrative burdens with AI-driven documentation tools and automation, allowing clinicians to focus more on patient care.

  • Improving patient outcomes and efficiency by integrating remote patient monitoring, reducing unnecessary hospital visits, and enabling proactive interventions.

The passage of telehealth extension legislation beyond March 31, 2025, is critical to sustaining these advancements. Without legislative action, temporary pandemic-era flexibilities that have expanded telehealth access and reimbursement could expire, potentially reversing progress made in healthcare accessibility and workforce relief.

StressPal Frontline: Essential Resilience Self-Care and Burnout Prevention

Imagine an accredited, brain-based learning platform that’s fun and easy to use, with best practices intervention strategies. StressPal innovates interactive video technology, game-like features and a peer engagement community to securely interact, and disseminate wellness content in real time. At scale. StressPal Frontline is grounded in psychological/behavioral flexibility-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with an innovative integration of CBT and mindfulness practices.

Virtual Nursing Education: Scaling the Workforce Faster

One of the biggest obstacles to solving the nursing shortage is the bottleneck in education. With limited faculty and clinical placement sites, nursing schools cannot keep up with demand. Virtual nursing education offers a scalable and effective way to expand the workforce by:

  • Providing flexible learning opportunities that allow students to complete coursework remotely, reducing geographic and financial barriers.

  • Utilizing simulation technology to replace some in-person clinical training, alleviating the strain on hospitals and increasing student readiness.

  • Accelerating degree completion through hybrid programs that enable faster transitions from education to practice.

Institutions such as Nightingale College are leading the way in offering virtual nursing programs that expand educational access, allowing students in underserved areas to pursue nursing careers without the constraints of traditional in-person learning.

Cutting Red Tape to Improve Workforce Mobility and Efficiency

Excessive regulation significantly contributes to the clinician shortage, with hospitals facing challenges in recruiting across state lines due to inconsistent licensing requirements, protracted credentialing processes, and outdated policies that restrict the adoption of telehealth and virtual nursing models. Streamlining these processes can yield immediate benefits by:

  • Expanding the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC): This initiative allows nurses to practice in multiple states without redundant licensure hurdles, enhancing workforce mobility and addressing regional staffing shortages.

  • Removing Restrictions on Virtual Nursing Roles: Enabling hospitals to utilize remote Registered Nurses (RNs) for patient monitoring, mentoring new nurses, and reducing bedside workload can optimize resource allocation and improve patient care.

  • Reforming Medicaid and Medicare Reimbursement Policies: Adjusting these policies to incentivize the adoption of technology-driven nursing solutions and remote patient monitoring encourages innovation and efficiency in healthcare delivery.

Additionally, an overemphasis on first-time pass rates for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) by state boards and educational institutions has been identified as a potential barrier. While the NCLEX pass rate is often considered a premier indicator of program quality, this metric may not accurately reflect a nurse's ability to provide quality care. The pressure to maintain high first-time pass rates can lead to discriminatory practices, such as limiting admissions or support for students who may require additional attempts, thereby exacerbating the clinician shortage. A more holistic approach to evaluating nursing competence, beyond singular examination performance, could foster a more inclusive and effective workforce.

Organizations Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout

Several organizations are actively working to reduce burnout and improve working conditions for healthcare professionals. Here at CTeL, we are collectively advocating for telehealth policy reforms to expand remote healthcare options, which can help alleviate workforce burdens and improve access to care. Chartis is leading efforts to combat clinician burnout through a combination of strategic workforce solutions, including better staffing models, improved workplace efficiency, and technology-driven innovations. Their initiatives focus on reducing administrative burdens, implementing digital health solutions, and creating sustainable work environments for healthcare professionals. By addressing workforce challenges through policy advocacy and strategic interventions, organizations are playing a critical role in supporting clinicians and ensuring long-term stability in the healthcare sector.

Legislative Action on Clinician Burnout

Recognizing the critical need for workforce support, Congress is considering several legislative efforts:

  • The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act aims to reduce burnout by funding mental health programs for clinicians and expanding well-being initiatives.

  • The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act seeks to improve safety for healthcare workers, addressing a key factor in burnout and workforce attrition.

  • The PRECEPT Nurses Act is a bipartisan bill that would address the nursing shortage by establishing a $2,000 tax credit for nurses who serve as a clinical preceptor to nursing students. Impacting a growing problem of nurses struggling to find post-school mentorship and training.

  • State-Level Nurse Staffing Legislation in states like California and New York is pushing for mandated nurse-patient ratios to reduce overwork and improve care quality.

A Call to Action

Addressing the hospital staffing crisis requires a multifaceted approach. Policymakers must prioritize modernizing regulations, while healthcare institutions should invest and place higher value in virtual education and innovative workforce solutions. Without decisive action, the U.S. risks deeper patient care crises, longer hospital wait times, and an overburdened nursing workforce on the brink of collapse.

The future of healthcare depends on smart policy choices today. It’s time to embrace virtual education, telehealth expansion, and regulatory reform as essential tools in rebuilding the nation’s healthcare workforce.

References

April Noel
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