COVID-19

This year, during National Nurses Week—an annual event celebrated on May 6-12 to honor the late Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing—industry leaders extended the 2020 theme “Year of the Nurse” into 2021. This recognition builds on the increased visibility of nurses’ contributions from last year as they continue to be at the forefront of battling COVID-19.

More than a year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the workplace has changed forever. As we continue on the road to recovery, the virtual 2021 American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA) Conference provided an opportunity for healthcare HR professionals to connect, innovate, and transform the future of the industry. “We spent 2020 dealing with the fall out from COVID and moving to telemedicine,” said Jeremy Sadlier, Interim Executive Director at ASHHRA.

A year after the pandemic, the 25th Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) Compliance Institute took place virtually this past week. As the healthcare industry adapts to the new normal, HCCA’s conference provides an opportunity for compliance professionals to learn about the latest developments and priorities from regulators.

A survey from the Current Consulting Group (CCG) reports that since the start of the pandemic in 2020, 21% of employers have reported a drop of 61% or more in the number of drug tests that they perform on employees. There are combined factors in play, including high unemployment rates, but the majority of the decline resulted from concern about workplace drug testing safety and COVID-19 precautions.

Remote work options for healthcare employees expanded significantly in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although on-site work has resumed as usual in many organizations, there’s no doubt that telecommuting has achieved new popularity among both healthcare employers and employees.

The advent of COVID-19 reminded us that we can’t afford to be complacent. The world is evolving all around us, and if we want our organizations to thrive, we have to be willing and ready to embrace disruption and innovation regularly.

As I compile PreCheck’s annual list of most popular blog posts this year, I am reminded of everything that we faced in 2020. In a year that transformed the world via the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, PreCheck and our parent company Cisive focused on providing resources for employers and clients to overcome the challenges presented by the coronavirus.

From disaster privileging to credentialing by proxy and beyond, COVID-19 has profoundly affected medical staff services professionals’ (MSSP) operations and obligations.

While our world has been turned upside down over the past six months, we’re beginning to experience a new normal in a post-pandemic marketplace. While the economy may take some time to recover, now is the time for HR leaders to take the time to re-evaluate HR processes, procedures, and systems in support of the company for the remainder of this year and into 2021. However and whenever we return to our workplaces and business offices, we will forever be impacted by this year’s shift and change. 

The end of 2019 signaled the beginning of a new paradigm in healthcare. The World Health Organization named 2020 the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife to highlight the vital role nurses play in healthcare delivery. Global health organizations sparked this initiative before COVID-19 emerged, and with cases continuing to spike across the globe, the role of nurses has never been more critical.