COVID-19 exposed so many cracks in the American healthcare system, but nowhere were those cracks wider than in nurse staffing.  Nurses at the bedside endured the vicious cycle of emotional and physical burnout, the exodus of early retirees, and ever-increasing nurse to patient ratios.

The St. Louis-based Lutheran School of Nursing has closed, according to an Aug. 1 report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which cites financial troubles and struggling enrollment.

Pre-pandemic, it wasn't uncommon for hospital nurses to have side gigs on their days off, be it paid or volunteer work. 

This year has put nursing leaders to the test as they navigate severe workforce shortages — among other lingering pandemic-related stressors — and work diligently to support nurses through a uniquely difficult period in their careers. 

Below are 12 hospitals, health systems or hospital operators that recently posted job listings seeking chief nursing officers. 

Despite wanting to return to the medical field, Theresa Brown, PhD, BSN, RN, said she is unlikely to return because of the "present form" of bedside nurses' work, she wrote July 22 in Medscape.

National Nurses United is calling on the CDC to ramp up public health restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as cases and hospitalizations rise nationwide, fueled by the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5. 

Muriel Engelman, a veteran Army nurse who served on the front lines of World War II, died June 30, The Washington Post reported July 20. She was 101. 

Several colleges and universities have launched nursing programs and partnerships to address persistent shortages around the country.

Here are four nurses who have made headlines for their leadership efforts on and off the job since July 7: 

Below are 13 hospitals, health systems or hospital operators that recently posted job listings seeking chief nursing officers. 

Lobbying efforts for legislation to end the criminalization of medical errors are well underway in Tennessee, where former nurse RaDonda Vaught was criminally convicted and sentenced to three years of supervised probation for a fatal medication error she made in 2017. 

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed to the public that the nursing profession is in a state of crisis. A recent survey by McKinsey & Company found that one in three registered nurses who provide direct patient care may quit their jobs in the next year. If this holds true, our healthcare system will be in serious trouble, as it is nurses who provide most direct care to patients. 

A poll from Morning Consult conducted on behalf of CVS Health found 82 percent of consumer respondents support allowing nurse practitioners to practice to the full extent of their education and training, including through telehealth. 

Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health is aiming to give nurses more flexibility with where they work through a new "Nursing SEAL Team," the health system said July 6.

Sandra Lindsay, RN, a nurse who made history as the first American vaccinated against COVID-19, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the White House said July 1.

Below are 12 hospitals, health systems or hospital operators that recently posted job listings seeking chief nursing officers. 

The New Hampshire Board of Nursing has reinstated the license of Amy Matthews, DNP, RN, chief nursing officer at Keene, N.H.-based Cheshire Medical Center, after it was suspended amid an investigation into how more than 7 gallons of fentanyl went missing, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported June 28. 

Here are five nurses who have made headlines for their leadership efforts on and off the job since June 8:

Oregon's nursing board has a backlog of more than 2,000 applications, which are set to expire at the end of the month, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported June 21.