A new study from Epic's public-facing research network estimates that the number of nurses directly caring for COVID-19 patients daily in the U.S. increased 245 percent, or by 55,000, from September to December.
Researchers also found nurse staffing demand increased at metro hospitals (249 percent) and rural ones (282 percent) at nearly double the rate of suburban hospitals (131 percent).
Additionally, nurse staffing demands unrelated to COVID-19 are down by 14 percent, but when patients with and without the virus are taken together, staffing demands have increased by an additional 26,000 nurses (11 percent) per day doing direct patient care, according to the study, conducted by the Epic Health Research Network.
The study is based on real-time COVID-19 metrics from 183 healthcare organizations representing 809 hospitals. The data set uses metrics from July to December, and researchers extrapolated the staffing needs from the data set to national data.
Read more about the study here.