During Covid outbreaks nurses willing to relocate for temporary assignments could command a huge premium over their regular wages. Hospitals overwhelmed with patients had little choice but to pay whatever it took to recruit scarce nurses. As I’ve said in the past, hospitals are loath to raise nurses’ pay. They often hire temporary nursing staffing at much higher rates than raise the standard pay to recruit staff nurses. During Covid outbreaks hospitals’ unwillingness to compensate nurses for the heightened risk and heavier workloads caused many to jump ship and join traveling nurse agencies.
Category: COVID-19 and Public Health
Monday Links
- Ex-CDC Director “No Doubt” American Tax Dollars Funded Gain-of-Function Research at Wuhan Lab.
- Why banks fail: The best commentary on SVB: Scott Sumners, John Cochrane and Larry Kotlikoff.
- During the Covid pandemic, people cancelled doctors appointments. As a result, more people died.
- California’s cancellation of Walgreens isn’t as simple as it sounds.
- Jeffrey Singer on the Iron Law of Prohibition: “The harder the law enforcement, the harder the drug.”
- Why primary care physicians are not practicing at the top of their license.
Saturday Links
- Health officials and governors in more than half the country are now restricted from issuing mask mandates and school closures.
- The 42% of adults who are obese costs the US health system 173 billion dollars a year, including cardiovascular disease, cancers, depression, breathing issues, and skeletal issues. Despite this, 98 percent of Americans do not receive treatment for their obesity.
- Greg Mankiw: “The Biden administration faces a trilemma: They would like to (1) increase spending on programs they consider important, (2) not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 a year, and (3) put fiscal policy on a sustainable path. But the stark reality is that they can have only 2 out of the 3.”
- A defense of Vinyl chloride. (despite the dead fish)
- IRS: 42K federal workers are cheating on their taxes.
Friday Links
- An argument for mask wearing, even after the Cochrane Review meta-analysis.
- An early (and completely uncritical) history of medical licensing. To be paired with Regulation of Medical Care by moi — for balance.
- Why Daylight Savings Time matters: “The body releases sleep-time and wake-time hormones at a particular time.” Studies have shown that deadly car accidents, workplace injuries, and heart attacks increase following the springtime change.
- Should a face-to-face meeting be required before doctors prescribe a controlled substance for a patient?
- California to end Walgreens contract over abortion pills policy.
- What the Biden plan to “save” Medicare doesn’t do: repeal the Democrats’ IRA bill that takes $246 billion out of Medicare. (CBO p. 72)