By Mara O'Malley / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

The Ohio Nurses Association has undertaken a so-called Code Red campaign to call attention to the shortage of nurses in Ohio hospitals, which could lead to a patient care crisis.

The campaign focuses on five areas, including staffing levels, working conditions, the nursing workforce pipeline, corporate trends and trust and agency within the profession. They hope to encourage employers and lawmakers to implement the staffing ratios their nurses need.

"That is our sounding the alarm and putting forward real workable strategies to address the nurse staffing crisis in Ohio," said Rick Lucas, president and executive director of the Ohio Nurses Association and himself a registered nurse.

The ONA conducted a survey in 2023 that received over 11,000 responses from licensed nurses in Ohio, seeking to find out why nurses are leaving bedside care positions.

They found:

• 58% of nurses who left bedside roles did so because of their patient care load.


• 70% of direct care nurses are currently considering leaving bedside roles because of their patient care load.


• 88% of nurses would consider staying in bedside roles if Ohio had legally enforceable minimum staffing standards.

"Nurses need help. We needed help before the pandemic," Lucas said. "After enduring that and dealing with the exacerbated staffing shortage, we really need help. And we need for people to know what's happening in our hospitals so that they can help fight for the change that they need as well."


Ohio House Bill 285, the Nurse Workforce and Safe Patient Care Act, was introduced in September 2023. If enacted, the bill would establish minimum staffing standards in Ohio hospitals, create a loan-to-grant program to support nurses in training, ensure accountability in hospital compliance, establish nurse staffing committees with direct caregivers, and create whistleblower protections for patients, nurses and hospital staff.


The Ohio Nurses Association supports H.B. 285.


"It's a way for us to attract and retain those nurses here," said Rep. Elgin Rogers (D-Toledo), a co-sponsor of the bill. "We want to make sure that we have nurses who are qualified. Nurses are in high demand, but we want to make sure that they are trained properly and they remain in Ohio."


The nursing shortage around Ohio hospitals started before the COVID-19 and is expected to get worse, peaking in early 2027, Lucas said. Nurses now have more responsibilities than ever, ranging from caring for patients to taking out the trash and changing the linens.


"There were barely enough nurses scheduled already, and then when COVID hit, things only got worse, with stressing an already broken system," Lucas said.


Beyond that, Lucas said hospitals are relying heavily on travel nurses - nurses who aren't based in any one location, but instead work for several months at hospitals in need of staff before moving on.


The $20 million loan-to-grant in H.B. 285 is designed to help encourage nurses to stay in Ohio. Nurses could be eligible for up to $12,000 in forgivable loans if they stay in Ohio for at least five years of work.


"In this particular item, there is significantly a higher value than some of those other programs," said Dr. Wendy Batch-Wilson, Dean of Nursing Cuyahoga Community College. "With the $5,000 that's available, but then also the ability for that to turn into a grant for the full amount."


Rogers, a Democrat, and his Republican co-sponsor hope the bill will go to the floor for a vote before the General Assembly session ends.


"They went to college, they went to school, they sacrificed," said Rogers. "So we want to make sure we're creating an atmosphere where they can do what they were called to do in this great state."




This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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A new study found more than 1.4 million children in the U.S., including many in California, have lost a family member to overdose, emphasizing the collateral damage of the drug epidemic.

The study focused on children younger than 18 as of 2019 who had lost one or more parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts or uncles, or cousins to overdose.

Emily Smith-Greenaway, professor of sociology at the University of Southern California-Dornsife and a co-author of the report, explained the effects overdoses have on those left behind.

"Being exposed to drug overdose is a particularly pernicious experience in young kids' lives, because we know drug overdoses are really traumatizing deaths to undergo," Smith-Greenaway explained. "There's probably a lot of hardship leading up to the death. Those deaths are probably very confusing for young kids to process and to understand."

Researchers found most kids who lose family members to drug overdose are between ages 10 and 18. Data show the reach of the problem is getting dramatically worse, because kids younger than 10 are experiencing drug overdoses in their family at younger ages relative to their slightly older peers.

A 2024 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry looked at children who have lost parents to overdose and found the highest rate among non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native families.

Smith-Greenaway pointed out there is currently no system in place to identify, track or monitor children affected by overdose and offer them specialized counseling.

"We need clear supports for identifying this population," Smith-Greenaway urged. "But then also providing them the supports to ensure that there's not a cyclical trauma here that replicates across generations."

Help is out there for parents or caregivers in California looking after a child who is coping with loss due to overdose. Some options include the website of the nonprofit Eluna, or Ronnie's House of Hope, based in Palm Desert.

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A new federal program launching next year is designed to help hospitals struggling to stay afloat in rural places such as South Dakota.

About 360 rural hospitals across the U.S. - and four in South Dakota - are at immediate risk of closing because of severe financial problems, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.

That's why the National Rural Health Resource Center is launching the federal Rural Hospital Stabilization Pilot Program.

Alyssa Meller is the center's chief operating officer. She said the program will offer technical assistance for up to two years, to an initial cohort of eight hospitals, and virtual community support to 12 more.

"It is a program that's aiming to improve the health care in rural communities by really helping keep health-care services available locally," said Meller, "to increase patient volume and improve revenue."

Meller said the program will help engage the hospitals' communities to promote services, too. The application period opens Wednesday and closes January 15.

Meller said several things contribute to hospitals' financial woes - including when residents bypass local services and opt to go elsewhere, fixed costs that exceed reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid, and a lack of services tailored to meet community needs, leading to operating losses.

"And so this program then will help stabilize their current service line," said Meller, "but also will help them dive into what is needed at that local level and provide technical assistance and support."

Meller said that as of Friday, about 300 hospitals were registered for Wednesday's virtual informational session.



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From hosting family to higher credit card bills and increased alcohol consumption, the holiday season, while fun, is not always friendly to our health.

A Minnesota expert said to avoid a cardiac event, give yourself a gift by not letting bad habits take hold. Findings from the American Heart Association show that more cardiac deaths occur on Dec. 25 than on any other day of the year. Coming in second is Dec. 26, while Jan. 1 rounds out the top three.

Dr. Sameh Hozayen, assistant professor of medicine at University of Minnesota Physicians and a board member of the American Heart Association-Twin Cities, said there is no firm reason behind the spikes this time of year but he argued it is fair to link them with temporary lifestyle changes.

"People are sleeping less, changing the way we eat, changing the frequency in which we drink alcohol," Hozayen outlined.

He pointed out because of travel or health clinics scaling back availability, people sometimes have gaps over the holidays when it comes to screenings or other appointments. Hozayen recommended trying to fit in as much exercise as possible and limit unhealthy foods when not at a holiday party. Drinking alcohol in moderation is another tip.

As for those with existing medical conditions, Hozayen noted the holidays are not meant to take a vacation from your special health needs. He emphasized it is important to keep taking your medications and make sure they are refilled. As for the research, he observed the higher death totals are not exclusive to colder climates, where blood flow can be restricted when the temperature drops.

"This has been shown in the United States (but) has also been shown in a country like New Zealand, where the Christmastime and the New Year time is actually in summer," Hozayen added.

Health experts said it is important to know the warning signs such as chest discomfort, discomfort in the arms, and shortness of breath. When there are obvious signs, calling 911 right away is deemed vital, as well as knowing how to provide hands-only CPR.

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