U.S. healthcare workers have been leaving the industry during the pandemic and the latest job report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 18,000 jobs were lost in September. This comes after more than 40,000 jobs were lost in the first three months of the year.

Nursing and healthcare facilities accounted for 38,000 job losses in September. Hospitals lost 8,000 jobs.

In early October, Morning Consult released a poll that showed 18% of healthcare workers quit their job during the pandemic. The poll of 1,000 healthcare workers was conducted from Sept 2-8.

The poll also found that 12% of healthcare workers were laid off and 31% considered leaving their job.

The number of resignations was largely due to the pandemic, insufficient pay or opportunities, or burnout, according to the poll.

Experts have warned about the serious repercussions that such job losses could have on the healthcare system.

"You’re experiencing loss of manpower in a field that was already short on manpower before the pandemic hit," Dharam Kaushik, a urologist at the University of Texas Health, San Antonio, told Morning Consult.

About 4 in 5 healthcare workers have said they have been affected by the shortage of healthcare professionals, with 41% of respondents saying the shortage had a “major impact.”

Overall, 57% of those surveyed had positive thoughts on healthcare’s future. There was also a gender divide with 69% of men reporting a positive outlook compared to 54% of women.

“I think mentoring the next generation, and then changing our hiring practices to put women and people of color in leadership positions, it has to happen in order to address these kinds of disparities that are still present in our field,” said Kate McOwen, senior director of educational affairs at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The healthcare workforce has lost 524,000 workers since February 2020, most of which were in nursing and residential care facilities.

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