The NYT and similar outlets are reporting severe nursing shortages due to the "tremendous" amount of covid patients. The story on the ground is quite different.

Nurses are quitting because they don't want the jab. Many are walking out in solidarity. Civil rights attorneys are telling them they have no grounds for suing. There is a class action suit in progress, but it doesn't help those working in the Catholic health system. One attorney said, "If they tell everyone to dye their hair pink and you refuse, there's nothing you can do." This all sounds so unreal but it's direct from the mouths of those I know.

Meanwhile, a retired nurses - friend age 70, my sister age almost 80 - say their phones are ringing off the hook with call from recruiting agencies and hospitals offering eye-popping salaries. Filipino and Haitian friends report that relatives overseas are being recruited aggressively. No English? No problem.

A sign of things to come.