Travel nurses offer temporary relief to hospitals short on staff: by 2020, nation's permanent worker shortage is expected to expand to 1 million.
Travel nurses who take on 13-week jobs at hospitals around the country and overseas have become a hot commodity in the health care world, where a shortage of full-time nurses continues.
A newly released survey by San Diego-based AMN Healthcare Inc., a large health care staffing agency, found that 70 percent of the 4,000 chief nursing officers surveyed reported an inability to recruit enough permanent staff as a key reason for hiring travel nurses.
And possibly, the demand for travel nurses could be contributing to the nursing shortage by convincing permanent nurses to switch to the travel mode.
"In a shortage situation that we're in, nurses feel comfortable leaving and picking up travel work," said Marcia Faller, AMN's chief clinical nursing officer and executive vice president of operations. "In that sense, our supply (of travel nurses) improves in shortages. Nurses have a lot more power in those situations."
Still, she doesn't see permanent nurses necessarily ready to leave their jobs for travel nurse perks. There are 2.9 million permanent nurses in the United States, and 22,000 travel nurses.
Faller estimates the permanent nursing shortage at 125,000 to 150,000 nationally, and by 2020, that's predicted to balloon to 1 million.
Perks For Travel Nurses
Access Nurses, another San Diego-based agency that specializes in placing travel nurses, gives a briefing of the health care industry niche on its Web site:
"The industry began as nurses wanted to ski the slopes in the winter and sunbathe on California beaches in the summer, while being able to make a living at the same time." It reports that due to a national shortage of permanent nurses, 15,000 to 20,000 traveling nurses are used weekly in U.S. hospitals.
If a travel nurse works 50 weeks a year, reports Access Nurses, it typically translates to an annual salary of $44,000 to $70,000, and possibly more than $100,000 with overtime added in.
Travel nurses can pick where and when they want to work. And standard work rules on mandatory overtime, weekends and holidays don't apply to them.
Alan Braynin, chief executive officer of the 6-year-old Access Nurses, said his company finds pockets around the country where there are occasional nursing surpluses, such as in small Southern towns, or in Minnesota. Access will "reallocate them based on surpluses." But ultimately, "the nurses decide" where they want to work.
"Braynin's company contracts for nurse work with 1,600 hospitals nationwide and figures 65 positions are filled weekly. The travel nurse is cleared for having the proper credentials, then assigned, while the agency pays the nurse's salary, insurance, benefits and housing--typically a one-bedroom apartment--as well as relocation expenses,
After a 13-week stint, they either sign up for an extended assignment at the same place, try another locale, or take a break.
TV Exposure
Braynin sees recruiting of travel nurses as a key to his business. He's producing a half-hour TV show featuring travel nurses that he expects will be a cable show in San Diego this year.
Among the perks he touts for the travel nurse is the ability to explore different parts of the country while working three days a week.
San Diego is very popular among travel nurses, said Braynin, "because of its climate and natural beauty."
Braynin sees the demand for travel nurses continuing as a result of the permanent nursing shortage. He also sees it as a way for permanent nurses to find relief from burnout, enabling them to stay in the profession instead of retiring.
"Nursing is a stressful profession," said AMN's Faller. "I like to think of travel nursing as an alternative career option. It takes you to new places."
Faller said the average age of nurses is 48, and as they retire, there aren't enough nurses coming out of schools to fill the gap.
In California, Faller notes, nursing schools are already full and turning away thousands of qualified students every year. And those schools have faculty that are also approaching retirement. "That's another piece of the problem," she said.
Meanwhile, experts are trying to figure out ways to solve shortage-related problems, while hospitals are working closely with nursing schools to get more nurses.
"We need to continue to come up with small solutions," added Faller. Using travel nurses is one of them. For hospitals, "They kind of plug the hole until they do find a permanent nurse."
Scripps Has Permanent Goals
Vic Buzachero, senior vice president of human resources at Scripps Health in San Diego, said because there is more outpatient treatment these days, patients in the hospital tend to be those needing the highest levels of care.
Still, while Scripps has travel nurses on the job daily, Buzachero figures Scripps is now using less of them than three to five years ago.
He credits that to aggressive goals by Scripps to make its workplace more attractive to attract and retain permanent nurses. "Our turnover rate dropped and we're using a few less travelers," said Buzachero.
Still, Scripps uses travel nurses more when seasonal patient demand is high, typically in winter flu season months. Scripps employs almost 3,000 nurses, and Buzachero estimates that travel nurses make up 5 percent to 10 percent of its staff, depending on demand for care.(source) |
