Travel for Nursing Shortage Relief

The nursing shortage has struck just about everywhere in the United States, with nurses everyday facing long hours, low wages, unsafe nurse to patient ratios, etc. Nurses are using their skills, their education and energy to help save lives, which has become even more difficult through the pandemic and beyond. Many staff nurses have turned to travel nursing to be able to make a decent living.

In travel nursing, rather than working directly for a hospital as permanent employees, nurses are hired by a staffing agency, which then arranges limited time contracts with hospitals to meet temporary or seasonal staffing needs. Over the course of the pandemic, crisis demand for additional staff sent travel nurse statistics through the roof with travel nursing staff rising from their traditional 3-4% of all nursing staff to 8-10%.

These travel nurses provide relief to staff nurses that are overworked and burnt out and they are advocates for a better work environment and pay. While travel nurses in many cases were a short term fix for hospitals struggling with the pandemic, their role in the healthcare system has been expanding even before that and is now a crucial part in the healthcare industry. The surge in patient numbers, and the difficulty retaining permanent staff, means demand for temporary travel nurses will likely stay strong in the coming year.

Travel nurses bring a much needed relief for staff nurses and provide a better work environment for hospitals. They bring fresh perspectives, new personalities and of course aid to overworked nurses in general. Traveling nurses make a difference in the healthcare system more now than ever.