[Rnita09]

im not quite sure why hospitals hire agency nurses??.. couldnt they use the money to increase the pay for their nurses????..i dont know.. it would be great if someone could explain it to me better.

[MickyB-RN]

Originally Posted by Rnita09

im not quite sure why hospitals hire agency nurses??.. couldnt they use the money to increase the pay for their nurses????..i dont know.. it would be great if someone could explain it to me better.

This is the million dollar question at my facility.



Kelly

[RN92]

The hospitals still come out cheaper with agency nurses because, they dont have to insure them, or offer any kind of benefits such as retirement/401k, etc... Agency nurses can actually be cheaper in the long scheme of things. Plus, agency nurses are easier to get rid of if their work is under par.

[cmathews40]

The real answer is that hospitals take the money that they pay out to agencies as a tax right off. They don't have to pay the insurance prems such as workmans comp. The agencies have to cover their nurses themselves for that. According to the high ups in hospital admin. it comes out ahead for them in the long run to use agency nurses.

Originally Posted by Rnita09

im not quite sure why hospitals hire agency nurses??.. couldnt they use the money to increase the pay for their nurses????..i dont know.. it would be great if someone could explain it to me better.

[suzanne4]

Simple answer....................first they actually get a deduction on taxes, as it doesn't come under their own employees. #2: exmaply, OR has just had a nurse quit, when they do hire someone they will get minimum of a three month orientation, they not to have a body in that slot right away, so agency can fill in. #3: If the facility is in an area where the census varies by season, it is much more cost effective to use agency than keep someone on the books year round. #4: If the census luctuates greatly on a day to day basis on the unit, especially critical care areas, it is easier to use agency when they need them, then have to have someone always take a low census day.

Just a few reasons...............

[chris_at_lucas_RN]

If your hospital did do away with agency nurses, and gave the nurses a raise, how many nurses do you think would be willing to take care of the patients the agency nurses would have taken care of?

Gotta be enough upright bodies to do the deed. When there aren't, that's why there are agency nurses.....

[suzanne4]

Originally Posted by chris_at_lucas

If your hospital did do away with agency nurses, and gave the nurses a raise, how many nurses do you think would be willing to take care of the patients the agency nurses would have taken care of?

Gotta be enough upright bodies to do the deed. When there aren't, that's why there are agency nurses.....

Even if they had enough nurses, because of mandatory orientation in certain areas, there is always going to be a need for agency nurses to fill in until the new staff is ready.

[natasha700]

I realized that in the long run hospitals do come out more using registry. It is all about the $$$$$$. What I don't understand is the hostility among staff nurses vs. registry. Dont hate player hate the game.

[archiehobbs]

Originally Posted by Rnita09

im not quite sure why hospitals hire agency nurses??.. couldnt they use the money to increase the pay for their nurses????..i dont know.. it would be great if someone could explain it to me better.

Agency nurses are a temporary solution to a temporary problem. Facilities use us until they hire and train more staff. For instance I was at a facility for several months this summer because they did a huge hiring of new grad nurses which required at least 3 months of training. Once they were out of training, I had to move on to the next facility that had a staffing problem. We are there to help ease the burden of our fellow nurses during a nursing crunch.