Nurses Flocking Back to Hospitals

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Many nurses who left hospital staff jobs during the pandemic out of exhaustion or for lucrative temporary jobs are coming back.

Their return in recent months, spurred by falling pay from the temp agencies and new hospital perks, is helping ease shortages that have crowded emergency rooms and forced hospitals to turn away patient referrals.

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Nurses Flock Back to Hospitals After Leaving in the Pandemic

Specializes in Surgical Specialty Clinic - Ambulatory Care.
toomuchbaloney said:

Were any states successful in placing caps on travel wages for nurses in 2022?

Texas did place a cap on agency pay.

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KalipsoRed21 said:

Texas did place a cap on agency pay.

Hm...I just find it interesting that Texas of all places would institute this cap. I'm fairly certain that any male-dominated industry would not dare be touched in this state where individual choice and freedom are so highly touted. The salaries that nurses were making traveling are standard tech consulting rates...Imagine if Texas were suddenly to tell technology consultants that their pay was capped. The howls of outrage would be loud and immediate. (And justifiably so.)

I can understand that nurses would be demoralized by having someone making a traveller's salary working next to them. Having worked as a consultant - I can tell you that the intellectual demands may be equivalent - but - I didn't hold lives in my hands and wasn't sacrificing my health (and back) in those years. What those nurses got in salary was just normal consulting work fees....those salaries are nothing extraordinary in the tech world. (I can assure you - after working from a home office for many years, it was not nearly as demanding...)

So, the problem is not the contract rate that the traveller is making. The problem is - all nurses SHOULD be making that salary easily. Their skills, level of responsibility, legal weight, work loads, etc. unquestionably warrant it.

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Can't really figure this one out. I have heard from many reputable sources that the high pay that travel nurses got during the CV crisis was federally subsidized. Once the "health emergency" status was lifted the travel nurse pay rate decreased back to pre CV levels. The hospitals were not fully paying these rates; our tax dollars were helping with the salaries. Why then do we need caps on agency pay, when travel nurses are now making lower salaries.

Any travel nurses out there with information on this topic?

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Specializes in Home Health,Peds.

Well, it's time to snatch up any hospital job you can find now because with this recession and everyone going to nursing school, I believe there will be a glut in the coming years. Then it will be hospitals preferring BSN again, kicking out Lpn's in acute care, etc
2008 all over again. 

I will repeat this again, but nurses who did travel during Covid are not looked at favorably by one of my nurse managers.

I wonder do other nurse managers think like my nurse manager? I would hope not.

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About 25% of my coworkers took travel nursing positions over the past few years. We still have RN openings, and I am constantly receiving information about job postings with huge sign on bonuses ($20,000). Clearly my managers don't care if they hire travel nurses.

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Tweety said:

I didn't know housing stipends were not taxed.  

That's one of the reason's travel nurses make so much money. Housing and per diems are not taxed. 

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Idealista said:

Hm...I just find it interesting that Texas of all places would institute this cap. I'm fairly certain that any male-dominated industry would not dare be touched in this state where individual choice and freedom are so highly touted. The salaries that nurses were making traveling are standard tech consulting rates...Imagine if Texas were suddenly to tell technology consultants that their pay was capped. The howls of outrage would be loud and immediate. (And justifiably so.)

I can understand that nurses would be demoralized by having someone making a traveller's salary working next to them. Having worked as a consultant - I can tell you that the intellectual demands may be equivalent - but - I didn't hold lives in my hands and wasn't sacrificing my health (and back) in those years. What those nurses got in salary was just normal consulting work fees....those salaries are nothing extraordinary in the tech world. (I can assure you - after working from a home office for many years, it was not nearly as demanding...)

So, the problem is not the contract rate that the traveller is making. The problem is - all nurses SHOULD be making that salary easily. Their skills, level of responsibility, legal weight, work loads, etc. unquestionably warrant it.

Exactly. I think people are missing the point. By limiting travel pay and nurses going back to staff, the hospitals are now in control again and wages will stagnate or even decrease. They will not give the staff nurses the extra money from not having travelers. Nurses are not assets, we are liabilities and cost the hospitals money. 

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Specializes in long trm care.

Were in the hell is this happening I am an LPN and get calls constantly to go to hospitals! I currently work as an at home traveler I get paid alot more than regular staff and still live at home.

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I have been worrying about my job security too. I've been a school nurse  for 3 years and it gets harder to find assignments( agency) especially over the Summer. Any ideas of a good field I can transition to?

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