Goss

I'm a current travel nurse who has been a little stressed about the increased difficulty lately in finding assignments. Because of this , I've been considering getting a staff position to avoid searching for travel positions in the current economy... but all of a sudden my travel company has had a bunch of travel assignments offered at Kaiser hospitals in California. I've heard people say they didn't like working as a traveler at Kaiser (or that they've HEARD that it's not a good place to be a travel nurse) but I haven't heard anything concrete as to why this is the case. Anyone have personal experience as an ICU nurse at these facilities? I'm asking because I wonder if it's worth my while to even pause my staff-position-search to consider these offers. Thanks!

One more thing: I didn't actually answer the thread topic directly... NO I don't think travel nursing is dead. Injured? For sure. I expect that a large number of travelers (including myself) will step aside and not bother with the higher stress of finding a job matching their travel-nursing needs while a core group of travelers with continue to fill the needs that will remain out there. There will always be short-term needs at hospitals caused by geography and the natural fluctuations of acuity levels out there. Therefore there will be a need for travel nurses to exist. It just won't be like it has been, where a prospective travel can almost pick any dream city to work in whenever they want to. I consider myself a fair-weather traveler. I'm about to step aside and take shelter until the skies clear again. I expect that they will, but like everyone else I don't know when.

I am currently a traveler, and this has been a big topic of discussion both among fellow travelers and among core staff. My view is that just like the overall economic tailspin, there are multiple forces at work here that all interact in a way to discourage travel nursing positions at the current time. You have a population afraid of losing jobs, and afraid of spending money, and therefore not electing for non-essential surgeries... therefore a lower hospital inpatient census. You have growing numbers of the uninsured... less non-acute preventative care being seen coupled with less payment to hospitals. You have hospitals with monetary concerns and budget freezes. Travel nurses cost hospitals more money, so it makes utmost sense to avoid using them if possible. The lower patient census levels and the increased feeling of worry across the board that staff have regarding the fear of job loss add up to a relative decrease in the need for travelers. It's my opinion that the whole travel nursing industry is inherently not geared for the current economy. It's an industry geared toward excess -- hospitals with too many patients, and enough money to be okay with paying extra money to both agencies and pampered nurses looking to make quick short-term profit (again, I am a travel nurse speaking here... not trying to insult anyone ... traveling has its own stresses, but by definition its own rewards too). I'm not saying at ALL that it's a BAD industry, but just one that thrives during profitable and relatively care-free economic climates. I know I personally made decisions based on the previous economy relating to nursing education and employment: I sought education at a high-cost private school instead of waiting for two to three years to get into an affordable community college program (much like people bought more expensive homes because the economy supported it at the time). I did it because I planned on travel nursing within three years of graduation, and I expected to make a higher salary as a result and to be able to pay off all the debt I accrued during my education. Well, now that idea has turned on its head and I (like so many other travelers) am shopping around for a staff position to lay low with until ... hopefully ... the economy improves in a way that allows for all the interacting factors to open the way for travel nursing to flourish again.