Travel Nurses See Swift Change of Fortunes as Covid Money Runs Dry

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Found @ Kaiser Family Foundation News   5/11/22

Travel nurses acute drop in pay has been a shock for some, especially those new to traveling; travel RN's contracted pay rates not being honored. The bubble has burst.

Travel Nurses See Swift Change of Fortunes as Covid Money Runs Dry

 

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... The tide has swiftly turned. As covid hospitalization rates stabilize, at least for now, and federal and state covid relief funding dries up, travel nurse contracts that were plentiful and lucrative are vanishing. And after the pressure cooker of the past two-plus years led to staff turnover and a rash of early retirements, hospitals nationwide are focused on recruiting full-time nurses.

Nationally, demand for registered nurse travelers dropped by a third in the month leading up to April 10, according to data from staffing agency Aya Healthcare, although openings have rebounded slightly in recent weeks....

...When Oregon’s governor declared the pandemic emergency over April 1, state-level covid relief money evaporated. Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland lost funding for close to 100 travel nurses. That, along with lower covid rates and more full-time hires, has led to “a bursting of the bubble,” said Dr. John Hunter, CEO of OHSU Health.

The health system had about 50 contractors of all kinds before the pandemic, compared with 450 at its height, when patients, many in need of close monitoring, flooded in and turned the hospital’s recovery room into an intensive care unit.....

Staff nurses make far less than their traveling counterparts. Rates for a new staff nurse at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury, for example, start at $30 an hour — plus benefits and extra for night shifts. At the pandemic peak, the hospital paid staffing agencies about $175 an hour for each travel nurse. The rate remains well over $100 an hour, but the hospital is trying to negotiate it down. Because the hospital pays the agency directly, how much nurses pocket is unclear, said CEO Shawn Tester.....

The situation for some travel nurses has gotten so bad that a law firm in Kansas City, Missouri, said it is considering legal action against more than 35 staffing agencies. Austin Moore, an attorney at Stueve Siegel Hanson, said some agencies are “breaching their contracts” and in other cases “committing outright fraud” through bait-and-switch maneuvers on travel nursing contracts.

The firm opened an investigation in March, drawing comments from hundreds of nurses, Moore said. “Our phones are ringing off the hook,” he said. “Nobody has experienced it like this — historically, contracts have been honored.”...

 

 

[gere7404, BSN, RN]

Yep, rates dropped to where it wasn't profitable to continue traveling with how expensive my duplicated expenses have become.

Went back to my home hospital where we are now facing severe staffing shortages as we lost many staff nurses for travel gigs (we'll see how many come back), and almost none of the current travelers are extending due to the massive drop in rates with the increased cost of living in the area.