Over the past few months, many hospitals and other healthcare providers have noticed The cost of hiring nurses has risen sharply. Nursing salaries for many providers increased by double digits year over year.For example, some health systems in Louisiana found Labor costs rose 16% Between 2021 and 2020. To a large extent, most of the extra costs are due to the addition of itinerant nurses.
However, demand for nurses, especially travel nurses, has fallen sharply in recent months. Kaiser Health News Report That:
Nationally, demand for registered nurse travelers fell by a third in the month to April 10, According to data From human resources agency Aya Healthcare, although job openings have rebounded slightly in recent weeks.
Consider the case of a health system in Oregon.
When Oregon’s governor declared a pandemic emergency on April 1, state-level COVID-19 relief funding evaporated. Oregon Health and Science University Hospital in Portland lost funding for nearly 100 traveling nurses. OHSU Health CEO Dr. John Hunter said that, along with lower coronavirus infection rates and more full-time staff, led to a “bubble burst”.
Before the pandemic, the health system had about 50 contractors of various types, compared with 450 at its peak, when many patients requiring close monitoring were pouring in and turning hospital recovery rooms into intensive care units.
“It’s very expensive,” Hunter said. But things are improving, he said, and the hospital has negotiated a 50% drop in contract rates with its travel nurse agency in recent weeks.
Trends in demand for travel nurses in the U.S. can be seen from the chart below:
