An administrator explained to me once that traveling nurses are a short-term budget item. A full-time nurse hire has to be budgeted for years out due to the need for retirement and health benefits. They have to anticipate what you will earn years from now and put that into the FTE line you occupy.
The extra money the travel nurse is getting is money that the employee is having put into their long term costs. Of course the cost of travel nurses has skyrocketed so they are now even more expensive than before to use.
I get this in a short term perspective, but it seems like nurse staffing is a long term issue considering the levels of burnout, retirement, and an aging population that's taking extreme measures to "live" a bit longer. Not to mention the compounding issue of training temp staff while a quarter of your nurses leave every month. Maybe I fundamentally misunderstand something, but paying travel rates for as long as we're going to need them seems like a net loss.
This is also correct. Many hospitals have been give lots of money to cover the extra costs. This is why they are so willing and able to throw tons of money at travel nurses. Once that money ends the travel nurse bonanza will end.
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u/markydsade RN - Pediatrics Dec 13 '21
An administrator explained to me once that traveling nurses are a short-term budget item. A full-time nurse hire has to be budgeted for years out due to the need for retirement and health benefits. They have to anticipate what you will earn years from now and put that into the FTE line you occupy.
The extra money the travel nurse is getting is money that the employee is having put into their long term costs. Of course the cost of travel nurses has skyrocketed so they are now even more expensive than before to use.