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New travel nursing assignments can be exciting – new restaurants to try, new adventures to experience, and new people to meet. But the apartment you rent is your haven from the stressful job and a safe place to land after all your fun.
But what if something happens to your stuff – a fire in the building, a burglar, or a tornado? Does your landlord’s insurance cover all this?
The answer is no. A landlord’s insurance covers repairing the building and the structure – not replacing your belongings.
If something bad does happen, could you afford to replace everything on your own?
Fortunately, there are insurance policies that protect your stuff, even when you’re on assignment and living in a rental or agency-provided housing.
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Even though many landlords require it, the sad fact is so many people don’t buy renters insurance even though it’s fairly inexpensive. In fact, in 2023, policygenius.com found that 93 percent of homeowners had homeowner’s insurance while only 57 percent of renters said they had renter’s insurance.
Yes, says Lynne McChristian, communications consultant at III. Homeowner’s insurance provides coverage for both your structure and the contents of your personal home. Renters insurance provides protection for contents only. In both types of coverage, your possessions are covered no matter where they are.
“This is known as off-premises coverage. So, when you travel, whether for work or please, your personal possessions are covered when you have an insurance policy on your permanent residence,” McChristian explains.
It is always a smart idea to read your insurance contract to understand how it works before you need it.
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The cost of renters insurance depends on how much you buy, and you decide on the amount by figuring out how much it would cost to replace your personal belongings, says McChristian. Coverage typically ranges from $15-$20 a month for around $30,000 worth of protection, with a deductible of $500 to $1,000.
Most insurance plans, even for car insurance, have deductibles. This is the cost you are responsible for if something has to be replaced or fixed. So, if a tornado destroys $10,000 of your stuff in your rental apartment and you have a $1,000 deductible, your insurance company will cover all $10,000 of stuff, but you have to pay the first $1,000. The III states that in general, the larger your deductible, the lower your insurance premium. But don’t pick a really high deductible if you won’t be able to cover it yourself.
Is it possible to get temporary rental insurance for your new place while traveling, and who actually sells it?
Yes, McChristian adds. “You can purchase a short-term renters policy if you do not already have this coverage. The first place to check is with the insurer who provides your automobile insurance, as you may get a better deal with a packaged policy.”
Do credit cards cover me while traveling?
Credit cards are great for racking up rewards while traveling, and we even offer travel nursing credit cards. However, those that cover traveling often only provide coverage for you and your belongings WHILE traveling. For example, lost luggage or trip cancellation.
Wherever you travel as a nurse, you will be heading into Mother Nature’s hands. But renter’s insurance will not cover floods unless you get flood coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program and a few private insurers. You can also get a separate policy for earthquake insurance or have it added as an endorsement to your renter’s policy, depending on the location you are traveling to. The usual things covered include fire, smoke, lightning, vandalism, tornado, theft, explosion, windstorm, and certain types of water damage like a pipe burst with your renter’s insurance.
The III website says that your renter’s policy will insure you against coverage for personal possessions, liability protection and additional living expenses.
Personal possessions – You can buy two types of renter’s insurance for your nursing travels. Replacement cost coverage is a little more expensive than an actual cash value policy because it will actually pay for the cost to replace items such as your television, furniture and clothing. The actual cash value includes a deduction for depreciation as items lose value over time.
Liability – This helps you from allegations of negligence for injuries or property damage. Let’s say you have a wine-tasting party at your apartment and someone slips on your steps. They need to be rushed to the hospital. You could be held financially liable to pay for their medical bills. Plus, the policy also would pay for your legal defense if it came to a legal situation. McChristian says a renter’s policy often includes a no-fault medical coverage as part of the liability protection. This means if someone is injured inside your apartment while you are a new destination, he or she can send medical bills directly to your insurer.
Additional living expenses – We’ve all watched the television news when an entire apartment building is damaged by fire. Where do you go and how do you pay for it? Renter’s insurance will pay for your hotel bills or temporary rental, your restaurant meals, clothing and other essentials to get your life back to a resemblance of normalcy.
First, research all the companies out there that offer renter’s insurance. You can find a local insurance agent or a company online, and then compare quotes. You should also reach out to any companies that you already have insurance with (homeowner’s, car insurance, etc.) You’ll answer a few questions, and voila, you have a policy. Overall, it’s a fairly easy and affordable type of insurance to get.
Your Aunt Clara left you a ruby and diamond ring valued at $4,000. You take it everywhere that you travel. Is it covered on your renter’s insurance? Most likely not unless you get a separate policy called a floater that will cover if it is lost or stolen. Sometimes, you also need an appraisal on items such as expensive jewelry or a collection of rare books or sports memorabilia.
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One of the greatest things about travel nursing is having the ability to see so many different parts of the country. Our days off are full of exploring new places that we have only ever seen before in photos and may never even have known existed. Although it might not be everyone’s preferred method of seeing new places, camping provides a cheap way to travel on a budget, and make the most incredible memories with your friends. Over the years, I have spent hundreds of nights under the stars in new places, spent around a campfire with new and old friends.
Here is a look into what a few days off during a travel assignment can look like when you are ticking off those bucket list trips.
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At the time of this trip, I had a travel contract in Salt Lake City, and some of my close friends decided we all needed a get-together. One of them had never been to Utah’s national parks, so we decided it was the perfect opportunity for our travels. One friend flew into SLC the night before and we did a quick grocery run before spending one last night in a bed before leaving for camping. The next morning, we woke before the sun and loaded up the gear to hit the road. Our first stop was about three hours away, so we made a quick pit stop for some essentials: gas and coffee.
Our first stop was an off-the-grid hike where we rendezvoused with another friend who drove to meet us. Southern Utah is full of numerous canyon hikes that involve tight crevasses and breathtaking rock formations. We filled the canyon with so much laughter on our fairly quick out-and-back hike before returning to the cars for a quick picnic lunch.
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I always recommend travel nurses check out as many state parks as possible during their contracts. These places are, after all, protected because of their beauty, so it is a great spot to start when searching for camping or exploring locations. We loaded up after the hike and drove to Goblin Valley State Park. We again did a quick out-and-back hike, enjoyed the incredible beauty around us, then headed back to the car to make our way toward our camping location for the night.
We drove to our first National Park of the trip, Capitol Reef, where we opted to stay in one of the established campgrounds. We set up our tent, hung out in some hammocks, and then did a late afternoon hike down one of the popular areas in the park. We then went back to the campsite, made some dinner, and slept really well after a full day of traveling.
On our second day, we woke up and quickly made some breakfast, packed up our camp, and then did a little more exploring around Capitol Reef. We discovered that in a National Park, you should spend some time investing in longer hikes, or overnight trips to fully see its beauty, but the views from our cars were nothing to complain about either. We had another two-hour drive to get to the next destination, so cue car snacks and car karaoke.
We arrived at the famous Arches National Park and knew that seeing Delicate Arch was a priority. We filled our day with three separate hikes and took advantage of all of the pullover spots to simply enjoy the views. We left in the late afternoon so that we had time to set up our site before it got dark.
Sometimes you luck out and have ideal weather conditions, but this was not the night. It was extremely windy out, so we threw our tent up, made dinner as quickly as possible, and then put as many of our belongings as we could inside the cars and hunkered in our tent for the rest of the evening. Always bring some cards and a portable speaker with you when camping, because you never know when you might need them.
We woke up before the sun so that we could catch the sun coming up over the horizon while we watched through the Mesa Arch. This is truly an incredible sight, but keep in mind that it doesn’t come without swarms of people and photographers. It was a chilly morning, as many mornings are while camping, but our puffy coats and cozy beanies kept us warm for our brief sunrise viewing.
We spent the rest of our day hiking trails and going to various viewpoints around Canyonlands. Due to our time constraints, we did not drive down into the canyon, but there were plenty of opportunities to take in the views and get some exercise in from the top viewpoints. We sat on the rim of one of the canyons, chatted about life, and sat in awe at the beauty before us. We then packed up all of our things and split up. One car headed back to SLC for another day at the hospital, and the other back home.
We had the absolute best little trip, which is such a huge perk of travel nursing. Working three 12-hour shifts leaves a few days a week for adventuring. And when you’re constantly traveling to new places, you’ll never run out of places to go and see.
Camping, especially on the western side of America, allows for so many wonderful memories. Once you make the investment in some camping gear, it can be as cheap as the price of gas for an incredible trip. Camping gear also doesn’t take up a significant amount of car space, so it can come with you on all of your travels. I highly recommend a Utah State National Park camping getaway.
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Marian Weber, a travel nurse from Louisiana, was excited to start a contract at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center in Ketchikan, Alaska in April 2021. However, what began as an exciting opportunity quickly turned into a nightmare.
After voicing her concerns to management and senior administrators regarding the safety of nurses and patients related to COVID-19, she was fired by the hospital on August 24th.
As the delta variant continued to spread across the country, Alaska was particularly hard-hit over the summer. PeaceHealth Medical Center, a city-owned hospital run by a Vancouver, Washington-based nonprofit, began to admit COVID-19 patients from long-term care facilities.
According to the website, PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center is a 25-bed hospital with an additional 29 beds dedicated to long-term care. Founded in 1923 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, Little Flower Hospital was later renamed to align with the 10 other hospitals in the PeaceHealth Hospital System. The Hospitals are located in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska and are run under the guidance of the faith-based, mission-oriented PeaceHealth organization.
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During an interview, Weber said that many of the coronavirus patients at PeaceHealth Ketchikan were critically ill and required ICU-level care despite remaining in the medical-surgical unit.
“We had one patient that was intubated, and we had one that required continuous BiPAP (a type of ventilator), and these are ICU-level … patients,” she said. Despite there being ICU COVID beds available, the decision was made to keep these patients who required ICU-level care in the COVID medical-surgical unit.
Unlike ICU rooms, medical-surgical rooms are not equipped for the near-constant monitoring that critically ill patients require. Oftentimes, the rooms do not have see-through windows and glass doors or individual monitors that communicate to a central monitoring system.
PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center has opaque room doors and no ICU level monitoring system, according to Weber. The solution? Weber says the facility suggested keeping one nurse in the room to monitor these patients for 12-hour shifts despite the patients being infected with the highly contagious virus.
Weber took the logical next step. She spoke to the unit manager who suggested she speak to a hospital administrator. What happens next is appalling. Weber called the senior hospital administrator voicing her concerns regarding unsafe assignments because of prolonged exposure to the coronavirus.
“And I did,” she said. “And she responded with, ‘I need you to understand the verbiage I’m about to use’ — these are her words — ‘and share it with your traveling co-workers. You are not staff. You are guests here, and you can leave at any time. There is a long line of travelers waiting to take your job.’
“I asked her to tread very carefully in our conversation because it sounded like when I voiced concerns about staff and patient safety, Sherry (Dunlay) was responding by threatening my position,” she said. “So when I explained that concern to her, she responded to me, ‘If you don’t like it, you can leave.’”
Sherry Dunlay, the former Interim Director of Acute Care, oversaw approximately 100 full-time employees at the hospital. After the conversation with Dunlay, Weber filed an internal ethics complaint using the hospital’s anonymous tip line. Four days later her contract was formally terminated.
Weber has formally filed a complaint with the state of Alaska under Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Section 11c and a federal whistleblower workplace complaint. Furthermore, she has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board under unfair labor practices related to a wrongful termination for engaging in protected concerted activity. Both agencies have found merit in her complaint and have opened cases. As a result, the hospital has retained outside legal counsel. Additionally, Dunlay has left her job abruptly and will relocate per an email to hospital employees.
Weber saw her firing as retaliation for voicing her safety concerns. In fact, a week prior to the firing, her travel contract was extended another four months. She said hospital officials had recently thanked her for extending her contract during a “Caregiver Celebration Day.”
Shannon McClendon, Public Relations Manager for the American Nurses Association (ANA), stated that Weber’s actions exemplified the Code of Ethics for Nurses and the ANA commends her for raising her voice and filing a complaint with OSHA.
According to the ANA, there have been countless reports of employers retaliating against nurses for raising legitimate concerns about personal safety, less-than-ideal work conditions, as well as the safety of patients. The ANA has publicly expressed concerns to the U.S. Department of Labor and OSHA emphasizing that the retaliation against all health care workers is illegal.
The Alaska nursing union also has openly supported Weber and agreed that nurses should be able to raise safety concerns without fear of reprisals.
“Our working conditions are our patients’ healing conditions. A safety risk to an employee is a safety risk to you or your loved one,” Alaska Nurses Association Programs Director Andrea Nutty said in a statement.
Weber is continuing to share her story with anyone who is willing to listen. She tells Nurse.Org that her decision to ultimately bring this to the public’s attention is threefold:
At this time state and federal officials are investigating Weber’s claims. As the investigations remain open, Weber is anxiously awaiting the opportunity to continue to advocate for the safety of not only her fellow nurses but patients.
Speak with a recruiter about available assignments in COVID-impacted areas today.
The COVID pandemic required a lot of changes, especially for nurses. Now, over a year into the pandemic, many staff nurses are turning to travel nursing as a way to recover from the stress of the past year and to earn a higher pay rate for their hard work.
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The coronavirus pandemic led to an increase in what was already a nursing shortage. Nursing shortages were already predicted to reach 175,900 openings for RNs each year through 2029. Now, factors like nurse burnout and mental health strain, along with many nurses leaving the workforce to care for their families, are expected to increase that shortage.
Rachel Ellsworth, recently profiled by CNN, is one example. Ellsworth had been a staff ICU nurse for 10 years in Florida. She went from considering her nursing career a “calling” to quitting after working all through the pandemic.
“It broke me,” she told CNN. “It was just too much.”
Ellsworth is not alone. As she pointed out, there are many more nurses who will be facing mental health repercussions in the coming months as they shift from “survival” mode to reflecting on what they’ve been through – and what the future holds for them as nurses.
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So far, the data we have is not painting a promising picture for resolving the nursing shortage. In fact, it seems the country will be needing a lot of nurses – and fast. Along with the pandemic, nursing shortages will be compounded by current RNs retiring, educational gaps for new nurses, and high turnover rates. Healthcare facilities will need to work with nurses to create working environments that are inviting to nurses who may be reluctant to return to work after the pandemic.
Fortunately, hospitals are aware of the nurse shortages that lie ahead. A survey of over 100 hospital executives and senior leaders across the U.S. by Avant Healthcare Professionals found increasing numbers of open RN jobs. From 2019 to 2021, there was a major increase in hospitals expecting openings in staff nurse positions. For instance, 17% of respondents reported having more than 25 staff RN positions open in 2019, but 36% reported that amount in 2021. According to their survey, there will be nearly 80,000 nursing positions vacant by 2023.
Travel nursing can be a great way to make a change in your nursing career — and to recover from some of the burn out you may have experienced due to COVID as a staff nurse.
You can earn a higher paycheck than many staff RNs, get full benefits including health insurance and retirement, travel to new places (you can also find local travel nursing jobs!) or try different units or shifts you may have never tried before. The best part? If you don’t like it, the assignment is temporary! Once your 12-14 week assignment is up, you have no obligation to continue.
If you’re an RN with some kind of hospital experience, travel nursing is an option that is always available to you and it can provide the ultimate career flexibility because it can be a career that you create. Want to work full-time? You can do that. Only interested in talking on a few assignments a year? Yup, that works too. Want to be sure you only work the units you feel comfortable on? You got it.
When it comes to travel nursing, you get to choose your next assignment. That can be a great benefit, especially coming off the type of traumatic experiences that many staff nurses experienced during the pandemic. So if you’re considering leaving your staff nursing position in the near future, consider talking to a recruiter so you can explore what travel nursing has to offer.
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As rates of new infections and hospitalizations from COVID-19 are finally slowing down, travel nurses are seeing an unfortunate side effect: their crisis contracts canceled unexpectedly.
Crisis contracts can come with high rewards for both hospitals and travel nurses alike–hospitals are able to depend on sourcing high-quality health professionals who can see them through a crisis event very quickly and travel nurses are compensated for placement in uncertain and potentially dangerous circumstances with crisis pay. However, with high rewards also comes high risk.
Travel nurses taking crisis contracts run the risk of having to be available at a moment’s notice, rearranging their lives very quickly, facing difficult situations on the job and as we are seeing, having their assignment dropped last-minute. Here’s what travel nurses should be aware of as more crisis contracts are being dropped as COVID-19 hospitalizations trend downwards.
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At the beginning of the pandemic, hospitals staffed their ERs and ICUs with many travelers in anticipation of being hard-hit by COVID-19 patients. Even in some hospitals where staff nurses in more elective departments, like surgery, were being laid-off, travelers were able to procure contracts with high wages in other departments and specialties.
And throughout the pandemic, as the virus has peaked near holiday events and in the cold weather, crisis contracts have been readily available. As spring approaches, however, in almost every part of the country, new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are finally decreasing. According to the CDC, the U.S. is currently in week five of a continual downward trend of new cases. Percent positivity rates for tests are going down, along with hospital admissions, and vaccination rates continue to climb, all pointing to a possible and hopeful end to the pandemic in the future.
With new cases and hospitalizations down, however, the emergent need for crisis contracts has slowed as well, leading to the abrupt cancellation of some traveler’s contracts. Hospitals in “hotspot” areas, like Utah and Arizona, that may have been utilizing travelers to get through high infection times or hospitals that may have been preemptively staffing in fear of variant infection have very quickly lost the need for the high cost of crisis travel nurse contracts.
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TravelNursing.org’s Facebook and Instagram pages are full of frustrating stories of travel nurses who have had last-minute cancellations or are awaiting official confirmation of a contract pulled just as they were about to leave. From Washington to Texas to Ohio to Arizona to Iowa, as patient numbers have dropped, so too have the contracts that travel nurses thought were a done deal.
Samantha Firari, RN, had her travel nurse assignment to Tulsa, OK canceled only a day before she was set to move while Sarah McGibbon explained that while she was able to keep her contract in Grand Island, NE, it was only after being forced to move from Med/Surg to PCU.
Many staff nurses also chimed into the conversation, noting that they had witnessed their hospitals canceled travel nurses on contract. An ER in North Carolina, for instance, canceled 8 traveler contracts and while the staff nurse who reported the cancellation noted her hospital had done it in as “professional” way as possible, we can still imagine that it was an unfortunate situation for all involved.
Even travel nurses who haven’t had their contracts canceled yet are living in anxious anticipation of being next. “[My contract hasn’t been canceled] not just yet, but I’ve been offered to take off for two weeks, switch to night shift,” says Kristin Thompson. “The census bottomed out the week I started. It’s only a matter of time, I’m afraid.”
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Unfortunately, you can’t necessarily predict or prevent a contract from being canceled. However, if you are aware that contracts are being canceled in the area that you’re booked in, don’t be afraid to talk with your recruiter –– you have every right to ask if there is any risk of cancellation. And if you aren’t aware of the policies in the event that you are canceled, be sure to learn them and ask with every contact you secure in the future.
In some cases, your contract may stipulate that you will receive some kind of pay if you are canceled. However, as trauma ICU nurse Rodney Sassee points out, most hospitals and facilities stipulate that they can cancel with no payout as long as the citing reason for cancellation is low census.
If your contract is canceled, there are some steps you can take. First, you’ll want to check with your agency to see if you are eligible for any cancellation pay. You may also be eligible for unemployment benefits or be able to secure another assignment in the area or even a different department within the same hospital if you have already moved.
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As the novel coronavirus rages on across the country, there is hope for the upcoming year. Currently, there are two viable COVID-19 vaccines available to nurses throughout the United States, one produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and the other Moderna. Despite the overwhelming need to vaccinate Tier 1A (or Phase 1) healthcare workers, many travel nurses are left wondering when will it be their turn? An estimated 21 million healthcare workers will be eligible for the first vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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According to data from NurseFly, five states in the U.S. have seen 200% growth in demand for ICU nurses including Delaware, to a whopping 441% increase in Hawaii. This is partially due to continuing rise in COVID-19 cases, staff nurses out for exposure, and bedside nurse burnout. Unfortunately, despite the desperate need for travel nurses and the endless COVID crisis contracts, many travel nurses are finding it impossible to get vaccinated.
Hospitals across the country are getting doses of the vaccine but priority has been to the hospital employees and not contracted travel nurses despite their work location. For example, per diem outpatient clinic nurses are being offered the vaccine over COVID ICU travel nurses. It’s leaving many travel nurses confused and frustrated.
But this isn’t the case for all travel nurses. Some are being offered the vaccine through employers but it’s few and far between. For example, Fastaff travel nurse Maritza B. was one of the first nurses in New Jersey to become vaccinated through her hospital. Stories like this are few and far between.
Despite the ongoing need to vaccinate ALL frontline workers with repeated exposure to COVID, there are numerous barriers to offering the vaccine to travel nurses. These include,
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The CDC and FDA are encouraging all nurses to receive the vaccination through their employer, but for some this isn’t possible. There are other options for travel nurses. Some of these include but are not limited to:
While not all retail pharmacies across the country have the vaccination as of yet, they are expected to receive the vaccine in the upcoming month. It’s important to call your local pharmacy for additional information.
One of the most important considerations with vaccination is that BOTH vaccines require TWO dosages for effective immunity. You must receive the same second dose as the first. For example, if your first vaccine dose was Pfizer-BioNTech then you must receive a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech.
Travel nurses across the country are concerned about the possibility of healthcare systems mandating the COVID vaccine. Currently, hospitals and long term care facilities are not mandating the vaccine to employees but there have been discussions of a future vaccine requirement for employment.
This could create numerous problems for travel nurses as vaccine production has not been going as expected according to the FDA and CDC. According to CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-rollout-behind-schedule-delay-millions-doses-short/), the country fell drastically short of an initial pledge to vaccinate 20 million Americans by the end of 2020 — just under 3 million people received the COVID-19 vaccine before the new year.
In addition to travel nurses, there are millions of other front line healthcare providers still waiting to receive the vaccine as well. It’s a waiting game for most nurses at this point. But, as Pfizer and Moderna continue to ship out thousands of doses of their vaccine, travel nurses across the country should begin to have access.
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Here are the latest COVID updates for travel nurses as the holidays approach and there is a lot of uncertainty about what the rest of the year will hold for COVID cases in the U.S. Day after day, we are hearing about record-breaking new infections, hospitals reaching peak capacity and public officials scrambling to figure out what is best for their communities. As of right now, the U.S. has surpassed 12 million cases of COVID and 253,600 deaths and counting, per the CDC.
A lot of the decisions that people are making now will continue to affect how the virus spreads, but here’s what we know about COVID as we head into Thanksgiving week.
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The CDC’s COVID tracker shows that the majority of cases, hospitalizations and deaths are largely concentrated in the Midwest in states like Wyoming, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Utah, Iowa, and Montana. But almost every single state in the country is seeing an increase of both infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Aside from a handful of states, NPR’s daily state case tracker highlights that there is “unchecked community spread” across the entire U.S.
And while with our last update, there was somewhat of a plateau in deaths, as predicted, the hospitalizations and deaths have finally caught up to the numbers. Across the board, new COVID infections, hospitaliations, and deaths are increasing.
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We won’t sugar coat it: what’s happening with hospitals in many states in the U.S. is not pretty.
The country currently has more patients hospitalized with COVID than ever before, including during case peaks in the spring. Larger cities are facing an influx of patients, but what makes this surge of coronavirus even more frightening is that, as predicted, rural areas are now running up against their healthcare facility capacity.
Rural areas with hospitals that may only have a handful of ICU beds to begin with are being forced to send critically ill patients to other, larger hospitals. But even those hospitals are filling up — and there aren’t enough healthcare staff to keep up. A combination of infections and quarantines along with burnout and fatigue, mean many hospitals are facing dire staffing shortages.
There are nationwide shortages of healthcare workers, even as COVID cases continue to surge. According to data from the Department of Human and Health Services given to Atlantic staff, 22% of hospitals in the U.S. are reporting staff shortages. In some areas of rural America, in fact, the situation is so dire that hospitals are begging the public for help. Goshen Health in Indiana, for instance, put out a public plea on Facebook asking for anyone with a healthcare background or medical training to help them get through their current crisis. As past data has shown, the trend for COVID tends to follow a predictable pattern: an increase in cases means an increase in hospitalizations two weeks later. And that means, with COVID infections increasing daily, hospital needs and staffing shortages are likely to only increase in the coming weeks.
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The sudden surge of COVID cases in combination with healthcare staff themselves being sick or quarantined has led to a huge increase in the demand for travel nurses. As some sources are reporting, the demand for travel nurses is unparalleled and hospitals are paying some of the steepest rates ever seen.
ICU travel nurse positions are especially in demand and overall rates for travel nurse wages are up nearly 28%, according to NurseFly. Some hospitals have had to convert non-ICU floors to ICUs to keep up with the patient surge and need trained staff who can work in an ICU setting.
Frankly, travel nursing rates are the highest in years. And while that may be a good thing for any travel nurses looking to build income, it bodes badly for hospitals. Currently, based on researching travel nursing job boards, the states and positions with the highest pay rates are:
Pennsylvania: over $8K/weekly for ICU
Maryland: over $8K/weekly for ICU
North Dakota: over $8K/weekly for ICU
New Mexico: over $7K/weekly for ICU, Telemetry and Med/Surg
Minnesota: over $7K/weekly for ICU
Texas: $7K/weekly for ICU
Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Wisconsin: Between $5-6K/weekly for ICU, Med/Surg and Telemetry
Health experts across the board are predicting patient numbers will only increase as year end approaches and in combination with pre-scheduled staff time off for the holidays, cold weather and indoor gatherings, chances are that hospitals will continue to rely on travel nurses to staff their facilities.
So, if you’re interested in taking a short-term travel nursing position and are willing to work a COVID unit, there has never been a more lucrative time to take a travel nursing position than right now.
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The upcoming flu season has the potential to be one of the most important and potentially deadliest in recent history because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
With COVID case numbers on the rise across the country, preparing for this winter is even more important than ever. There is an ever-increasing need to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses and a push for vaccination. It’s interesting to note that most healthcare systems are not currently accepting flu vaccine waivers and are requiring all employees to receive a flu vaccine.
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While impossible to determine how severe the flu season will be, coupled with the ongoing pandemic, travel nursing could very likely be affected again. During the first wave of the pandemic, hospitals stopped all elective surgeries and saw a decrease in inpatient hospitalizations. Travel nursing was more or less halted since March.
Thousands of travel nurses across the country were laid off and contracts were canceled. COVID-19 hotspots brought in crisis travel nurses for temporary assignments while staff nurses throughout the country were without work.
It’s impossible to determine exactly how COVID and the flu season will continue to affect travel nursing but it is safe to say travel nurses will continue to adapt to the ever-changing environment. With so many unknowns, it is essential that travel nurses secure assignments as soon as possible. It is harder for a hospital to cancel a contract once it has started than to cancel a contract that hasn’t started yet.
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Hospitals have learned from the first COVID surge the resources needed to survive another wave of COVID. Healthcare systems are taking into account flu season as well to determine the needs of the different units. Anticipated needs are currently driving the openings for travel nurses and they will fill quickly. Travel nurses can expect to see shorter length contracts, for 6 or 8 weeks, versus the traditional 13-week contracts. Furthermore, hospitals are currently less likely to extend contracts early as needs are constantly changing. Travel nurses are not only filling the void to cover the influx of sick patients but also to fill gaps in staffing when permanent staff are out sick or on quarantine.
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In order for travel nurses to continue to find assignments, it is important more than ever to prevent getting sick or spreading germs to others. These recommendations are more important than ever due to COVID-19 and the upcoming flu season. The CDC recommends nurses and their patients:
The aftermath of this pandemic and flu season will only continue to highlight the need for nurses and the predicted shortage. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing predicts that there will be a need for 203,700 new nurses each year through 2026. This figure was determined before the pandemic and the stress COVID and the flu season are taking on healthcare providers. Travel nurses will continue to fill these needs.
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Here are the latest COVID updates for travel nurses as this past weekend saw one record-breaking day after another for the number of virus infections. As USA Today reports, the U.S. saw 126,742 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, which marked the third day in a row that the total exceeded 126,000.
Remember the days when we held our breath as the entire country reached 100,000? Good times. Now, the U.S. has a total of 9.8 million cases and collectively, the world’s infection rate is about to break the 50 million mark.
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Many states in the Midwest have been hit the hardest by this “second wave” of corona (although experts disagree if it truly is a second wave, or just the same first wave, continuing running its course). According to USA Today, North Dakota in particular has been very hard hit, reporting a death rate of 41 deaths for every 100,000 people, which is the highest of any state in the entire country.
Overall, infections have exploded and death rates — while lower than they were in the spring — appear to be on a steady climb upwards again. As of right now, the states that are being monitored for fast growth (meaning they reported more cases in the past 7 days than in the preceding week, indicating higher community spread) are:
NPR’s daily state case tracker, which tracks the highest risk areas right now in the country — meaning 25 or more daily new positive tests, indicating uncontrolled community spread — lists these states as the highest-risk states right now:
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Now that flu season is officially underway, the CDC has begun reporting all respiratory-related hospitalizations and mortality data, together. Their chart lists three different-colored lines for pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19, or PIC for short.
In their summary, they explain that while infections across the board are increasing, doctor visits and urgent-care visits have remained relatively stable. However, hospitalizations for adults aged 18 years and older are up. And death rates attributed to PIC causes in the last week were actually down slightly (8.1% in week 44 compared to 11.8% in week 43), but still above epidemic threshold numbers.
So, what does all of that mean? It means that at the hospital level, healthcare workers can expect to see what could very well be ever-increased hospitalizations, but hopefully less deaths, if the numbers stay the same as they have been. However, the CDC and pretty much every single health expert ever continues to warn us to be cautious, as winter and more severe weather could negatively impact those numbers too.
And like in real estate, location matters too. Some rural hospitals in high-risk states, such as Michigan, are bracing for potential impact from an increase in severe COVID-19 cases, because even small numbers could be devastating. For instance, one hospital in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan reported waiting six months just for disposable gloves that they needed–and with only six ICU beds, they are fearing for what could happen if their community gets hit with an influx of patients needing more intensive care.
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As the pandemic continues on in the U.S., the effects on the nursing workforce will become increasingly apparent.
On one hand, there has been an unfortunate increase in the nursing shortage that has already plagued the healthcare world. Many hospitals across the country are seeing a high number of staff nurses leaving their positions due to burnout, exhaustion, their own health needs or family responsibilities that may require them to be home more with their children. Some nurses were even laid off by hospitals during pandemic-related financial strains, and have elected not to return to work at all, or have found different employment.
And while a mass exodus of staff nurses is definitely not good for anyone, on the other hand, it does mean that the opportunity for travel nursing will only increase. Especially for travel nurses who have speciality experience, COVID-19 care experience, or are simply well-versed in the unique challenges that travel nursing can entail (hello, moving cross-country with a day’s notice!), the demand may be especially high. Things could also change significantly next year, as President-Elect Joe Biden has sworn to create a dedicated COVID-19 task force, which could affect nursing opportunities.
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As of right now, the most in-demand specialities seem to be for travel nurses with ICU, MICU, ER, telemetry, and general Med/Surg experience.
Illinois seems to have a lot of needs at the moment, with many different openings, so if the Windy City is on your list, you may want to look into a position there.
Currently, based on researching travel nursing job boards, the states and positions with the highest pay rates are:
Remember, the nature of the game with travel nursing — and even more so in a pandemic — is that things can change very quickly, so be sure to keep your eyes peeling for new updates and job postings if you’re looking to take on a travel nursing assignment in the near future.
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These travel nursing specialties remain in demand as COVID-19 continues to impact healthcare in the United States. And while the initial panic has quelled, the hard truth is that the overall infection rates have not. According to the most recent data, new infection rates are actually rising in the United States — which means that travel nurses may be seeing a new surge in demand all over again this fall.
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No one can completely predict what the novel coronavirus will do this fall, but public health experts are definitely cautious.
Factors such as other competing viruses (including seasonal flu), more people gathering indoors thanks to cold weather, holiday travel, and of course, in-person school starting in many states could all play a role in driving infections up again.
Europe has already declared that it is seeing a second wave of coronavirus and some areas have implemented restrictions. Israel, for instance, has imposed a second national lockdown in an attempt to stop the infection from spreading and after seeing a rise in infections allegedly driven by younger people, Italy has closed dance venues and nightclubs.
And while we can’t predict exactly what will happen with COVID-19 in the fall and winter months, what we know about how viruses work in the colder seasons definitely points to infection rates spiking and symptoms potentially becoming more severe. For example, the air is drier in the cold, allowing viruses to travel more easily, people’s immune systems naturally decline slightly in the winter, and there just isn’t as much to do outdoors, driving more people to gather inside without fresh air.
There are also additional considerations, such as that depression tends to increase in colder months, people may be fatigued over restrictions, and chronic health conditions that have been neglected as a result of people not seeking care during the pandemic may start to add up.
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All that to say: we don’t exactly know what travel nursing jobs will be in high demand this fall, but based on what we already know about the coronavirus and what is likely to happen, here are some of the specialties you can expect to be needed.
Interestingly enough, case management has been a rising specialty in the middle of the pandemic. There are different aspects to case management, but in general, they have been more in-demand as patient cases have become more complex due to pandemic restrictions. For instance, a case manager might be needed to help patients and families navigate health crises when no visitors are allowed in a hospital. Or, patients who will be going home with ongoing medical needs may require additional assistance navigating virtual appointments or finding services.
We’ve seen travel nursing positions around the $2.5K/week wage in Wisconsin, and some of the areas of the country that have been hit by wildfire as well have been reporting new needs for case management travel nurses. And in some areas of the country, there are also opportunities for remote case managers, so ironically, your next travel nursing position may not even require travel.
In general, demand tends to be high for ICU and MICU travel nurses because ICU is a specialty that’s always needed — and in a pandemic, can change in an instant.
California has openings for night shift general ICU/MICU travel nurses in the $5.5K/week range, while Oklahoma is offering day shift for around $4.7K/week.
We are learning more about how COVID affects the vascular system, and some patients have experienced vascular complications, including blood clots and DVTS. Hemodialysis has been needed for some patients, in addition to regular dialysis patients, and travel nurses are wanted in some states to help meet those needs.
Nurses with hemodialysis experience willing to travel to Massachusetts can get perks such as tuition reimbursement and PTO that can be cashed in for pay. And a bonus: most hemodialysis positions are day shift only if nights just aren’t your thing.
Telemetry is also high in demand, as it’s the first stop for many patients admitted with COVID or COVID-like symptoms for monitoring. In California, telemetry travel RN positions have been seen for as high as $5.5K on night shift and over to the $3K range in Massachusetts right now.
ER positions aren’t as high in-demand at the moment as they were at the height of the pandemic, but there are current positions open in New York for an average of $3K/week, Texas for just over $3.6K/week, and even as far-flung as Missouri, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Oregon, and Illinois for right around the $3K or just under mark. And again, with the fall approaching, especially in eastern states, ER positions could become high in-demand once again.
Louisiana has one of the highest weekly wages for Med-Surg right now, at $4K for a night shift position. Iowa is offering $3.7K/week, and Missouri, Connecticut, and South Dakota all have around $3K/week openings currently as well.
One aspect of medicine that is not affected by a global pandemic? Having babies. And in fact, if you do your math, you may predict that the months of December and January may just see a baby boom as a result of that extra time at home starting in March. Massachusetts has openings for $3.7K/week, while New York is offering $3/5K/week.
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As we have learned, the data with COVID-19 infections is constantly changing. There has even been a report of the first reinfection in the U.S., which is news that we definitely don’t need, but there you have it. So one of the hardest parts for hospitals is being ready for what the numbers will look like in two weeks from no — not just right now.
The virus carries an approximately 2-week incubation period, as well as a sometimes delayed onset of more serious symptoms that could require hospitalization, so new infections today could turn into new hospitalizations in weeks or even months from now.
That means that if you are considering a travel nursing position for the fall, it is best to be prepared. Especially if you have a specialty skill or experience in one of the in-demand positions, it’s a good idea to update your resume, speak with your nursing recruiter, and let them know what areas you are interested in getting hired in. You’ll also want to be sure you have your compact nursing license ready-to-go in case you decide to work in a state that allows it.
Additionally, if you are interested in expanding your skillset to one of the more in-demand specialties, now is a good time to pursue certification in those areas so you can add that to your travel nursing resume. More specialization means more money when it comes to travel nursing jobs, so follow your passion so you can give back and take care of your patients while reaching your highest potential. Talk to a recruiter about available assignments for your specialty.
