If you are in the healthcare field, you may have met a travel nurse. If so, they know the struggles in the medical field and how they and their travel nurse colleagues help to solve daily problems in healthcare. From talent shortages to the need for specialized skills in healthcare to desiring a work-life balance, receiving help from a travel nurse agency can yield satisfied temporary workers who may eventually become your full-time employees.
Travel nurses have become more prominent, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. NBC News revealed that there were 50,000 travel nurses in the nation in January 2021. That professional pool nearly doubled to 100,000 travel nurses, maybe even beyond that estimate at the height of COVID-19’s spread.
What is the exact role of travel nurses? When and why should you consider them for your healthcare hiring practices? Don’t forget your stethoscope for this next travel gig down a knowledgeable road as we explore how travel nurses can prevent staffing heartburn and keep your patients healthier than ever!
What Is the Role Of a Travel Nurse?
A travel nurse does so much more than fill available shifts in healthcare organizations. They are pivotal members of a temporary medical staffing strategy that can bring your medical business to new heights.
Travel nurses are responsible for providing direct patient care. By checking their vitals, administering medications, and helping patients with daily activities, these nurses are at the forefront of patient care in any healthcare setting.
The best travel nurses adapt to their current company’s intended protocols and procedures for providing the highest–quality care for patients. Technologies within their current staffing role may be a bit different from their prior gig, which is another important element in which they must adapt to excel in their new role.
Members of a travel nurse agency must continuously collaborate with their clients to meet the utmost standards in delivering patient-centric care during their temporary tenure. Besides providing the care and treatment needed for various ailments, travel nurses should also engage in thorough patient education. Answer all their questions as professionally and thoroughly as possible. What is the condition? What are the symptoms? Is there a way to recover from this condition? What are the treatment options? Travel nurses should be especially patient with individuals who are first learning about their diagnosis and those with many questions. Patience is essential for empathetic and positive patient outcomes.
When To Consider a Travel Nurse
Now that you know more about the role of a travel nurse, here are the instances when you should consider onboarding one for your healthcare organization.
Staffing Shortages
Staffing shortages are the norm in the healthcare industry because of increased patients to care for, a demanding fast-paced work environment, and potential employee burnout from long hours on the clock. A swift medical staffing solution is partnering with a staffing agency that can connect you with quality talent in the nursing field.
A local health crisis such as a natural disaster or pandemic can increase patient demand. Therefore, more medical personnel would be needed to meet this patient demand so everyone is cared for accordingly. Staffing shortages can also happen from routine turnover in a healthcare organization. If multiple nurses are on family leave or a vacation, enlisting the help of a travel nurse agency can help your medical business stay on track during these professionals’ absences.
Specialized Skills
Depending on your healthcare organization’s average patient profile, you may need nurses with specialized skills to treat clients. For example, an understaffed pediatric ICU practice will need specialized travel nurses with a pediatric nursing background.
Seasonal Demands
During the fall and winter when illnesses are more prominent around the flu season, patient demand will increase. Travel nurses can fill the gap in staffing when there are more patients to treat. A travel nurse agency may also be needed during the summer months when full-time personnel want to take personal vacations and there needs to be someone to fill the void while they are absent.
Project-Based Needs
Healthcare organizations with special projects occurring may need the help of travel nurses to guide them during the transition. For example, if your healthcare organization is adding new treatment services, travel nurses may be needed to assist with increased patient demand. If a medical organization is upgrading its technologies, travel nurses may also be needed to handle patients as full-time staff become accustomed to the new platforms.
Benefits Of Using Travel Nurses
There are many benefits of aligning travel nurses into your recruitment strategy. We highlight a few of these benefits below.
Flexibility
Instituting a temporary healthcare setting has a certain note of flexibility about it. Having travel nurses enter the organization assists with operational efficiency so patient care is prioritized without compromising care quality.
Cost-Effective
Rather than spending so much on recruitment for a part-time or full-time nurse, you can quickly choose from a pool of temporary nurse practitioner candidates to fill your open position immediately. Since you are temporarily employing these travel nurses, you will not have to distribute any benefits packages as they are not full-time employees. Hence, this saves your healthcare organization money so it can increase its profits.
Reduced Burnout
Full-time and part-time staff affiliated with healthcare organizations will not feel as much burnout because of travel nurses helping out. Rather than having an existing employee take over more shifts and increase overtime costs, keep pay at a reasonable level by bringing in travel nurses to work after full-time employees leave.
Conclusion
The recruitment strategy of incorporating a travel nurse agency will only expand in the healthcare industry. As patient demand grows and medical talent shortages continue, healthcare staffing agencies may be the new norm for handling unexpected issues with medical employment efficiency. Travel nurses have the adaptability, technical skills, and soft skills necessary to deliver the best patient care in any healthcare organization they are called to service!
