Travel nurses can’t get the same pay at home as their jobs on the road.
Sara Dean of Mt. Nursing is Sara Dean’s second career. Tenn. Dean loved Juliet’s work at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital. The pandemic struck and she realized how much nurses were being paid to travel — up to $10,000 per week.
That’s a truly life-changing number. Dean, 38, said that this number can help you pay off your debt and move out of grandma’s basement. I’m not saying that we were in financial difficulties. We were a household of two incomes. But we made ends meet.”
She took a three-month leave from her job at the hospital and signed her first contract for New Mexico. Her immediate family joined her. Her boyfriend could work remotely, and her daughter was in virtual schools. They enjoyed riding dirt bikes in the desert, and Dean eventually left her home job to follow COVID hotspots across the country. Dean was earning more than $200 an hour in overtime and was saving the lives of COVID patients 60 hours per week. But it was their cheerleading that brought them back.
A recent weekday afternoon saw Dean shout up the stairs at Harper, her 12-year-old daughter, while mixing a protein shake. They were heading out of the house for offseason tumble practice. Harper was practicing her back handspring for next season.
Harper said that she didn’t have many friends and was eager to return home. Harper said, “I miss being surrounded by other people all the time.
It was impossible to imagine the money before. It was not worth the risk. Harper is Dean’s ultimate boss.
Dean states, “She’s that one who says, “No more traveling…I want home.” But that puts me in a difficult position.”
The pandemic proved just how important highly-trained nurses can be.
Travelling nurses are being paid several times more than their regular wages by hospitals to fill in the staffing gaps. The southeast has the highest turnover rate with nearly one-fourth of RNs leaving each year.
Many hospitals are reluctant to hire local nurses, even though they need them. They would prefer that those RNs accept full-time jobs. Full-time pay is not as high as the $120 per hour earned by travelers, although it is marginally more.
Dean said, “It makes me sound like i’m in this for the money. But essentially, I’m here for my family.”
Hospitals are looking for ways to avoid relying on staffing agencies. The American Hospital Association has accused them of price gouging during this pandemic. Although the AHA requested that the Federal Trade Commission investigate the matter, a spokesperson for FTC stated that no investigation has been made.
Vivian Health, an online marketplace that offers travel nursing jobs, tracks the national pay rates and provides information about available salaries. The tech company, based in San Francisco, also assists hospitals who want to reduce their dependence on temporary staffing. Parth Bhakta, CEO of the tech company, stated that this will mean paying more full-time employees.
He says, “You’re stuck kind of between rock and hard place.” “I believe that ultimately health systems must figure out how to retain their employees more and eventually, possibly, have to pay or incentivize more of their existing staff.”
Full-time opportunities are increasing. Hospitals are offering temporary positions that allow nurses to travel and work as if they were in a foreign country. In some areas, bonuses have become a standard for new hires.
Julie Hamm, president, Tennessee Nurses Association, says, “We are actually seeing an extremely, very good labor force for nurses with upwards $15,000 to $20,000 signing-on bonuses for nurses almost everywhere you look around Nashville,”
The average pay increase for full-time nurses last year was just 4%, which is slightly less than the national average. Sara Dean says that a $20,000 bonus is not as generous when a nurse is used to earning $8,000- $10,000 per week.
This is why she and the other pandemic travellers face such a difficult transition.
Dean has money saved up from her travels, so she can be more selective about her next job. She’s also making the most of her downtime, whether it be spending Christmas in New York City with her daughter or cheering on her preteen cheer practice.
She’s also been working part-time at a local wellness spa that provides rejuvenating IVs. Hospitals are experiencing burnout like never before. This year, an estimated half million nurses will leave the hospital.
Dean stated, “It’s refreshing to do preventative healthcare.” “I have been doing nothing but death and the dying for the past two years.”