Nursing and Economy

[CBartley123]

I found this in the "Travel Nurses talk to Travelers" area and wanted to comment.

stellar
Member


Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 49 Re: travel and the econony

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I recently stumbled across another nursing site and was very dismayed to read some of the posts. There were the standard glowing articles about how nursing will withstand everything, but then there are the anecdotals of seasoned travel nurses who say things like, "It is the worst [they] have seen in 12 years of travel nursing." It basically seems like a ripple effect. Fewer elective surgeries was a consistent remark, leading to lower census. Fear in the general public and so per diem nurses locally are taking permanent positions, or their spouses have been laid off such as three of my current coworkers, or they need to supplement thier income and so they are working tons of overtime and the need for travelers decreases. And then there is the push from management to get permanent staff and to cut travelers, all of which seem to be lowering the requests for travelers. Where it goes from here I think is anybody's guess, but to suggest that the above dynamics will not effect traveling, at least in the short term, like 6-12 months, is myopic IMHO. My feeling is you are taking a risk to leave a permanent job right now, but each person has to decide how much of a risk they are comfortable with.

I am beginning to hear this more an more all over the counrty. From a recruitment standpoint, it seems like career suicide to decide to work PRN right now. As the above momber wrote, with the census dropping everywhere and full timers picking up overtime, nurses working PRN seem to only work a handful of full shifts per month. I wanted to introduce this to a new forum to see if I could get some other perspectives.

[chickpea49]

I decided to celebrate finishing my MSN by getting out of the cold with a travel assignment this January - this decision was made in July.

Because I am an ethical professional, I gave my boss plenty of notice. How I wish I were like everyone else and waited to give notice until I had another job. Unfortunately it's just not in me to leave my employer in a lurch.

My last official shift is Saturday (my boss was gracious and is allowing me to remain pool - but obviously no guaranteed hours) and I have not had even one interview for a travel position.


So yes, I agree. Going pool/per diem while the economy (or at least the public perception of the economy, fueled by the media) is going south is probably not the best thing to do.

Still hoping for a travel assignment, but interviewing for local positions as a back up.

[AmandaWIRN]

Per diem may not be a good idea, but with travel, if you are flexible on where you're willing to go (location-wise), you are guaranteed your contracted hours, so, unlike per diem or regular staff, you cannot be low-censused...

[chickpea49]

Just an update - did finally get a decent-paying travel position and then other options started to present themselves. Still pretty minimal per diem hours in my area (Milwaukee), though.

[stellar]

I wrote that original quoted post, and I have only heard more of the same, both in posts and private emails since, and all of them came from seasoned travelers. I think flexible seems to be taking any assignment out there, in any state/city, in any unit, with little leverage to negotiate, which negates a lot of the lure of travel nursing, to me anyway. I am hanging onto my current job for a few more months, or at least until I can see a definite pattern of where this is going. I do think there are still jobs out there, and travel nursing is a viable options (for the brave at heart,) I just want to wait it out a bit for now, and believe me I am so disappointed!

[AmandaWIRN]

Originally Posted by stellar

I wrote that original quoted post, and I have only heard more of the same, both in posts and private emails since, and all of them came from seasoned travelers. I think flexible seems to be taking any assignment out there, in any state/city, in any unit, with little leverage to negotiate, which negates a lot of the lure of travel nursing, to me anyway. I am hanging onto my current job for a few more months, or at least until I can see a definite pattern of where this is going. I do think there are still jobs out there, and travel nursing is a viable options (for the brave at heart,) I just want to wait it out a bit for now, and believe me I am so disappointed!

my next assignment starts next week, I told my recruiter I wanted to go to Texas, and I am on my way to San Antonio. If I had limited myself to a specific city in Texas, it might have been more difficult. But there ARE plenty of travel assignments to be had.... I've been traveling for over 2 years and have yet to be unable to find an assignment in the general area I wanted to go to.