Travel Jobs: Where Travelers Applied In Sept., Oct. Market Predictions
October is a crucial month for the travel healthcare staffing industry as a whole. For staffing agencies, it marks the beginning of the busiest month of the year as healthcare providers recruit temporary staff at breakneck speeds. For healthcare providers, October is the final push to find as many quality temporary workers as possible to help carry operations through at least February. As a result, the last two weeks of September ramped up sharply in job board activity leading into October, mostly affecting states that are popular destinations for snowbird travelers who head for warm weather locations like Florida, Arizona and California. The record-breaking impact of Hurricane Florence also provided an unexpected boon for travel nurse needs in North Carolina, as hospitals located away from the coastline needed help dealing with the increased patient census due to hurricane evacuees. Travel healthcare jobs October 2018 In short, we expect the travel healthcare market and job board activity to remain red-hot throughout most of October, with the potential for a slight dip at the end of the month as less new needs hit the market. Most of the market activity is expected to be driven by core specialties—for travel nurses, this means a high number of medical-surgical, telemetry and ICU will be available. We are also starting to see a noticeable increase in OR job needs in the market, which is part of the expected year-end rush for scheduled elective surgeries. While most of the hospitals near the North Carolina coast have reopened in the weeks following Hurricane Florence, there is still a heavy demand for travel nurses in Charlotte and Wilmington, according to staffing agency sources. States that were popular in September will continue to remain popular this month, including California, Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Tennessee and parts of Texas. This is a result of the regular “snowbird” traveler migration and because most of those locations—excluding California—are often the first places affected by high levels of flu activity early in the season. At the same time, northern states will also see an increase in job needs as they will look to fill vacancies left by snowbird travelers. Some of those areas include Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Maine. Hospitals in northern states will also typically increase bill rates for travel contracts during this time to entice recruiters to submit quality candidates who will stay through the winter, which can translate into higher pay packages depending on what agencies travelers use. This mostly applies to the coldest areas like Michigan, Wisconsin and Maine, and not so much for winter tourist destinations like Colorado or Utah. Core specialties are expected to be the most in-demand. For travel nurses, this means medical-surgical, telemetry, and ICU. We also expect to see an increasing amount of OR job needs, as more elective surgeries take place during the end of the year. Let’s take a closer look at what we learned from the StaffDNA job board about where travelers applied in September. Michigan, Missouri enter the Top 10 Michigan jumped eight ranks from August to September, moving from No. 17 to No. 9. Missouri made a smaller climb of three ranks to take the No. 3 spot. We may see both states retain their top 10 status as winter approaches. Of the two, Missouri is most likely to drop in total traveler applications in October. The late-August hiring surge in St. Louis may have been a factor in the increase of applications for September, but we expect it to at least hang around the top 20 states for October. September’s Top Markets California Florida Texas North Carolina Georgia Pennsylvania Arizona Tennessee Michigan Missouri Virginia South Carolina Indiana West Virginia Wisconsin Arkansas Kentucky Iowa Nevada Oklahoma Maine Idaho New Mexico Oregon Hawaii Colorado Washington Ohio Illinois Alabama Alaska Massachusets Maryland Connecticut Kansas New Jersey Louisiana Minnesota Wyoming Montana New Hampshire New York Washington D.C. Mississippi North Dakota Nebraska Rhode Island South Dakota Vermont Delaware Utah
Michigan Medicine, Nurses Union Members Reach Tentative Agreement
Michigan Medicine and nurses with the University of Michigan Professional Nurses Council (UMPNC) reached a tentative three-year contract agreement last Friday, according to a UMPNC press release. “Details of the tentative agreement will be discussed at membership meetings, and nurses will have the final say through a ratification vote,” Katie Oppenheim, nurse and chair of the Michigan Nurses Association, said in the press release. “Our bargaining team is recommending this agreement because it will allow nurses to continue to provide world-class care. We are proud of our nurses and their ongoing dedication to patients.” UMPNC is an affiliate of the Michigan Nurses Association and represents more than 5,700 nurses at University of Michigan Health System facilities. More than 4,000 of those members voted in September to authorize their bargaining team to implement a three-day hospital strike if an agreement could not be made. David Spahlinger, M.D., president of the University of Michigan Health System and executive vice dean for clinical affairs of the University of Michigan Medical School, said the system is pleased they could reach this agreement. “Reaching a resolution is the best possible outcome for our hospital employees, our patients and our community,” Spahlinger said in a press release. “We all care deeply about our patients and our top priority is to ensure our patients receive the highest quality of care. We know families and patients choose Michigan Medicine because of our devoted teams of faculty and staff, including our excellent nurses. We are eager to move forward together.” Full details of the agreement will be discussed at UMPNC member meetings, and a ratification vote is scheduled from October 7-10, according to the UMPNC website.
Travel Market: Florida Sees Wave Of New Jobs In September
Want to find positions in Florida now? Click here to check out the most recent posts on the StaffDNA job board. Most veteran recruiters know that Florida is a juggernaut state for travel healthcare staffing. The Sunshine State utilizes more travelers than most states, in part because of heavy winter seasonal needs. Those job needs have come back in force in the last few weeks of September, according to staffing industry sources. David Kinslow, a senior client advisor for LiquidAgents Healthcare, said he’s aware of more than 140 new jobs in the state, an increase of 80 compared to August. Agencies have anticipated this spike in job needs for several weeks. Florida ranks third in the country for most hospitals statewide according to American Hospital Directory data, and many of those facilities start recruiting for winter in late September and early October. Along with other southern states like Texas and New Mexico, Florida is a large target for “snowbirds” seeking warm weather for winter contracts. This could mean the job market will continue to ramp up through December, eventually cooling down by next January. For travelers who are interested in Florida, here are some things you should consider before working in the state this winter. 1. Florida became a nursing compact state this year Florida joined the enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact in January, so nurses who have their compact license can now work in the state and don’t have to apply for a single-state license. This only applies to nurses, so allied healthcare travelers will still have to get a single-state license. Click here to see a map of states who have joined the enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact. 2. Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) uses a lot of travelers HCA is one of the largest private health systems in Florida with 50 hospitals and 31 surgery centers across the state, according to their website, and many HCA-associated facilities use a large number of travelers, according to staffing industry sources. This is good news for travelers who want some variety when picking a location, as HCA-affiliated hospitals are located in almost all major cities in the state. 3. Depending on location, cost-of-living in Florida is pretty cheap According to our Travel Nursing Pay Package Ranking List, Florida has a 99.7 rating on the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity index, which means the state is almost exactly at the national average for prices on housing, gas and other goods. However, the state average is largely affected by Miami, which is significantly more expensive than most other cities in the state. When looking at other locations like Tallahassee, Tampa or Orlando, prices drop to 5 percent or more below the national average. This is mostly because of dirt cheap rent and housing costs, which is great for travelers hoping to pocket extra money from agency housing stipends. Florida is also peppered with temporary vacation homes and seasonal vacancies, so finding proper short-term housing may be easier than in other states. 4. Expect fierce competition Just because there are lots of job opportunities in Florida doesn’t mean travelers can apply to jobs at their leisure. Hospitals in major “snowbird” states are looking to fill jobs fast, and agencies will send in qualified candidates even faster. Speed and efficiency are key to locking down a solid Florida contract, so travelers who are flexible on location and who can quickly produce necessary compliance docs will have the edge over others. 5. Beware of January pre-books David Kinslow, a senior client advisor at LiquidAgents Healthcare, said travelers should be wary about pre-booking Florida jobs with January start dates. Census numbers may not be high enough to warrant a high number of travelers, so January contracts could be canceled before the start date. While no one can perfectly predict how healthcare needs will change in the state once winter hits, it’s still safer to book early and ride out a fall contract through the winter than hope for needs to stay consistent.
Hurricane Florence Shifts Demand Inland for North Carolina Travel Nurses
Update, 9:35 a.m. CST, Sept. 21, 2018 More open positions were made available in Charlotte, North Carolina to help deal with Hurricane Florence evacuee patient loads, according to information from industry sources. At least 40 open positions are available in the area for travel nurses. Most of the requested positions are for medical-surgical and telemetry travel nurses, but there are still labor and delivery spots available. Travelers can view North Carolina opportunities on the StaffDNA job board here >> Original story, posted at 9:43 a.m. CST, Sept. 19, 2018 North Carolina is a consistently popular state for travel healthcare professionals—it regularly ranks among the top 10 most applied-to states every month and has a wide variety of job opportunities through most seasons. However, the devastation from Hurricane Florence this weekend forced several coastal hospital locations to close entirely and evacuate patients inland, meaning travel nurse job opportunities have followed suit. “With the flooding…hospitals have been closed down close to Wilmington,” said Kelsey Moena, a client advisor for staffing agency LiquidAgents Healthcare. “They are not bringing in (travel nurse) candidates because you can’t even get to the hospitals.” Thousands of patients and healthcare providers evacuated early last week to avoid the storm, while a limited number of staff and hospitals in evacuation zones were granted mandatory evacuation exemption waivers and stayed behind to keep emergency centers open. Multiple facilities in the Cape Fear Valley Health System remained closed or had delayed opening on Wednesday from flooding and power outages, according to a press release. Several outpatient facilities associated with New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington opened Wednesday, but other facilities including Pender Memorial Hospital, NHRMC Orthopedic Hospital, and NHRMC ED-North remained closed, according to the hospital’s website. Because of these closures, travel nurse needs have shifted west towards the inland hub of Charlotte. Carolinas Medical Center recently posted at least 20 needs for travel nurses to help with new patient loads from the storm, according to industry sources. The hospital is primarily looking for medical-surgical, telemetry and labor and deliver travel nurses. Find travel nurse opportunities in Charlotte, NC >> Travelers who can’t make it to North Carolina but still want to help can donate to ongoing disaster relief efforts by clicking here. Closed Cape Fear Valley Health System facilities include: Bladen Medical Associates – Bladenboro Bladen Medical Associates – Dublin Bladen Medical Associates – White Lake Bladen Medical Associates – Clarkton Cape Fear Valley Primary Care at Lumberton QuikCare at Robeson Cape Fear Valley Foot & Ankle – Lumberton and Laurinburg offices Cape Fear Valley Podiatry’s Lumberton office Bladen Physical Therapy Cape Fear Valley Rehabilitation Center’s Outpatient Pediatric Physical Therapy All other Cape Fear Valley clinics are open, but Cape Fear Valley Diagnostic Center will open at 7 a.m. and HealthPlex will open at 8 a.m.
Hurricane Florence By The Numbers
While the remains of Hurricane Florence, now a tropical depression, makes its way northeast, residents, disaster relief workers and state officials in North Carolina and South Carolina are left to deal with the impact. Several government agencies and outside interest groups have released preliminary estimates of the damage done by the storm, as well as the level of support provided to evacuees. We’ve gathered the most notable information below and plan to update the data if final tallies are confirmed. You can find online relief resources and ways to help those affected by the storm by clicking here. Estimated Damage Storm-Related Fatalities: 33 North Carolina: 26 South Carolina: 6 Virginia: 1 317,849 customers without power in North Carolina (as of Sept. 18) Closed Roads: 1,200 in North Carolina 1/4 of North Carolina’s tobacco crops damaged 63,000 gallons of untreated wastewater flowed from a sewer main in Greensboro Damage To Homes, Businesses, Infrastructure: $16-20 billion Relief Response U.S. Coast Guard Total Rescues: 426 people and 234 pets (As of Sept. 17) Number of Coast Guard responders: More than 3,000 Shallow-water Rescue boat teams: 35 deployed to North Carolina Helicopter Rescue Crews deployed: 9 North Carolina Response Swift Water Rescues: 2,600* Swift Water Rescues (Pets): 578* Number of National Guard members activated: 2,800 NC Department of Transportation employees responding: 2,100 * Numbers include best estimates of state and federally-conducted rescues as of Sept. 18. Numbers only denote people who were saved by boat or helicopter, not those escorted to safety, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety website. American Red Cross Total Evacuees In Shelters: 14,000* Number of Available Shelters: More than 200* Red Cross Worker Response: 1,500* Emergency Vehicles Deployed: 80* Trailers w/ Emergency Equipment & Supplies: More than 120* Meals and Snacks Served: More than 4,500* Weather Alerts Sent via Red Cross Apps: 1.8 million* * As of Wednesday, Sept. 12, according to FEMA data. Storm Strength Highest Recorded Rainfall (North Carolina): 35.93 inches in Swansboro, North Carolina. (New state record, also broke the record for 2-day and 3-day rainfall totals statewide) Highest Recorded Rainfall (South Carolina): 23.81 inches in Loris, South Carolina (Heaviest rainfall from a tropical storm in state’s history) Highest Predicted River Crest From Flooding: 61.8 feet along Cape Fear River in Fayetteville, North Carolina Hurricane Florence among top 10 most costly hurricanes in U.S. history
Hurricane Florence: Online Resources And How To Help
Hurricane Florence was one of the worst storms ever to hit the North Carolina and South Carolina coastline, causing an estimated $17 billion in damages and displacing hundreds of thousands of residents. Disaster relief workers are helping residents pick up the pieces, but there are still ways those outside of the area can help. We’ve compiled a list of online resources that travelers and local residents can use to stay informed and safe during this crisis, as well as how they can help aid disaster relief efforts. We will update this list with new information whenever possible. Click here for our other Hurricane Florence story, which has regular updates about the storm and how state officials and hospitals are responding. Hurricane Safety Checklist Places to Donate or Volunteer Find/Provide Free Disaster Relief Temporary Housing Free Data Recovery For Damaged Computers Free Telehealth Services for Disaster Patients Hurricane Safety Checklist Regardless of where you are located or if you’re working at a hospital during the storm, your first priority is to have a disaster plan in place to protect yourself and your family in a time of crisis. The American Red Cross has provided a hurricane safety checklist that has everything you can do to prepare for the storm and respond to the aftermath. We’ve provided a PDF of the checklist below, but you can also download or view it here: Hurricane Checklist Where You Can Donate and Volunteer American Red Cross The American Red Cross, which will respond to a majority of the crisis areas affected by Hurricane Florence, is currently accepting donations. Donate to American Red Cross here >> Americares Americares is based out of the U.S. but also responds to international crisis areas. They are gathering resources and supplies to support Hurricane Florence relief efforts. Donate to Americares here >> National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) NVOAD is currently accepting donations for Hurricane Florence relief efforts. They have also compiled a list of places where you can connect with volunteer organizations on the ground if you want to directly assist. Find more information or donate here >> Free Temporary Housing (To Use Or Provide) Airbnb Open Homes The Airbnb Open Homes Program is currently providing free temporary housing from Sept. 10 to Oct. 1 for displaced homeowners and relief workers affected by Hurricane Florence. Residents in surrounding areas can also list their homes through the Open Homes program to provide shelter to those in need. If you need to find temporary housing: Create an Airbnb account. Visit this link: https://www.airbnb.com/welcome/evacuees/hurricane-florence-2018 Click the “Find Shelter” button If you want to help provide temporary housing: Create an Airbnb account. Visit this link: https://www.airbnb.com/welcome/evacuees/hurricane-florence-2018 Click the “Sign up your home” button Follow the step-by-step process to place your listing Free Data Recovery TTR Data Recovery, based out of Fairfax, Virginia, is currently offering free data recovery on hard drives and flash media for victims of Hurricane Florence. The company will service any PC owned by users directly affected by the storm and businesses will receive an additional discount, according to their website. Customers may still be responsible for costs of replacement components and shipping, if necessary, and must ship their damaged device no later than Oct. 1. They must also provide proof of residence in South Carolina or North Carolina. For more information on the service, visit their website here: TTR Data Recovery Hurricane Florence Relief Free Telehealth Services These organizations are offering free telehealth services for Hurricane Florence victims, according to Becker’s Hospital Review: Telehealth vendors: American Well MDLive via code “Florence” DoctorOnDemand Teladoc Payers: Anthem via the LiveHealth Online app Capital BlueCross via the Capital BlueCross Virtual Care iOS or Android mobile app Hospitals and health systems: Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina via code “MUSCFLO,” etv reports. Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health Care via code “UNCFLORENCE2018” on the UNC Urgent Care 24/7 app Track Hurricane Florence Google has provided a map tool that will let you actively track Hurricane Florence as it moves through the U.S. You can find critical information, like traffic flow or the locations of evacuation resources, by clicking the “Layers” tab and clicking the checkboxes next to things you want to see on the map. Make sure to refresh the page periodically to see the most up-to-date version of the storm’s movement.
Trying To Protect Seniors, The Most Vulnerable, From Formidable Foe Florence
Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News and JoNel Aleccia, Kaiser Health News and Doug Pardue Perhaps no other population is as vulnerable during a hurricane as frail, older adults, especially those who are homebound or living in nursing homes. With Hurricane Florence predicted to slam the North Carolina coast Friday, health officials are already scrambling to keep older residents safe. Seniors “are not only the most likely to die in hurricanes, but in wildfires and other disasters,” said Dr. Karen DeSalvo, a New Orleans native who served as health commissioner in that city after Hurricane Katrina and went on to be named acting assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services for the Obama administration. “The seniors always seem to bear a big brunt of the storms.” Older people may have a harder time evacuating because they don’t have their own cars or are homebound, said Lauren Sauer, director of operations at the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response in Baltimore. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, an analysis of 986 Louisiana residents who died showed the mean age of victims was 69 and nearly two-thirds were older than 65, DeSalvo said. The dead included 70 people who died in nursing facilities during the storm or just after the storm made landfall. And last year, 12 residents overheated and died at a facility in Hollywood Hills, Fla., in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which knocked out the facility’s air conditioning and the temperature climbed to over 95 degrees. The tragedy led Florida to pass legislation requiring nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have backup generators capable of keeping residents cool. “Unfortunately, the best wake-up call is when a tragedy occurs,” said Dara Lieberman, senior government relations manager at the Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit. “Hopefully, nursing facilities and emergency managers paid attention to the loss of life in the long-term care facility in Florida last year and realize the risks they face by not preparing. Every facility should have a plan.” Some studies suggest communities aren’t much better prepared than in the past, however. A 2018 study from the National Academy of Sciences found that “we are only marginally more prepared to evacuate vulnerable populations now than we were during Hurricane Katrina,” Sauer said. Deciding whether to stay or go can be more complicated than it sounds, said J.T. Clark of the Near Southwest Preparedness Alliance, a coalition of hospitals and other public health services in southwestern Virginia. “There is a risk of moving people and there is a risk of staying in place, and you have to weigh those risks,” Clark said. Evacuations pose a number of dangers for fragile patients, some of whom may need oxygen or intravenous medications, said Sauer. She pointed to a 2017 study that found a sharp increase in mortality among nursing home residents who evacuated because of an emergency, compared with those who sheltered in place. She noted that leaving a facility is only part of the challenge; it can be equally difficult to find a safe place prepared to house evacuated nursing home residents for days at a time, she said. Clark said that nursing homes once commonly assumed they could simply transfer their residents to local hospitals. But that can impair a hospital’s ability to care for people who need emergency and urgent care, he said. Many nursing homes in the Carolinas are evacuating residents to areas outside the storm’s direct path. South Carolina had evacuated 32 nursing homes and assisted-living facilities by Wednesday afternoon, said Randy Lee, president of the South Carolina Health Care Association. On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Sentara Healthcare evacuated 65 residents from a nursing home in Currituck to the company’s medical centers in Hampton Roads, Va., spokesman Dale Gauding said. Hurricane Florence poses risks beyond the coasts, however. Sentara also moved five intensive care patients out of a medical center on the Pasquotank River in Elizabeth City, N.C., because of the risk of flooding. Those patients also went to hospitals in Hampton Roads, Gauding said. With Norfolk, Va., now expected to escape the brunt of the storm, the 88 residents at the Sentara Nursing Center there are sheltering in place, Gauding said. Nursing homes in Charleston, S.C., complied with mandatory evacuation orders, said Kimberly Borts, director of communications and charitable giving for Bishop Gadsden retirement community on Charleston’s James Island. She said the facility conducts annual evacuation drills to continually improve its capability to safely relocate residents and coordinate with the company that provides ambulances. However, Hurricane Florence’s expected landfall caused a slight change in evacuation plans, which were to be completed by Monday, Borts said. The evacuation had to be delayed until Tuesday because the ambulances were diverted to Myrtle Beach, which remained in Hurricane Florence’s sights. As of Wednesday afternoon, New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C., was directly in the storm’s path. But hospital officials view the building as strong enough to withstand the storm, said spokeswoman Carolyn Fisher. They were less confident about a building housing a skilled nursing facility in Pender County, N.C., whose residents are being moved away from the hurricane’s projected course. Senior citizens who live at home are also at risk, especially if they lose electricity. More than 2.5 million Medicare recipients — including 204,000 people in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina — rely on home ventilators, oxygen concentrators, intravenous infusion pumps and other electrically powered devices, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The agency has created a tool called emPOWER 3.0 to help states check up on them. Patients who lose electricity may need to go to their local emergency room to power their medical equipment, said Mary Blunt, senior vice president at Sentara Healthcare in Norfolk, Va., and interim president of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Patients with kidney failure also may need to receive dialysis at the ER if their regular dialysis center is closed, she said. Virginia, North
Mass. Nurses Argue Pros, Cons of Mandated Ratios In Ads For Ballot Initiative
Already know all about Question 1 in Massachusetts? Click here to read about how this could impact travel nursing in the state. Massachusetts nurses are arguing on both sides of the fence in the first wave of TV advertisements about a ballot initiative that would regulate nurse staffing ratios in the state, according to a Boston Globe report. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, which sponsored the initiative, supports the Committee to Ensure Safe Patient Care along with many other local labor unions both in and out of the state. The committee argues that safe staffing ratios in non-ICU units will cut down on patient complications, readmissions, errors and potentially life-threatening risks. The Coalition To Protect Patient Safety, an anti-initiative group backed by state hospital groups and local chambers of commerce, argue that adopting a rigid proposal will “take decision-making power out of the hands of healthcare professionals” and negatively impact hospital costs and quality of care. While both groups stances on Question 1 are clearly opposed, their similar advertising and marketing strategies could cause confusion for uninformed voters, according to the Globe report. Both groups have similar names, use nurse testimonials in their website advertisements, feature similarly designed lawn signs and even have nearly identical Twitter handles. (Pro-initiative @PatientSafetyMA and anti-initiative @MAPatientSafety) Both groups are ramping up advertising efforts ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections. If approved by voters, the initiative would establish patient limits determined by the type of medical unit or patient with whom a nurse is working, and the limit would be applied at all times, according to the Massachusetts Secretary of State website. Civil penalties for hospitals that don’t comply with the mandated ratios could go up to $25,000 per violation, along with $250-2,500 in fines per day for facilities that don’t have information about the limits in all patient rooms, units and patient areas. How “Yes” On Question 1 Could Affect Travelers In short, mandated nurse-to-patient ratios across the state could sharply increase nurse recruiting and retention efforts by hospitals, which in turn could increase the amount of travel nurse needs. While multiple states have laws relating to nurse staffing ratios, only California has both passed and implemented mandatory statewide ratios. The state passed the law in 1999, implemented it completely by 2004, and since then has been the source of numerous studies about the impact of mandated ratios. Most studies found positive benefits for patient outcomes, significantly lower mortality rates and reduced nurse burnout, but several also point to greatly increased staffing efforts leading up to and after implementation. A 2008 study submitted to the Journal of Hospital Medicine found that nurse staffing in California remained unchanged from 1993 to 1999, but facilities significantly increased staffing efforts between 1999 and 2004. As of 2017, the state had the highest number of registered nurses in the U.S. at 282,290, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. It also holds the top spot for the number of active nursing licenses with more than 432,000 as of Sept. 8, according to National Council of State Boards of Nursing data. There are other factors to consider when determining why California brings in so many nurses—geographic diversity, lots of rural communities, high paying contracts—but many staff and travel nurses cite mandated ratios as a positive benefit of working in the state, which could help with hospital recruiting.
Travel Jobs: Where Travelers Applied In August, Sept. Market Predictions
In last month’s update, we touched on how August serves as a transitional period for the travel healthcare job market. Many travelers looking to avoid the early wave of competition in July waited until August to search for a fall contract. At the same time, many travelers went back to work or squeezed in a bit more “paid vacation” by extending at their summer facilities through the month. Pediatric facilities may have needed more help, with parents bringing children in for check-ups before school and to get the first round of flu vaccinations. As such, our predictions for the total volume of applications on the StaffDNA job boards were mostly on the mark, dropping by about 12 percent from July to August. Market activity ramped up towards the end of the month, but not fast enough to reach July’s high number of applications. Travel healthcare jobs September 2018 We expect September to at least recoup from the 12 percent drop in application volume for August, but we may also see a possible increase in application activity. There are a few market indicators that point towards September as a high-activity month: Many travelers who decided to extend their summer contracts will be looking for either a quick contract between fall and winter or they will already be planning for the winter months. Hospitals are continuing to push for more temporary staffing to bulk up for flu season. The great “snowbird” migration will start to ramp up this month. Travelers who moved north for cooler summer temperatures will head back south for the winter. Conversely, travelers who don’t mind the cold will head north to fill gaps left by summer travelers. If you didn’t catch it, the recurring theme here is winter. Late November through February are incredibly busy times for general healthcare facilities, so most hospitals, recruiters and travelers have already begun planning three months ahead. We already saw a few examples of the winter job swell in the past two weeks. Facilities in East Texas have been hiring medical-surgical nurses en masse, and one of the largest hospitals in St. Louis plans to bring in more than 200 travelers in the next two months. Unsurprisingly, both of these locations are in southern states where flu activity peaks early and stays high throughout the winter. Expect to see more facilities in Alabama, Mississippi, New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana and Arkansas heavily recruiting in the next few weeks. While we can’t say for sure September will be the busiest month of the year for job hunting, we can guarantee travelers have a much wider range of options to find a contract right now that fits their needs. Let’s see what we learned from August’s top markets. State rankings show a gradual winter shift The StaffDNA state rankings list didn’t change much overall from July to August, but it did provide early hints to where travelers may be looking for the late fall and winter. Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevada continued to gain ground and now sit comfortably in the top 20 most applied-to states. Arizona also held a spot in the top 10, dropping only two spots to No. 8. Kentucky, South Carolina enter the Top 10 Kentucky just barely jumped into the top 10 most applied-to states for August, bumping Virginia down to No. 11. South Carolina made the largest shift, moving seven spots from No. 13 to the sixth place slot. We expect the state to remain popular in September, as there are many high-paying opportunities on the StaffDNA job boards in the state, especially for rad techs and OR, ER, ICU and PACU nurses. August’s Top Markets Florida California Texas North Carolina Tennessee South Carolina Pennsylvania Arizona Georgia Kentucky Virginia Indiana Missouri Oklahoma Arkansas Wisconsin Michigan Iowa Idaho Maine New Mexico Nevada Oregon West Virgina Colorado Ohio Hawaii Washington New Jersey Illinois Massachusets Alabama Minnesota Utah Maryland Louisiana New Hampshire Vermont Arkansas Montana New York South Dakota Connecticut Kansas Mississippi Nebraska Washington D.C. Wyoming North Dakota Rhode Island Delaware
U.S. News Releases 2018-19 Best Hospitals List
U.S. News & World Report released their 2018-19 Best Hospitals rankings on Tuesday, which annually compiles evaluations on more than 5,000 medical facilities nationwide, according to their site. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Cleveland Clinic and John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland took the top three spots for another year. This marks the third consecutive year Mayo Clinic was recognized as the No. 1 hospital in the publication’s “Best Hospitals Honor Roll.” “We are humbled and honored to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report,” said John Noseworthy, M.D., president and CEO of Mayo Clinic in a press release. “This ranking recognizes Mayo Clinic as a destination medical center for patients with complex and serious illnesses, our staff’s total commitment to patient care, and the extraordinary depth and breadth of our medical practice.” Hospitals are ranked using a points system that evaluates performance in 16 areas of specialty care and for “bellwether procedures and conditions such as heart bypass, hip and knee replacement, heart failure and lung cancer surgery.” Facilities were also awarded additional points if they ranked in one of 16 specialty areas, like cancer, cardiology or neurology. Below are the top 20 facilities that made the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll. You can read more information about their selection process here. You can also find the full list of top hospitals by specialty and state, as well as the top children’s hospitals by clicking here. 2018-19 Best Hospitals Honor Roll Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota Cleveland Clinic Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston University of Michigan Hospitals-Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York (Tie) Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis (Tie) Mayo Clinic Phoenix Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia (Tie) NYU Langone Hospitals, New York (Tie) UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, Pittsburgh Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee Mount Sinai Hospital, New York Duke University Hospital, Durham, North Carolina Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston