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.
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
Travel Nurse Market: Labor and Delivery, OR Nurse Jobs On The Rise
Labor and delivery and OR nurses, it’s time brush up on your interview skills and talk with your recruiter, because the job market is on the rise, according to an industry insider. “Those are the two specialties that I am seeing a spike in not just a few locations, but everywhere right now,” a LiquidAgents Healthcare source told HCT Today. “Especially with L&D, I would normally see half as many openings right now compared to the amount that’s currently available.” While medical-surgical RN positions remain the most frequently requested among the specialties, labor and delivery and OR RN jobs have consistently ranked among the top 10 most requested specialties since April, according to StaffDNA data. Why are there more OR nurse jobs right now? View current OR RN positions here>> Short Answer: Who knows? We’re trying to figure that out now because it’s not normal. But it may have something to do with high-deductible health insurance plans. Long Answer: For OR nurses, job demand is often tied to demand for elective surgeries at a facility. Since the dates for elective surgeries can be requested by patients months in advance, hospitals will also plan to bring on temporary OR staff to help out if necessary. In recent years, however, most facilities plan for lots of elective surgeries at the end of the year, not in the middle, because of the rise in patients using high-deductible health insurance plans. Patients with high-deductible plans typically wait to schedule elective surgeries until late in the year, when they have met their deductible, or as a way to squeeze in a last-minute procedure before their insurance company raises the price next year. Don’t expect this trend to end anytime soon—more Americans are enrolled in employer-based high-deductible insurance plans than ever before, and deductible prices continue to rise. The average deductible for people with employer-based coverage rose from $303 to $1,505 between 2006 and 2017, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. While this answers the question of how OR job needs can increase, it doesn’t tell us why they are rapidly increasing now. It may be tied to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the healthcare insurance marketplace and the future of the Affordable Care Act, but that’s purely speculation. We’re keeping an eye on how this job trend develops. Why are there more Labor and Delivery jobs right now? View current Labor and Delivery (L&D) positions here>> Short Answer: September is a busy month for births, so hospitals are probably bulking up on labor and delivery nurses now to meet demand. Also, Millenials might have finally started having more babies. Long Answer: Historically speaking, September is prime time for births in the U.S. September 9 is the most common birthday in the U.S., according to yearly data between 1994 and 2014 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Not only that, but 9 of the 10 most popular days to give birth fall during September. It’s possible that hospitals are posting their L&D RN needs on job boards early to find travelers who can help during a busy September. The new demand may also signal a positive trend in the number of births in general. The national birth rate has steadily declined in recent years. reaching a historic 30-year low in 2017, according to an NPR report. But some analysts have predicted a rebound in birth rates in the coming years, led by an increasing number of Millenial parents over time.