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.
