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A Rise In Rapid Response/Crisis Pay
Traditionally, travel nursing jobs throughout the country have always been compensated at a higher rate than permanent nursing staff. This is due to the fact that traveling nurses are only filling temporary positions and bring a wealth of experience to the table. However, the pandemic has continued to alter their pay rate.
In areas referred to as “hotspots” by the medical industry, traveling nurse jobs were paying higher wages than ever before. These “hotspots” are areas where the COVID-19 virus was very prominent. Hospitals and other medical facilities realized that traveling nurses who were taking jobs in these areas put themselves at a higher risk than others.
Therefore, they increased their pay rate. This was commonly referred to as rapid response or crisis pay. The pandemic actually opened up a whole new payment level for those who are willing to go into the known “hotspots” to work. The future outlook on this is not quite clear. But, those who are working in these areas are definitely receiving higher than average wages.
More Clinician Support
The recent pandemic has pushed the mental health of healthcare workers to the brink. With increased working hours, added procedures, and the overall unknown surrounding environment of the pandemic, frontline healthcare workers are under more stress than ever before. Throw in the added stress of traveling for travel nursing jobs in Ohio, and healthcare workers are in need of more resources than ever before.
Luckily, many healthcare employers have noticed and responded to this need with more widely-available clinical support. One of the most prized is mental health support. Many employers have added around the clock support lines and hired on more mental health workers to ensure that their staff has adequate resources when they need them. Some other helpful additions to the clinical resources that employers are offering include online fitness videos, meditation instruction, sleep support, and wellness modules.
Longer Working Hours
One not widely looked upon rising factor in traveling nursing due to the recent pandemic is the increased working hours. Traveling nurses are going into facilities without a clear idea of how long their shift is going to last. While nurses haven’t always been lucky enough to receive 8-hour work schedules, they usually maxed out at 12 hours per day. Unfortunately, the pandemic has increased this number even more. Some nurses are working 18-hour shifts or longer due to the surge in incoming patients.
More PPE Use
Traditionally, personal protection equipment was used in surgical and sensitive patient settings. Now, they’re required to be used on a daily basis. Many healthcare workers are dealing with scars and etched markings as a result of wearing PPE for countless hours throughout the day.
With mask shortages, many traveling nurses are stuck wearing the same PPE device for days or weeks on end. Some traveling nurses are even bringing along their old PPE devices to ensure that they will have one to use for treating patients in other facilities.
More Transitional Delays Due To Quarantine
Many traveling nurses have gotten themselves into a routine where they can move from job to job with only a day or two of delay in between. For many, this was an essential way to ensure that they earned the necessary wages that they needed. Unfortunately, this has been turned upside down due to the recent pandemic.
Traveling nurses are stuck in minimum two-week quarantines before they can start up a new job. Traveling across state borders has also been an ongoing issue, with some traveling nurses not being allowed entry. This not only has made life more difficult and provided more pay gaps for traveling nurses, but it has required healthcare facilities to wait two additional weeks to get the help that they need.
Contract Uncertainty
Traveling nursing used to be much simpler before the recent pandemic hit. While some contracts were canceled days before a traveling nurse was set to arrive, most contracts went off without a hitch. However, so much uncertainty about the pandemic has skyrocketed the number of contracts that are being canceled.
Contracts for assistance with elective surgery areas have been one of the hardest hits. With state regulations changing by the minute, a traveling nurse could have a month-long contract lined up in the morning and have it suddenly get canceled in the afternoon due to a statewide shutdown of elective surgeries. Other contracts are being canceled as the expected COVID-19 rushes have died down in certain areas. There are just a lot of unknowns surrounding this virus that make it more difficult for healthcare facilities to keep stable contracts with traveling nurses.
A Rise In Traveling Nurse Jobs
The pandemic has shot up the number of traveling nurse requests from healthcare facilities across the nation. As more and more medical facilities find themselves dealing with a rapid influx of patients, their support staff is having difficulties caring for all the new patients. This has led many of these facilities to post emergency requests for traveling nurses.
Other facilities are having difficulties with the long hours that their nursing staff is currently working. They’ve requested traveling nurses to help give their nursing staff necessary breaks. In addition, the rise in necessary quarantining procedures has strongly increased the need for more staff members to handle the same amount of patients. There are so many ways the pandemic has created a need for more nursing staff in various locations throughout the country.