[Eumenes]

If there's a hole or shortage in scheduling, these contractors can fill vital gaps. Are you saying that the hospitals, and patients, are better off with less nurses? Are the existing staff better off with higher patient to caretaker ratios? You have to have a license/certification/required education to take on these jobs, which are managed by state nursing boards (or whomever manages the licensure). Requirements for traveling/temp nursing staff are usually higher than FT (generally need experience within a hospital). Knowing the industry, any of these temps can get the FT jobs if they chose. Its a choice to them (make more $$ hourly, less/no benefits, no set work schedule, etc).

[RoyalHenOil]

You seem to be missing the point. The problem isn't getting in temps to fill in during the odd shortage. It's replacing long-term staff with temps. This is bad for patients.

If your hospital is always understaffed on Friday nights, for example, you need to hire more nurses, not get temps.

[salad-tycoon]

Generally, if there is a staffing shortage it’s because of a deeper issue (safety, pay, reputation, etc) temps are expensive and brought in by administrators kicking and screaming. Management will also perpetually mention how hard they are working to fill open positions but rely more on a “surprise “ pizza party on Fridays and Saturdays once there are enough grumblings and concern.

A $40 pizza party is about the worth of your safety. Anyone going into a hospital should be aware of these eternal games and runarounds. It’s not every hospital but it’s a lot of them. Hospitals are not focused on your well being but cash flow and they are run that way behind scenes.

Frankly, having an extra warm-body, even if not top quality but capable of basic nursing care might be helpful. I can see the administration now “we’ll Bill, floor 5 East is really building pressure we were pretty short last weekend and we gave them pizza but Rachelle says they are still pretty worked up, let’s do another pizza party and order a nurse for this weekend to placate them. We might need to consider a waffle party on Sunday if pizza isn’t enough. We predict next weekend will be calmer, historically.”

[Eumenes]

> Generally, if there is a staffing shortage it’s because of a deeper issue (safety, pay, reputation, etc) temps are expensive and brought in by administrators kicking and screaming.

There's a national shortage and the deeper issue is unclear (most likely to do with nurses taking care of increasingly sick and mentally unwell people, coupled with pay that's "not worth it"). These temps aren't brought in "kicking and screaming" either because they make the choice to be a contractor, and make a very good rate (its a good lifestyle if you don't need the benefits/job security , the cash pay can be 2-3x that of salaried staff).

[Eumenes]

Hospitals can't fill nursing positions. There's a big shortage atm. These services incentivize temps to fill the gap. It's in the hospitals interests to hire FT staff but they simply can't. They have to use staffing services or they'll have a bad time. The "just staff more on Friday nights" is a simplistic take. They would if they could. Every major hospital will have a traveler on any floor at anytime, don't make ShiftKey, Clipboard the bogeyman.

[datavirtue]

It's enabling bad management and exploitation of nurses...making the problem worse in the long run.

[Eumenes]

Let the nurses decide that. I know several that love these temp arrangements. They get paid very well and get to pick/choose their schedule, w/o being tied to FT employment. And how is it bad management? The managers are plugging gaps in scheduling. Nobody can hire at the scale they want right now.