U.S. hospitals, bracing for a surge of coronavirus patients just as some staff a...
- U.S. hospitals, bracing for a surge of coronavirus patients just as some staff are under quarantine after being exposed to the virus, are facing a shortage of temporary nurses who can fill in - and being asked to pay as much as double to make it worth it. So-called “travel nurses” total around 50,000 - or less than one percent of the nursing workforce - which represents an increase in recent years as the U.S. population ages, demand increases and workers seek more flexible employment options.
But an “unprecedented number” are backing out of assignments because they do not want to travel in the midst of the crisis, said Alan Braynin, chief executive at staffing firm Aya Healthcare. Hospitals in New York and Connecticut are seeking to fill hundreds of temporary nursing positions, said Dan Weber, head of clinical innovation at staffing firm Trusted Health.
More than 18,000 people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus since early this year, upending daily life and prompting New York, Illinois and California to tell tens of millions of people to stay at home. The virus first appeared in China in December and has sickened more than 250,000 people around the globe.
“The thing that is very distressing to us and to other hospitals is that these agencies are demanding exorbitant rates,” said Dr. Stephanie Hall, chief medical officer at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.The nurses are coming under unusual strains, however.
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