Stay or go? What’s working…and what isn’t for Travel Nurses in their professions? The Gypsy Nurse asked you – the travel nurse – those same questions, and we have compiled these fascinating insights into the first-ever report of its kind: The Voice of The Travel Nurse, now available to you for download. Conducted in conjunction with a leading national market research firm with over 1,000 online responses and live interviews, The Voice of The Travel Nurse helps us all understand your unique perspectives as travel nurses more clearly, particularly as we progress into the third year of the Covid pandemic. We are very pleased to present this first-of-its-kind report that will upend current assumptions on travel nurses and the travel nursing industry overall and provide some surprising insights for healthcare facilities and staffing firms that gives them clear pathways for improvement in how they work with our travel nurse community.
The Voice of The Travel Nurse Report highlights includes in-depth data on the role compensation plays in travel nursing careers, key satisfaction drivers for retention and attrition, nurse-to-patient ratios, agency and facility communications, and relationship difficulties with hospital staff and staff nurses. The Gypsy Nurse will release this report to media outlets and healthcare organizations on Friday, September 16th. CEO Steve Curtin will present the findings in detail on September 20th in Las Vegas at TravCon ’22, the yearly conference for travel health professionals.
Some Key Highlights
- Job Satisfaction: A surprisingly high percentage of travel nurses told us they are satisfied or very satisfied with their current role compared to staff nurse counterparts. Learn why.
- Pay: While competitive pay attracts travel nurses to the profession, see what other key factors other than money take on greater significance over time in helping travel nurses to stay in the profession.
- Stay or Leave: Learn what roles flexibility and the ability to make meaningful differences in multiple healthcare settings contribute to travel nurses feeling fulfilled in their work.
- Broken: For those travel nurses who are likely to quit the profession, learn how unsafe patient-to-staff ratios, unsatisfactory treatment by hospitals, and poor communication from agencies and facilities contribute to driving them out.
Making Meaningful Changes
The Voice of the Travel Nurse provides guidance for industry improvement and encourages healthcare leaders to begin work now to identify issues within their organizations to rectify them. Organizations that take time to honestly evaluate their work culture and make necessary improvements will attract and retain more nursing talent. One thing that is clear from our report: it is imperative for travel nurses to be viewed – and treated – as part of the core team, not a separate group. Healthcare leaders who integrate travel nurses into their organizations and keep them informed on key issues will enhance their culture and attract the best talent in the travel community. As nursing shortages are expected to increase sharply, recruiting and retaining nursing staff is a shared responsibility among healthcare organizations and the broader healthcare community. All of us associated with travel nursing must advocate for safe work environments, better communication, and greater recognition for current and future nurses. To build a workforce that can support our healthcare requirements moving forward, educational institutions, government agencies, and the private sector must all work with the healthcare community to advance the nursing profession.
