Travel Nursing and the Demise of the Virtue-Script: Steps to a New Beginning.

Abstract

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel nursing is transforming the nursing workforce in a myriad of ways that are positive and negative. Evidence suggests that the nursing shortage, which predated the pandemic, was heightened during this period and is expected to escalate in the years to come (Lee, 2022). During the pandemic, travel nurses filled the gap, increasing from 3–4% of all nurses to 8–10% (Dixon-Liunenberg, 2022). The use of travel nurses is not new, however, for example, a 2012 study reported that 75% of hospitals used “travelers” in 2006 and found no difference in patient outcomes related to such supplemental staffing in the years of the study, 2003–2006 (Xue et al., 2012). Moreover, a pre-COVID 2017 analysis suggested the optimal percentage of travelers to be 6%, however 11% of nurses were travelers (KPMG, 2017). This figure is not out of line with estimates during the COVID travel nurse surge. What is new this time, however, is the enormous stress of COVID caring; the whiplash of being discarded then sought after and, in “stayers,” working side-by-side with much higher paid travelers, many who recently had been hospital employees. What is the effect of this dramatic change in nurse-to-nurse relationships as well as nurse-to-employer dynamics? How do we capitalize on the gains and learn from the negatives to better serve society, stabilize the workforce, and promote nurse well-being and career satisfaction?