An improved national economy and millions of people gaining health coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has led to an increased demand for travel nurses, according to Kaiser Health News.
Here are four key points about the trend.
1. The demand for experienced, temporary nursing staff is at a 20-year high, according to industry analysts.
2. The demand for travel nursing is expected to increase 10 percent in 2015. That's because of declining unemployment "which raises demand by increasing commercial admissions to hospitals," Staffing Industry Analysts, a research firm, said, according to the report.
3. Medicaid expansion may also drive the demand for travel nursing. According to the report, analysts said improved profits, especially in states that have expanded Medicaid under the PPACA, have made hospitals more apt to look for travel nurses to help them keep up with rising admissions.
4. Leslie Brown, branch manager of healthcare staffing company Aureus Medical Group, said in a statement many travel nurses are taking assignments in the southeastern states, but there also is interest in Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, Oregon and California.
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