Nursing shortages are easing for some hospitals after falling pay from temp agencies and new hospital perks drive more nurses back into permanent positions, The Wall Street Journal reported May 1.
Department nurses left hospitals for more lucrative temp positions during the COVID-19 pandemic, but in the first few months of 2023, the pay and benefits between agencies and hospitals have begun to equalize. Pay at Aya Healthcare's temporary-nurse program is down 28 percent, and hospital openings for temporary nurses are down 51 percent compared to last year, according to the report.
Hospitals across the country are increasing their nursing staff by hiring on temporary nurses or rehiring nurses who left for other positions. Better pay and perks like child care and more flexible schedules are what many executives point to as an incentive to bring nurses back into permanent positions.
"The boomerang nurses have returned," Gail Vozzella, DNP, Houston Methodist's chief nurse executive, told the Journal.
About 60 nurses returned to Houston Methodist since the start of 2023, according to the report. Other hospitals and health systems are seeing a similar increase in nursing staff. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare increased nurse staff by 19 percent, and about 20 percent of their nurses hired since January 2022 previously worked for the hospital.
However, a new survey from AMN Healthcare, one of the largest healthcare staffing company in the country, found 85 percent of nurses working in a hospital setting plan to make a job change, go back to school or leave the profession entirely.