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Travel RN and Travel Allied Health 101

Leah Perez, VP of Major Accounts

Hire Up Healthcare

What do travel healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities need to know?

It is without question that there is a growing need for trained health care workers in hospitals and medical offices around the country. Nurses and other Allied Health professionals are in high demand. The American Medical Association (AMA) defines allied health professionals as those who work in concert with physicians; allied health professions include roles like optometrists, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives, to name a few. The Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAH) estimates that 60% of the US Healthcare workforce is classified as Allied Health Professionals.

What are the benefits for traveling healthcare professionals?

  • Financial: Travel healthcare professions in high demand often are paying top dollar. When there is a higher need, higher pay typically follows. In addition to a higher hourly rate, travel healthcare professionals can often expect other rewards like sign-on bonuses, travel reimbursement, and stipends for housing, food, and/or other job-related expenses. Added benefits not related to an hourly rate are tax-free and definite things to consider when weighing the pros and cons of your career choices.
  • Travel: If you are a healthcare professional who enjoys seeing new places and experiencing new things, being a travel provider is an obvious choice. There are opportunities everywhere!
  • Flexibility: As a travel healthcare provider, you may find yourself more flexible than your peers working for a local hospital. Travel providers can fit personal time in between contract assignments, allowing for as much time off as they choose.
  • Networking Opportunities: Whether on a short-term or longer-term travel assignment, allied health professionals can form important work-related, as well as personal, connections wherever they travel.
  • Resume Building: In addition to the networking available, another benefit includes your ability to be selective in your work. You may wish to target key locations around the country that specialize in fields of interest to you, some of which may not be found in your area. New opportunities can allow for additional training and professional development to add to your resume.

It makes sense that hospitals and medical offices need to regularly hire, but why do hospitals make the choice to hire travel nurses and allied health professionals?

  • Historically, organizations have used travelers to fill temporary vacancies due to a variety of leaves, shortages, or strikes. Some organizations seek traveling professions to ease the burden of filling critical roles that require specific skills and experience.
  • Geography and the weather are contributing factors for increased staffing needs during flu season. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitals faced a nursing shortage. During the pandemic, the need for travel nurses surged and the need remains.
  • The costs associated with hiring travel professionals have been typically seen as a bigger expense for hospitals than hiring on their own. However, with rising employment costs and the increasing cost of living seen over the last few years, the use of travel professionals may be less expensive overall. Hiring travelers rather than permanent employees eliminates costs such as paid time off, benefits, and retirement. Other costs that hospitals need to consider as savings are the reduction in recruiting efforts, training, overtime, and payroll costs.

Why are travelers essential to healthcare?

  • Travel staff gained popularity in recent years in response to the long-standing, nationwide staffing shortage. A large contributing factor to the RN shortage was a mandatory nurse-to-patient ratio. A study from the National Institute of Nursing Research showed a connection between mandatory staff ratios and lower patient mortality. As more states adopt mandatory ratios, many facilities look to travel agencies to meet the increased staffing demands.
  • In the last few years, it has become more critical for hospitals to have a solid plan in place due to the spikes in the number of patients and increased patient needs.

How do hospitals find their travel healthcare workers?

  • Hospitals set up partnerships with staffing agencies that specialize in healthcare staffing, specifically travel RN and Allied Health.  It is more important than ever for hospitals to have a trusted staffing partner to assist in filling vacancies.
  • At Hire Up Healthcare, we are one of those trusted staffing partners for a wide variety of respected healthcare clients.

If you are interested in learning more about becoming a travel healthcare worker, we can help. We have hundreds of opportunities within medical facilities around the country. Take your first step to see if this type of work is right for you. Contact a member of our team today by calling us at 559-931-9011.

Interested in speaking to Hire Up Staffing and Healthcare about setting up a staffing partnership to ease the staffing holes within your facilities? Click here https://calendly.com/leah-12 to connect with our Vice President of Major Accounts to discuss further.

Currently, Hire Up Healthcare has over 900 travel, per diem, and permanent RN and Allied Health opportunities. Interested in working with us? Click here https://calendly.com/major-accounts-travel to connect to our healthcare team to discuss contracts that are currently available.

Are you a travel healthcare recruiter that is looking for an opportunity? Click here https://calendly.com/bsampson-4 to connect with our Division Director to discuss internal opportunities.

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Allied Health Professionals | American Medical Association (ama-assn.org)

What is Allied Health? — ASAHP                            Impact of Mandatory Nursing Staffing Levels on Patient Outcomes | National Institute of Nursing Research (nih.gov)

Leah Perez, VP of Major Accounts

As the Vice President of Major Accounts, Leah focuses on the national level clients. Leah has over 16 years of recruiting experience in various industries from medical/clinical to administrative/accounting, all of which has launched her to being one of the most well-respected staffing leaders in California.  Clients and candidates would describe her as urgent, ethical, and most importantly she takes the time to understand her clients needs so she can properly assist them. Leah would love to speak with you so she can help your business reach new heights.

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