Travel Nurses a Big Help to CEOs

A 2010 the survey asking hospital CEOs to list their most valued employees, according to the positions they held, revealed some truly surprising results. First and foremost was the realization that doctors were not at the top of the list. Although doctors are indeed an integral part of the hospital environment, most CEOs responded with great praise for their nursing staff, citing the fact that nursing care is the one area they generally don’t have to worry about. One subgroup of the nursing staff which also received significant praise were travel nurses.

Most people may look at travel nurses as simply temporary workers with no personal investment in the institutions where they are assigned. And while that may be true from a technical standpoint, the reality is that most nurses are extremely dedicated to the profession and their patients regardless of the hospital or clinic they work at. Travel nurses bring the same dedication, skills, and knowledge that resident nurses bring – in some cases, even more so.

New Perspective

Beyond quality medical care, one thing the CEOs were quick to point out that travel nurses bring a new perspective to their institutions. Yes, it is true that there are things common to the nursing profession and medical care in most hospitals across the country. But there are times when an institution will come up with creative innovations or new ways of doing things that improve the quality of care. A travel nurse has the opportunity to be exposed to those innovations, and can bring her experiences with her to the next assignment.

When it comes to the nursing profession there’s nothing like personal, practical experience. The textbooks and training nurses receive may dictate a specific method of caring for certain types of patients, yet how that translates into day-to-day care is another matter. By being exposed to so many different kinds of work environments, travel nurses can bring a personal experience to a new assignment and share it with her new coworkers. This type of interaction only serves to increase the quality of care.

Objectivity

Another benefit of travel nurses is the objectivity normally associated with their viewpoints. Because if they are not permanently invested in a hospital or health clinic, they are better able to see both the good and bad points of any institution and address them accordingly. This objectivity allows them to call things as they see them, regardless of the reaction those thoughts may garner. In a profession where dealing with reality is such an important requirement, objective observation of a medical facility’s operation can be invaluable.

CEOs participating in the survey remarked about the need to conduct exit interviews with travel nurses at the end of their assignments. From these exit interviews nursing departments are better able to see how things are going from a more unbiased viewpoint. Department heads and hospital management can take the information supplied from the exit interviews and use it to improve their facilities.

Peace of Mind

One last thing noted by the CEOs in relation to travel nurses is the peace of mind they provide to all areas of the hospital or clinic. Upper management and human resources departments already face incredible stress because of staffing shortages on a daily basis. They don’t need the additional headaches of having to deal with vacancies which result when a permanent staff member must take an extended leave of absence.

Travel nurses are able to step right in and take over for the absent nurse, usually without missing a beat. This gives hospital management the opportunity to concentrate on other things without having to worry about the quality of nursing care. Many of the CEOs participating in the survey remarked that the peace of mind provided by travel nurses takes a great deal of pressure off of them. As long as they have reliable nursing care, most of them know that part of their facility will be just fine.

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