Frequently I hear of nurses who are called before the Board because they were working in an environment that was not “the right fit” for them.

You’ll know when you fit in an environment because it will be one where you feel great, enjoy what you do, have the support of your colleagues, your management, and love to go to work.

Yet, I see so many acute care nurses who found it was not a good fit for them and then, because they loved the consistency of long-term care, they moved into that other area.  Others do not do well working with the large number of long-term care patients but do fare much better in ICU.

Some nurses tell me they saw “the handwriting on the wall” but continued to work longer until the “shoe dropped” and they found themselves in trouble and before the Board.

The nursing field is filled with many amazing prospects.  So, it is most important that you find the area and opportunity, something that you love, that is the right fit for you.

It is not unusual for a nurse to leave one system and go to another saying, “Oh, it’s so much better here!  I wish I had switched sooner.”  And then there would be another nurse in another facility transitioning to the one that the first nurse had just left saying the same thing. “Oh, it’s so much better here!  I wish I had switched sooner.”

The nursing shortage is a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because there are so many jobs available to provide opportunities for any nurse but, too, it is a curse because the nurse scarcity results in short staffing.

As I always say, “You can get another job, but you can’t get another license.”  So, make the extra effort to find the field and job that is a right fit for you

The American Hospital Association (AHA) and the National Center for Assisted Living recently asked Congress to investigate the fees that agencies are charging for the services of travel nurses.

The two entities say that fees for travel nurses have doubled, and they believe that the travel nurse agencies are engaging in “price gouging.”

I found it interesting that the AHA spent over $24,000,000.00 for lobbying efforts and have made significant contributions to Politicians totaling almost $2,000,000.00.

Recently, a TIME magazine article reported that hospital and nursing agencies are exploiting the financial burden resulting from the pandemic.

Travel nurses are concerned that there are efforts to cap their pay, but the investigation is into what the agencies can charge the hospitals.  But this really does affect how much the travel nurse is paid.

Unfortunately, the pandemic, coupled with reportedly 18% of the nurses quitting the profession, has made this a recipe for disaster.

Looking at the high demand for nurses, nurses leaving and others choosing to travel, makes this situation one that is seemingly never ending.

The bottom line is that hospitals need to better treat nurses and offer increased pay for their work.  This is a free market and I always say, “Charge what the market will bear.” I see no legal basis for Congress to limit the amount that a nurse agency can charge.

The hospitals are responsible for this situation and now … the hospitals must fix it!

I do not blame any nurse wanting to travel as it provides more money for them.  Many are making double what they did prior to becoming travel nurses.  Of course, from that pay, they must pay for their travel, lodging, expenses and even health insurance.

Travel nursing is risky!  They go into places that are short staffed to begin with that can’t attract or keep their own staff.

Sometimes travel nurses can be treated differently than staff because those on staff resent the traveler nurse making much more per hour than they despite the fact that travel nurses are providing help to the existing staffs.

I have heard too many horror stories such as travel nurses going great distances only to find, upon arriving at their destination, that their contact had been cancelled.  Be sure to have your contract reviewed by an attorney prior to signing so that this does not happen to you or at least you are aware of the risks.

It is unfortunate that travel nurses are working on blind faith but it’s caveat emptor, and you should always know what you are signing.

Now, that I have wandered off topic, let me return to the fact that Congress is not planning to enact legislation restricting travel nurses’ pay.  Yet they are investigating whether nurse travel agencies are price gouging the health care facilities which, I believe, will be a difficult claim to prove.

Again, hospitals have put themselves in this situation by not caring for the nurses they already have on staff, thereby, causing dissatisfied nurses to leave for higher paying opportunities.

COVID certain has the exposed the “cracks” in our health care system.

The Indiana legislature has proposed regulations to address the state’s nursing shortage.  [Story].

Because of the resultant loss of staff due to COVID, there are thousands of nursing jobs open not only across the Hoosier state but around the country.  According to Community Network, there are some 4,000 nursing jobs open in Indiana alone.  This shortage is resting on top of the shortage that was there prior to the pandemic.

The bill pending, before the legislature in Indianapolis, would allow nursing programs that have been operative for at least 5 years with an 80% passing rate of NCLEX exams to increase enrollment by any percentage that the school deems appropriate rather than the current limit of 25% per year.

This status would then allow nurses with a bachelor’s degree to teach associate level nursing courses if they are enrolled for their master’s degree program.  It also would allow more than half of nursing program instructors to teach part time and for the school to conduct more student clinicals on simulations of mannequins rather than in the hospital.

Indiana is estimated to eventually need 5,000 additional nurses by 2031 and, at present, the state is producing only about 1,350 graduates per year.

As I noted, this shortage existed well ahead of the outbreak of the pandemic, but it has since exacerbated that scarcity.

I find interesting that nursing school enrollments are increasing!  That is like the situation after the 9/11 attacks where many people chose to become police officers or firefighters because those were the heroes of that era!

I trust that the number of those going into nursing will continue to rise because of the “calling” more so than for the money and the availability of job security.

What are your states doing to increase enrollment in nursing schools?  Let me know in the comments below.