Travel Market: OR Staffing Needs Still High For Travel Nurses

Ryan WagonerJuly 25, 20180 Views0

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OR travelers—here’s your friendly public service announcement. You are in high demand right now across the country, according to current market data and job board information from StaffDNA.

Towards the end of June, we saw a sharp increase in demand for OR nurses across the country, especially after the “summer stall” in late-May and early June.

Since the last week of June, every week in July has had at least one high-paying OR job to rank in our weekly “10 Highest Paying Travel Healthcare Jobs” list.

We now have a much better picture of why OR needs saw a marked increase in June, as well as why we expect OR nurses will remain in demand through the end of 2018.

Heavy flu season delays OR RN market demand

Short Answer: The busy flu season made hospitals delay elective surgeries, which delayed OR staffing needs until early summer.

Long Answer: The brutal 2018 flu season took a toll on both the public and the travel nursing job market. A total of 171 influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported by the last week of May, according to CDC data.

Emergency rooms across the country were swamped with patients, which caused hospitals to offer extensions to travelers much earlier than usual.

This also meant hospitals had to cancel or delay elective and non-elective surgeries to leave acute care beds open for the massive influx of flu patients.

Once the flu season calmed down in late spring, facilities were then able to address the backed-up list of delayed surgeries, which explains the sudden spike in temporary OR staffing needs.

Elective surgeries serve as an important factor of a hospital’s financial portfolio. Surgical admissions are reimbursed at much higher rates than medical, so it would make sense for hospitals to take care of elective surgeries after the flu season.

Busy fall season, high deductibles could sustain OR RN demand

Short Answer: The job market volume always typically increases in the fall after the summer vacation season, so we expect OR needs to be a part of that in a limited sense. Demand should level off and may dip slightly, then spike again in November and December when most people with high-deductible insurance plans get elective surgeries.

Long Answer: For agencies, fall is when the job market kicks into high gear. A flood of travelers who took off for the summer to spend time with families will re-enter the market, looking for their fall contracts.

Hospitals will also seek temporary staff to deal with increased patient visits in the fall once the school season starts. August is one of the busiest months of the year for healthcare facilities, according to a Priceonomics data study, especially for pediatric professionals.

While OR won’t be as in demand as other specialties, we expect it to more or less “ride the wave” of fall job market momentum into November and December.

Hospitals typically see an increase in OR needs late in the year because patients with high-deductible insurance plans will squeeze in a last-minute elective procedure before their deductibles increase the following year.