On a chilly Friday, Auriel Blake soaks up every second with her 6 year old Leighton. In a few days, Blake will be back in Houston, where she is currently working as a travel nurse at a county hospital. “I always miss them, and they miss me too,” said Blake. “It’s a temporary sacrifice for the common good.” The greater good for Blake’s patients and their personal lives. “I traveled because this is the best choice for my family right now,” said Blake. It’s a decision many Nebraska nurses made during the pandemic. “I estimate we’ve probably lost 100 nurses to travel opportunities since January last year,” said Julie Lazure, vice president of operations for Nebraska Medicine. Blake was one of them who left Nebraska Medicine in August 2020 for a life on the road for Registered Nurses, from Lincoln to Las Vegas. “I jumped on it and didn’t really look back,” Blake said. But Lazure said it was a one-way street. “By including the travelers, we can change our traditional nurse-to-patient relationship,” said Lazure. “This is the greatest number of travelers we’ve ever had in the history of Nebraska medicine.” When KETV spoke to Lazure, 26 year old% of Nebraska Med nursing jobs were open. That’s about 200 digits. Travel nurses occupy 185 of them. Prior to the pandemic, the system typically employed fewer than 10 travelers. “We are very dependent on these resources right now,” said Lazure. So dependent, Lazure said that if the travelers left, the hospital would not be able to occupy around 150 beds – beds that are currently full. “Without them, we couldn’t handle the patient burden,” said Lazure. Travel nurses are currently filling a national void. A study published this fall in the National Library of Medicine found that 11% of the nurses who responded intend to leave their position and 20% more are undecided that healthcare professionals endure in their day-to-day work, “said John Maaske, Founder and CEO from Triage, an Omaha-based agency that helps place traveling medical staff in hospitals who are in need of support for our business, “said Maaske. “We have grown more than threefold in the last year.” Travel nurse appearances typically last 12 to 13 weeks. They pay more than personal jobs. Sometimes a lot more. “You are deployed in environments where it will be really difficult sometimes, where there are really too few staff,” said Maaske. A nurse tells KETV that it went from $ 25 an hour to $ 85 an hour because demand exceeded supply. “There are simply more jobs than nurses,” said Maaske. Right now, Blake loves jet setting extra money when they do the same and feel more valued in places, “said Blake. Keeping her options open for the future, she says that a piece of her heart will always be in the Nebraska Med, but she wonders if they could still afford it. “I miss the people I’ve worked with,” Blake said. “But to be honest, a lot of these people have traveled.”
OMAHA, Neb .–
On a chilly Friday, Auriel Blake soaks up every second with her 6 year old Leighton. In a few days, Blake will be back in Houston, where she is currently working as a travel nurse at a county hospital.
“I always miss them, and they miss me too,” Blake said. “It is a temporary sacrifice for the common good.”
The greater good for Blake’s patients and their private lives.
“I traveled because it was the best choice for my family at the time,” said Blake.
It’s a decision many Nebraska nurses made during the pandemic.
“I estimate we’ve lost probably 100 nurses to travel since January last year,” said Julie Lazure, vice president of operations for Nebraska Medicine.
Blake was one of them who left Nebraska Medicine for a life on the road for registered nurses from Lincoln to Las Vegas in August 2020.
“I jumped on it and didn’t really look back,” Blake said.
But Lazure said it was a one-way street.
“By including the travelers, we can adapt our traditional caregiver-to-patient relationship,” said Lazure. “This is the greatest number of travelers we have ever had in the history of Nebraska medicine.”
When KETV spoke to Lazure, 26% of the Nebraska Med foster homes were open. That’s about 200 digits. 185 of these are manned by travel nurses. Prior to the pandemic, the system typically employed fewer than 10 travelers.
“We are very dependent on these resources right now,” said Lazure.
So dependent, Lazure said, if the travelers left, the hospital would not be able to occupy about 150 beds – beds that are currently full.
“Without them, we couldn’t manage the patient burden,” said Lazure.
Travel nurses are currently filling a national void. ONE to learn The study, published in the National Library of Medicine this fall, found that 11% of the nurses who responded intend to leave their position and 20% more are undecided.
“There has been a lot of burnouts as a result of the pandemic and all the things that healthcare professionals have to endure in their day-to-day work,” said John Maaske, founder and CEO of Triage, an Omaha-based agency that helps recruitment of traveling nurses in hospitals who need assistance.
“We have seen a strong upswing in our business,” said Maaske. “We grew more than three times in the last year.”
Travel nurse appearances typically last 12-13 weeks. They pay more than personal jobs. Sometimes a lot more.
“You are deployed in environments where it will sometimes be really difficult, where there are really too few staff,” said Maaske.
A nurse tells KETV that she went from $ 25 an hour to $ 85 an hour because demand exceeded supply.
“There are simply more jobs than nurses,” says Maaske.
At the moment, Blake loves jet setting.
“Make a little more money by doing the same thing and feeling more valued in some places,” Blake said.
Keeping her options open for the future, she says that a piece of her heart will always be in the Nebraska Med, but she wonders if they could still afford it.
“I miss the people I’ve worked with,” said Blake. “But to be honest, a lot of these people went on trips.”
