You can’t legislate the law of supply and demand
I work as a substitute teacher, and my pay is far less than the teachers I’m replacing. I’m not complaining, just pointing it out.
“...gets paid substantially more than nurses working full time seems a bit odd to say the least.”
No, it simply means that the market has decided that nurses in Iowa are not being paid what the market demands.
Travel nurses are considered to be educated enough and have the clinical skills to work in any environment independently, thus the huge pay difference. They can travel because they’ve worked years in their specialty. When I traveled, I was better educated and trained than the nurses I worked with, as well as most of the doctors. Travel nurses also go where the money is, so they won’t be going to Iowa.
I believe the idea is those nurses live out of a suitcase in a new environment and are expected to come up to speed with current staff almost immediately, to solve crotical staffing issues. Harder than it looks and sounds, maintaining licensure and certifications in multiple states, learning and knowing multiple different electronic charting systems and delivering excellent care right out of the gate in crisis situations. I don’t begrudge them what they can get.
I believe the idea is those nurses live out of a suitcase in a new environment and are expected to come up to speed with current staff almost immediately, to solve crotical staffing issues. Harder than it looks and sounds, maintaining licensure and certifications in multiple states, learning and knowing multiple different electronic charting systems and delivering excellent care right out of the gate in crisis situations. I don’t begrudge them what they can get.
Could be that the traveling nurses are independent
contractors who have to pay all there taxes ect.
They would need the extra pay to make up the different
The reason for that is supply and demand.
Many nurses make very little. So there is a reluctance to enter the field. The gap is supplied by contract workers, who get paid more upfront but don’t have the same benefit package.
The real correct response is to increase the wages of regular workers. The market price for nursing staff is not what most medical providers want to pay, so rather than do the right thing they are doing the socialist thing. And the Iowa GOP fell for it.
This will result in a lot of nursing shortages, and smaller offices and hospitals screaming they will have to shut down.