5 Ways Travel Nurses Have a Positive Impact on Hospitals

Many studies show that travel nurses are vital to the healthcare facilities they work in -- providing quality care and appropriate staffing levels.

As a travel nurse, you're very aware of the benefits you receive from your professional lifestyle. Savvy healthcare employers know that you are providing vital services, not only to the patients, but also to the permanent staff. You're there to help, and they appreciate it! Researchers have taken notice of the advantages that travel nurses bring to health care facilities; below are five proven ways that you have a positive impact on the hospitals at which you share your skills.

According to HRSA, most travel nurses report high levels of job satisfaction. This is important, because when nurses experience a good working environment, their patients have better outcomes overall. The Massachusetts Nurses Association conducted research on patient outcomes related to nurses' satisfaction with their work environment. A good nursing work environment was defined as one that allows greater autonomy, good communication with physicians and colleagues, and more control over personal schedules. Cardiac nurses who reported the best work environments had the highest levels of patient survival following in-hospital cardiac arrest. The researchers concluded that "our results add to a growing body of research literature suggesting that improving hospital work environments may hold promise for reducing preventable deaths."

Higher staffing levels result in better patient outcomes: Research published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that higher staffing levels in neonatal intensive care units can allow nurses to maintain better aseptic techniques in central venous lines. This improvement resulted in fewer hospital-acquired infections in very low birth weight infants. Increasing the nurse staffing by just 10 percent led to a 21 percent reduction in infections in this vulnerable patient population. Similarly, a review of 28 research studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found a sustained relationship between higher nurse staffing and lower mortality. An increase of one full-time RN per patient day was associated with a 16 percent reduction of mortality in the general hospital setting, a 9 percent reduction in the ICU, and a 6 percent reduction in surgical settings.

Atlanta's Northside Hospital is profiled in an article on the advantages of using travel nurses in Becker's Hospital Review. Northside's human resources operations manager David Votta points out that travel nurses provide his hospital with exceptional staffing flexibility. If there is a sudden increase in patient census, he points out, he is able to contact a travel nursing organization and have a qualified nurse at work on the floor relatively quickly. He states, "The ultimate goal of the hospital is to take care of the patient and have continuity of care. If we're able to get someone qualified in here quickly, we are better equipped to take care of our patients, which is first priority."

Travel nurses command higher salaries than nurses permanently employed by a hospital, but research published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality demonstrates that the carefully calibrated addition of travel and other supplemental nursing staff actually decreases personnel costs. This is primarily due to the fact that travel nurse hours can be tied to the hospital's immediate staffing needs, while saving the hospital's outlay for a benefits package. Furthermore, the researchers note that adding travel nurses to hospital staff reduces the need for permanent nurses to work overtime, saving wages and preventing nurse burnout.

"Experienced travel nurses bring expert clinical experience, knowledge and rapid critical thinking skills to the nursing unit," according to an article published by the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses. Furthermore, Becker's Hospital Review confirms that "[T]he use of supplemental nurses is a sound strategy for medical institutions to employ to maintain appropriate nurse-to-patient staffing levels and ensure high levels of patient satisfaction and patient care."