Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we've seen significant numbers of health care workers depart from the industry. These departures have left hospitals and health care systems asking how they can continue to serve patient populations while maintaining compliance with state and federal health care regulations and remaining financially solvent.
In trying to address these issues, hospitals and health care systems have become creative and more flexible in their employment practices to avoid halting patient care services or shuttering their doors. We explore different strategies hospitals and health care systems have tried while analyzing the health care and employment law implications.
Travel Nurse Staffing Agencies
An often-talked-about solution to nursing shortages is to hire temporary "travel" nurses. These travel nurses are typically employed by temporary nurse staffing agencies that coordinate placement and negotiate contracts with hospitals and health care systems. Given the shortage of nurses, these staffing agencies have been able to leverage their position by negotiating favorable key contractual provisions including lucrative travel nurse compensation rates, sign-on bonuses, and fees for hiring travel nurses during or after their placements.
Although widely utilized by a significant number of hospitals, broad reliance on staffing agencies is more of a Band-Aid than a permanent solution. Smaller hospital systems, including many rural hospitals, have struggled to meet...
Washington, May 6 (IANS) India's Operation Sindoor, launched after the heinous terror attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22 last year and witnessed Pakistan-backed ter...