Worn-Out Nurses Hit the Road for Better Pay

Hospital finances and morale suffer as travel nurses become a growing trend

Travel nurses take on temporary assignments in hospitals or other health care facilities that have staffing shortages. The contracts typically last a few months and usually pay more than staff positions. Kyle Lee/Shutterstock

In parts of the country where COVID-19 continues to fill hospitals, a rotating cast of traveling nurses helps keep intensive care units fully staffed. Hospitals have to pay handsomely to get that temporary help, and those higher wages are tempting some staff nurses to hit the road, too.

Nearly two years into the pandemic, there’s some truth in a joke circulating among frustrated ICU nurses: They ask their hospitals for appropriate compensation for the hazards they’ve endured. And the nurses are rewarded with a pizza party instead.