Healthcare staffing has never been in more demand. The shortage of nurses is expected to grow 23 percent by 2008, as reported by The Bureau of Labor Statistics. The nursing occupation is the fastest growing of all occupations and half of the nursing workforce are expected to retire in the next 15 years.  Allied Health professionals are also in  great demand with declining numbers.  A recent study shows the dramatic shortage  of almost 45,000  in allied health professions.

The problem is a simple case of supply and demand. The demand for nurses is expected to grow 40% between now and 2020, while the supply of new nurses will increase by only 6 % over the same period. The situation is similar for other allied health occupations. Factors driving this growth in demand include:

1.   An 18% growth in the population

2.   A larger portion of elderly (Baby Boomers) demanding more medical
      services

3.   The growth of the medical devices field

The Industry

The travel nursing field has helped alleviate the shortages. Travel nursing has been around for a number of years but as the nursing shortage has worsened, travel nurse contracting has boomed. A few of the reasons are:

• Travel nurses enjoy the opportunity to travel and earn higher salaries. A recent survey indicated that 47% of travel nurses do so because of the higher pay rates.
  
• Travel nurses receive medical benefits, 401 (k) benefits, paid travel costs, housing and food stipends. A recent survey indicated that 23% of travel nurses do so because of private housing and another 13% travel because of the tremendous health/dental benefits offered.
  
• Travel nurses suffer a lower burn out ratio than other nurses because of the diversity of locations and assignments.
  
• The hospitals are attracted to travel nurses because they fill short term shortages during peak periods.
  
• The travel nurses have filled a gap that allows a hospital to continue to fill beds.
  
• Staffing Industry Analysts reported recently that 15,000 to 20,000 traveling nurses are used each week in U.S. hospitals. Nurse to patient ratio legislation in some states such as California drive the demand up for travel nurses.
  
• Many studies have confirmed that patients at hospitals with a lower proportion of registered nurses in their work force had significantly higher rates of patient complications when compared with patients in hospitals that were better staffed with RNs. Overall, hospitals with high RN staffing had lengths of stay that were 3 to 5 % shorter, and complication rates 2 to 9 % lower, than hospitals with low RN staffing.

The Sagent Healthstaff Solution

Sagent Healthstaff recognizes this supply and demand crisis and has taken several significant steps to posture itself above the competition in order to capture a larger share of the travel nurse market. Since the company was founded in 2001 the priority has been to establish a solid foundation of Best Practices in the industry and to build a staff that will support the emphasis on quality.