Travel nursing continues this year’s historic run and again led the way across sectors in terms of median revenue growth in June with an increase of 95%, up from 85% in the survey covering May, according to SIA’s July Pulse Survey Report. In addition, revenue was up a median 42% in allied healthcare, 32% in per diem and 21% in locum tenens.
Bill rates: Bill rates had been trending downward as pandemic crisis rates eased, but could again be on the upswing as the Delta variant impacts parts of the country. Only a net 8% of travel nurse staffing firms observed an increasing trend in bill rates over the previous three months; and while a net 19% expect a negative trend in the next six months, this is down from 52% that expected a decrease in the prior survey for May.
Similarly, a net 12% of per diem staffing firms now expect a decreasing trend in bill rates in the next six months, down from 44% in the prior month's survey.
The survey also found a net 63% of travel nurse staffing firms reported an increasing trend in new orders over the last three months, up from the net 46% reported in the prior survey.
Average recruiting difficulty for healthcare staffing firms increased to 3.58 from 3.39 in the July report, while average sales difficulty decreased to 2.32 from 2.39 (on a scale from one to five).
The latest Pulse survey also asked firms, “Do you have clients that are requiring or expressing a preference to have temporary workers that are vaccinated for Covid-19? If so, how is your staffing firm handling these cases?” Among the 11 healthcare staffing firms participating in the survey, seven firms, or 64%, reported that clients were expressing such requirements/preferences.
Open-ended comments from healthcare staffing providers included: “We are working with our clients and healthcare professionals to match preferences accordingly. We have had some clients that initially required the vaccination, however they have since notified us it would be preferred, but not required. The number of clients that require the vaccination is so small, and we continue to focus on providing the best customer service to both our clients and healthcare professionals as we hope the landscape will start to settle down.”
However, another stated: “We do medical staffing, and if the RNs or LPNs are not vaccinated, they cannot work at 70% of our locations.”
Additionally, remaining unvaccinated may not be an option going forward as a growing number of providers are shifting their policies away from simply encouraging staff vaccination to requiring the shots as a condition of employment. Fierce Healthcare reported Kaiser Permanente, Ascension Health and 92 other health systems are now requiring mandatory Covid-19 vaccines for their workforces.
A report that includes selected highlights from the Pulse Survey is available to corporate members of SIA; the full Pulse report itself is available only to companies that took part in the survey. For more information on participating in the next survey in September, contact SIA Research Analyst Curtis Starkey at cstarkey@staffingindustry.com.
