The quality of nurses provided by some temporary nurse staffing firms was taken to task in a report by a nonprofit journalism organization called ProPublica.

Titled "Temp firms a magnet for unfit nurses," the report said some nurse staffing companies aren't doing adequate background checks, and that some have become a haven for those at the bottom of the nursing profession. As a result, incompetent nurses are endangering the lives of patients in some cases, according to the report

One nurse, according to the report, was on probation in North Carolina and not allowed to work for staffing firms, but the nurse was able to get jobs through staffing firms in California. Another nurse was placed despite problems with falling asleep during shifts as well as talking to himself and answering himself out loud, according to the report.

The investigation was a joint effort of New York-based ProPublica and The Los Angeles Times newspaper. The article was published Dec. 5 and 6.

For a link to the article, click here.

An earlier report by Dr. Linda Aiken of the University of Pennsylvania found that temporary nurses were as qualified or better than traditionally employed nurses.