A medical center faces a staffing shortage and is forced to get creative to deal with this serious issue. In fact, the hospital giant in the southeastern state has just announced a groundbreaking travel nursing program.
First in Healthcare Industry
The hospital giant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center believes its groundbreaking travel nursing program may, in fact, be the first in the healthcare industry. There are eight hundred new spots that just opened recently. Also, UPMC is hoping the program is going to stop nurses from looking elsewhere.
“We have to make an effort to be more innovative; thus we really need to be willing to find new ideas, and then be bold about it,” UPMC Senior Vice President of Health Services Tami Minnier said. “Actually, this is very bold. Understand that this is not a small endeavor here we are undertaking. Also, we have to try.”
Giving out Incentives
Also, the UMPC did decide recently to give local nurses the opportunity to, in fact, land the incentives. Thus to go ahead and scratch that traveling itch. But obviously with the idea and goal to stay with UPMC, for roughly $7,000 a week.
Herself a longtime nurse, Minnier said, the move can really impact hospitals in three states.
“Pennsylvania and two other U.S. states, we do have hospitals in, and thus recognize it takes a couple of months to get licenses in the different states,” she said. “In fact, so over the course of the first few months, who we hire, we then will ask that they become in time licensed in all three states, and then be willing to move about. You might have six weeks at UPMC in one local city, and then six weeks in another local city.”
Eight hundred travel nursing spots will open up in the program. To really put it in perspective, there will be 8,000 nurses across UPMC. There is one catch: Current nurses who are interested in the program will not get to save their position and then later return to their current floor or home hospital.
