LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky hospitals aren’t exempt from the nationwide nursing shortage, and there’s a battle within the industry to retain nurses they already have.
Travel nursing is the name of the game. It allows for registered nurses to work contracts at hospitals in-need, and it's typically for significantly more pay.
University of Louisville School of Nursing Dean Sonya Hardin said travel nursing pay has pushed Louisville-area hospitals to compete with premium pay.
"Right now, it's extremely lucrative for nurses, and I think it will continue to be," she said.
Hardin said she's heard of travel nursing agencies offering $100 to $125 an hour to help staff critically in-need hospitals.
U of L nursing school graduate and Louisville native Sierra Hoagland made the swift to travel nursing about a year after she graduated.
"The pay is insanely higher," Hoagland said.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic was hard on the health care industry, and it's still hard physically and emotionally. For her, travel nursing offered an escape to somewhere new and a paycheck that quadrupled.
"I really loved it," Hoagland said. "I mean, living in Florida is great."
Now, she's back in Louisville in the same COVID-19 ICU as before, just as a travel nurse instead.
Hoagland said she feels like the pandemic has changed many nurses' perspectives on how much they make.
"Nursing pay has been very stagnant for a long time, and I think it has given nurses a good opportunity to see their worth," she said.
While travel nursing isn't the lifestyle for all nurses, Hoagland said she thinks it's empowering to have options.
Pamela Missi, vice president and chief nursing officer at Norton Women's and Children's Hospital, said travel nursing isn't new, and Norton has always pushed to compete with the pay of travel nursing by offering an employee environment where nurses want to be.
Hoagland said while some nurses are leaving Kentucky, that doesn't mean Kentucky isn't getting travel nurses.
"There's plenty of nurses that come into Kentucky too as travel nurses," she said. "It's just basically whoever's — it sounds kind of bad — but whoever's paying the most."
Hardin said U of L is relaunching an accelerated program for people who want to become a nurse to help the nursing shortage in the long run. The program is designed for someone with a degree in something else and allows for in-person and online course work. The degree completed in 15 months.
Applications open Wednesday, Sept. 1, and can be found here.
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