Currently two states have staffing agency wage caps in place. They are Massachusetts and Minnesota. These caps were in place prior to the pandemic and the pay rates were raised in response to the increased pandemic staffing needs. There are currently no federal laws proposed however, there have been several associations including the American Health Care Association that have penned letters requesting federal agencies intervene to “protect consumers from anti-competitive and unfair practices”. Connecticut enacted fines designed to prohibit profiteering during emergencies. Pennsylvania is the only other state so far to have a solid plan to move forward with legislation aimed at staffing agencies due to the spearheading of Rep. Timothy Bonner. Oregon, Illinois, Kansas & Kentucky are also currently considering legislation. (Remember that when it’s time to sign those travel contracts.)
Let’s be fair. Agencies are pocketing somewhere in the neighborhood of 40% of those fees they are collecting and I know of no person that begrudges bedside nurses their current wages. My informal survey of friends and family enthusiastically claim, “It’s not enough.” So, what to do going forward so nurses get paid what they have deserved all along while allowing for American free-market enterprise to continue to be the shining example of economic policy? I have a few suggestions:
Hold A Draft: New graduate nurses enter into a pool with their seeding determined by a complex algorithm that includes their GPA, school attended, honors & awards. Hospitals, in turn, are assigned draft pick selections based on such determinants as their Magnet status, benefit & salary packages, orientation programs & level of tuition assistance. (By the way, if Dollywood ever opens a hospital I am there!) Not for Profits go in the first pool to pick and For Profits go in the last pool.
Unrestricted Free Agency: Nurses may be eligible after a minimum of 6 years of bedside nursing experience. A nurse must file for free agency within 10 days of the next Covid-19 variant surge and submit that stupid portfolio they’ve amassed for performance evaluations. (Let’s make it good for something.) All interested hospitals have 10 days to make their offers and only For Profits have a salary cap.
Privateering: Cruise ships hired by and full of nurses pull into ports of call on specified days. Hospital administrators meet at the arrivals terminal bearing treasure chests full of gold, silver & jewels and carrying casks of rum. The lawyers the nurses have hired review all contract submissions while the nurses party. Nurses consider attorney recommendations and sign accordingly after they have sobered up. All billable hours and cruise line expenses are covered by the hospitals.
As these practices have already been proven to be successful at recruiting and retaining NFL & NBA players & entertainment moguls so why reinvent the wheel? Surely those highly educated, technically adept, angels of mercy merit the same type of treatment and compensation. In fact, let’s do away with staffing agencies and set up a system akin to player agents. Let’s call them angel agents. (Show me the morphine!) I offer my services as representative and negotiator for any of my travel nursing friends seeking assignments (for a small fee, it’s the American way).
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