Demand for travel nurses increasing in Ohio, nationwide

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - COVID-19 has caused several shortages: toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and even nurses. When a hospital needs nurses, they might call Fastaff.

Fastaff has been sending its nurses all around the country. Once a nurse gets an assignment, they pack their bags and need to be there within a week.

During a pandemic, these assignments come with some risk, but these nurses are well compensated for their time.

“They really run into the fire,” explained Fastaff Senior VP of Marketing Lauren Pasquale-Bartlett. “They’re very brave, they’re like the special forces of nursing. They go in for these really critical assignments.”

The need for traveling nurses across the country has increased drastically because of the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the state’s needing nurses is Ohio, according to Pasquale-Bartlett.

“Particularly in the last few weeks we’ve seen a two to three increase in demand in requests for nurses to come in and support the staff,” she said. “That really indicates to us that it’s an early signal or maybe we’re right in the middle of a coronavirus spike.”

Traveling nurses are well compensated. Fastaff’s website lists the open traveling nurse jobs in Ohio as paying more than $5,200 a week.

Some states are offering more than $8,000 a week for traveling nurses.

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