TTATN 038: The 2017 Travel Nursing Job Market

Hey everyone, welcome to the truth about travel nursing podcast. Thank you so much for joining us for episode 38 of the podcast. In this episode, we’re going to take a look at the state of the travel nursing job market in 2017. We’re looking at this topic because there is a lot of talk out there that the job market for travel healthcare professionals is slack. That means there are fewer jobs…or the ratio of candidates to jobs is higher now than it was last year.  

Travel Nurses Are Reporting a Slowdown in Jobs

Just yesterday, I saw a post on social media from a recruiter that said, “ER job posted 2 hours ago and filled in less than that! That’s how things are working right now.” Many travel nurses chimed in to express their frustration with finding jobs. And, as always, there is no shortage of speculation as to what’s going on.  

So, in this episode, we’re going to discuss the travel nursing job market and take a look at the possible causes of the newfound slackness in the market. For those that aren’t aware, when the job market is hot and there are more jobs than candidates, we call that a tight labor market. When there are few jobs to candidates we call that slack labor market.  

I’ll let you know in advance, for clarity, that my personal belief is that there are a number of factors contributing to the slowness. Some of the factors may be weighing more heavily on the market than others, but I don’t believe that there is any one thing that’s causing the slowness.  

Now, this episode is going to be a little different. That’s because I already wrote an entire blog post about this topic back in July of 2017. However, articles like that don’t get very many views. People aren’t searching Google for “travel nursing job market”. If you di, our articles would come up, but people just don’t search for that stuff. And social media is fleeting. So unless something goes viral, an article might get a few hundred views on social media.  

So, I’m going to share that article laced with some additional commentary on this podcast. Trust me, this is going to be very interesting. I promise that you’ll discover a lot of helpful information in this episode. 

TRS Healthcare at the Travelers Conference

But, before I begin I want to share a great opportunity with you if you are attending the traveler’s conference in Las Vegas this year. The conference is actually just a few days away from the launch of this episode. And if you not familiar, The Travelers Conference as it’s called is held annually in Las Vegas. It’s a great way to meet fellow travelers and network with agencies and recruiters. And trust me, you will learn a lot if you attend. There are tons of helpful classes and presentations. It really is an amazing event. I highly recommend it. You can learn more at travelersconference.com, that’s travelersconference.com. 

Anyway, at this year’s event, TRS Healthcare is hosting an after-party on day one of the conference, which is Monday, September 18. The party starts at 7pm at the RockHouse located in The Venetian. They’re going to be buying drinks and auctioning off a Cruise for 2.  

All you have to do is stop by their booth, which is number 219, to pick up your invitation. You must have an invitation to get drinks and be entered in the drawing to win the cruise for 2. Now, think about this. There are only going to be a couple of hundred people in this drawing…so you’re chances of winning are much higher than they are for typical drawings like this. I mean, typically a cruise for 2 would have thousands of entrants.  

Plus, I think you’re going to love TRS Healthcare. This company was founded by an RN who really is an inspiration. I mean, their Marketing Director wrote an article discussing her story for o