The 2600 mile commute to work

Welcome to NurseCafe, the newsletter you can read on a plane while you’re flying across the country for your morning shit.

In today’s email:

• Work Benefits: Employee benefits continue to shift away from gimmicks.

• Extreme Commuting: A nurse commutes from Philadelphia to California.

• Pay Rates Decline: Travel assignments pay continued to decline since 2022

• Around The Web: How many scrubs do you think it takes to make $500 million?

P.S: If you want to read any previous editions of NurseCafe you can on our website and if you were forwarded this email you can subscribe here.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Nationwide Shift to Quality Benefits Over "Gimmicks"

In 2024 there was a trend in the healthcare industry to begin offering less gimmicky benefits to employees.

We don’t need more:

• Pizza Parties

• Starbucks Gift Cards

• Stanley Tumblers *even though I like mine 😉 

Healthcare employers are offering enhanced benefits to attract talent in a competitive labor market, according to job search engine Adzuna's analysis. February job postings highlighted tuition reimbursement, signing bonuses, and expanded parental leave as the most common incentives, while some employers also offered fertility benefits.

This trend comes as employers in other industries are scaling back perks, with cross-industry decreases in tuition reimbursement (24%), signing bonuses (37%), and expanded parental leave (24%) year-over-year.

Recruitment remains the healthcare industry's biggest challenge five years after the pandemic began. The sector experienced significant workforce losses due to burnout, early retirement, and career changes. Despite financial pressures and narrow margins, healthcare companies are investing in benefits that employees actually value and use, which research shows improves retention.

AROUND THE WEB

🏖️ Don’t stay at a Holiday Inn: Next time you accept a travel assignment look at Airbnb for hosts who cater to nurses.

💵 That’s a lot of scrubs: Figs had over $555 million in revenue in 2024. Fun fact - The co-founder Heather Hasson thought of the idea for figs after going on a date with a nurse who wore ill-fitting scrubs.

🧑‍🎓 More responsibilities: Nurses across Europe are advocating for more responsibilities.

👶 Just a little laughter: Sometimes we have to start a week with a laugh.

BY THE NUMBERS

Travel pay falls year over year

According to a report by Vivian pay rates for travel nurses have fallen consecutively for the last three years. This points to hospitals returning to more permanent solutions to staffing needs.

National Average Weekly Travel Wage

How far are you willing to travel for work?

The year is 2008, and America is amid a financial crisis. Nurse Tom Fowkes was in the same position as many of us (or our parents) were in. Money was tight and many nurses had to take on multiple jobs to make ends meet.

He first tried his hand at travel nurses, taking a few jobs in California earlier that year. He was later introduced to Kaiser and interviewed intending to take on a permanent position. After running the numbers, he realized he could earn more money from this new role, traveling 2,600 miles and paying for lodging.

When he first started, Tom would work 6 days straight for 12 hours each shift and then take two weeks off. We cannot recommend this structure of work as it can lead to burnout quickly.

He eased back his schedule to staying in California for two weeks working only 36 hours per week before heading back home.

That is some dedication to finding a sustainable work balance and maximizing pay all while lowering living expenses. (and saving for a new pool!)

But I can’t stop thinking how would you tell your boss you’re running late? “Hey, I am going to be late for work. We are still sitting on the runway” ✈️ 

MORNING THOUGHT

Some days the hardest part of nursing isn't the patients. It's finding where someone hid the good pens…

That’s it for this week’s newsletter. If you have any feedback or story you would like covered, reply to this email. We read every response. 🤓 

See you next Monday! ☕️