July 2007 Is the Travel Nurses Industry heating up and why?   YES! If you haven't noticed Hospitals are starting to use Travel Nurses again! After about a 3 year slow down we are starting to see demand for Travelers really pick up. We believe that this is occurring for a multitude of reasons. 1- The pendulum swings back and forth where hospitals feel they are using too many Travelers and cut back. Then the Hospitals get push back from their Nurse Managers that they need help and Travelers are hired again. In 2003 Hospitals started feeling that they where using too many Travelers and cut back. Now they feel they need them again. 2- When the economy is good, more people are willing to seek medical attention and the economy has been strong. 3- Hospitals are feeling the pinch due to the Nursing shortages. 4- Hospitals don't need to tighten their belt so much and are making more money so they can spend it on staffing. 5- Nurses are willing to Travel because they feel good about their economic situation.     What does this mean to the Traveler? It means that their will be more opportunities for you to choose from a variety of staffing companies and not just the big companies. This also means that rates are going up.     What should you do about it? Travel again and look at 3-5 agencies when you are thinking of Traveling.     Work with a smaller agency Large companies will pay Travelers less, give less personal service, but will have more location options. Smaller agencies will pay a Traveler more, be more flexible, have better personal service and now might have better locations.     It is not all about the money Talk to your recruiter and tell them what you like to do. Often a Recruiter is like a travel agent. They know the great things to do in each state and the best Hospitals to work at so at least after work, you can have lots of fun!         HEALTHCAREseeker.com, A JCAHO Travel Nursing certified company, places Travelers into positions in all 50 states. We are the #1 fastest growing company in our industry according to Staffing Industry Analysts. We know that Travelers have their choices in the firms they work with. We will differentiate ourselves to Travelers by being more flexible, by paying more and by being the industry standard for service/ innovation/ information. www.healthcareseeker.com