Illustration by Malcolm Garris/PhotoDisc

Traveling healthcare professionals go where the work is

By Chris Schreiber
November 21, 1997

Meet occupational therapist Sue Passaway, a traveling healthcare "temp." Passaway, a native of Great Britain, wanders the country from job to job as a short-term, contracted therapist.

For Passaway, the simplest domestic decision can be tough. Should she hold off on buying a toaster for another month until after she’s moved, or try to squeeze one more item into her bloated Honda Civic?

She is one of thousands of healthcare "travelers"—physical and occupational therapists, nurses, and physicians—who must travel light and adapt quickly as they move from state to state, assignment to assignment.

Travelers are not new to the healthcare marketplace, but the need for them is cyclical. Currently, the demand is high as more hospitals hire temporary professionals to fill positions traditionally held by permanent staff members.

According to Pam Rice, a former RN and president of Health Care Systems Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas, company that places physical and occupational therapists, the shortage of healthcare workers willing to take temporary assignments has created a growing demand for companies like hers.

The relationship benefits both employees and employers, Rice said. The agency that places the travelers takes care of licensing, interviewing, credentialing, and work permits for foreign workers. "The employers don’t have to worry about hiring or firing, and they know we’ve screened everyone before they arrive on the job," Rice said.

More hospitals are beginning to see the benefits of travelers, especially in rural and semi-rural locations, where recruiting or retention can be difficult. Since the average assignment is about 13 weeks, many employers use the time to recruit travelers for permanent positions.

"I’ve been offered a chance to stay at almost every job I’ve had," said occupational therapist Jocelyn Brown, who has been traveling for three years.

Brown and her husband have moved through five states, lured initially by the opportunity to see the country. Her worth in the United States is much greater than in her native New Zealand, Brown said. Now in North Carolina, Brown has been tested in a range of settings, from Mississippi to New York.

"I don’t know if everyone would be good at it," Brown said. "There’s a huge growth curve, which is good in terms of your professional skills." There are challenges outside of work, too. "Entertainment isn’t going to come to you. You have to be a go-getter."

Most travelers are single and in their mid-20s, but there are exceptions.

Mary Gibson, RN, a 57-year old who has worked in 13 states during nine years of traveling, says the nomadic lifestyle can appeal to all ages.

"When I first started, all the travelers were young," Gibson said. But a lot of older nurses are traveling now, she said. "Young girls may want to travel for a while, but many of them are looking to start families and they realize that it’s difficult to do that when you move all the time. If you’re older, you don’t have that concern. There can be less to tie you down." Gibson keeps an apartment in New Hampshire for the three months a year she is not on the road.

The demands of the job go beyond the rigors of frequent moves. Many travelers are expected to step right in and produce at levels higher than even their most established colleagues.

"There are higher expectations for productivity," said Lisa Gress, a physical therapist currently working on Nantucket, Massachusetts. "They’re paying a lot of money to bring you in, and you don’t have the burden of office politics. You aren’t responsible for meetings and program development, so they expect you to be more productive right away."

Passaway agreed. "Orientation is very minimal," she said. "You’ve got to hit the ground running. You have to be able to adjust very rapidly. Most of the time people are very understanding of the situation—they expect you to be proficient but understand if you are asking questions."

"The bottom line is that you’ve got to know your nursing," Gibson said. "You’ve got to be on top of it all."

Some travelers say misunderstandings can lead to a lack of acceptance in the workplace. "There is a common myth that we don’t care about the job, because we aren’t permanent staff, but that’s not at all what I’ve seen," Passaway said.

How long will Gibson be a traveler? "I don’t think I could take the politics of going back to work at a hospital full time," she said. "I will travel until I can no longer walk."

Passaway, meanwhile, awaits word on a job in North Carolina. "My friends want to know when I’m going to settle down and get a normal life," she said. "But it’s addictive. Originally I was only coming for a year, and I’ve been saying ‘18 more months’ for a while now. One day it will have to come to an end—probably when I accumulate too much stuff to fit into my car."