LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — While overall travel dropped during the omicron surge the option for medical staff to travel, has gained popularity.
And now, even as the omicron surge starts to level off, some local hospitals like UAMS are still experiencing staffing shortages, and this is partially due to medical professionals leaving their local hospitals to help elsewhere.
Offered a much higher paycheck, and even living stipends, former Arkansas children's nurse Lauryn Crockett signed on with a travel nursing agency.
"When the pay started getting not so good at work. And then they were paying travelers way more. Like, why not go now? A whole lot of people from my unit I know... left," Crockett said.
Crockett works in Texas right now, after ACH staff pay stayed well below what travel nursing agencies could offer.
"I make about three times as much [as ACH pay] right now," Crockett said.
But the pay gap isn't just an issue at Children's, Crockett describing the issue as, "Definitely systemic... just no one's paying what they should."
This national trend is now hurting Arkansas hospitals. Baptist Health told us they were having trouble keeping up with travel nursing offers. UAMS is in the same boat, their average nursing job pays $34/hour, while nurses on travel offers make an average of $150/hour.
The pay gap even as some travel and local staff working side by side.
"You could just raise everybody else's pay at the home unit and we'd stay," Crockett said.
It's a hot-button issue, because federal coronavirus aid-- which is helping hospitals pay for travel nurses, will eventually run out.
President Biden has asked congress to send him a new aid bill before the next wave of COVID-19. But, there's nothing ready to pass right now.
The trend is worsening staffing shortages. Baptist Health has about 600 nursing vacancies. UAMS says they have about 200 vacancies of their own, something they say is likely their highest ever.
These shortages now put extra pressure on those who do stay.
"People were getting burned out so then we're short and then we couldn't hire new people for a while because as COVID we couldn't afford it," Crockett said.
And leaving nurses like Crockett in a tough spot to weigh loyalty and pay, adding "I loved my hospital and I love you know, all my work friends... so going into a hospital that is completely different. It's very hard."
The Arkansas Health Department says they don't currently track travel nurses in the state, however, Governor Hutchinson shared at a recent briefing that he plans on looking into that information and will share as it becomes available.
Now congressmembers have also addressed a letter to the White House to try and put a cap on travel nurse pay-- saying, that the trend may be starting to come at the expense of patients.