Calling it a “free-wheeling, $4-billion industry” fueled by the nation’s chronic nursing shortage, ProPublica reporters Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein take on the firms that supply temporary nurses to American hospitals (Los Angeles Times version here). In the story, the reporters say they “found dozens of instances in which staffing agencies skimped on background checks or ignored warnings from hospitals about sub-par nurses on their payrolls. Some hired nurses sight unseen, without even conducting an interview.”
Although the healthcare system as a whole is increasingly regulated, the nurse staffing industry remains a Wild West. No one knows how many agencies exist nationwide; estimates range from 3,000 to 6,000.
Ornstein, AHCJ’s president, and Weber found plenty of cases to back up that ‘Wild West’ impression. In some cases, firms shift problem nurses from hospital to hospital as trouble arose and, even when a nurse was tossed from one temp firm, he or she usually had no problem finding work at another. Nurses were hired with criminal backgrounds and licenses that were revoked in other states. They often allow employees to prove their “competency” through online tests, and are sometimes fly-by-night operations run by people with no prior nursing experience.
In the end, the reporters found that while there is a clear divide between the best and worst temporary nurse staffing organizations, it’s not always easy or possible for hospitals to figure out which is which.
