I think travel nursing will make somewhat of a comeback; but not to the pre-recession numbers we were seeing. like any insudtry driven by money, travel nursing became a grossly abused field. I was a traveler 10 years ago and could go anywhere I wanted. The shortage was that pronounced. I left traveling and went back to home base work, both managerial and staff work, until about 2 years ago. I was able to find travel work close to home, but it was getting more competative. There were just that many more nurses traveling. Then when the recession really came into play, the skids went on. For every job that was posted, there were dozens of applicants. Hiring personel would quit excepting profiles becouse they could not go through them all. Meanwhile, recruiters were talking about how much better things were getting; not true. Hospitals have cut back due to decreases in revenue and increases in uninsured patient volumes. All thos travel nurses that were competing for jobs got smart and took perm positions. Its a simple economic case of supply and demand. The need for travelers will return, but I don;t look for it to return to the high numbers it once was. I am currently an ER department manager in a small ER in a rather isolated area. I have no trouble recruiting full time staff when I need nurses, which is not very often.
