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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 J U LY 8 , 2 0 2 4 H E A L T H C A R E / W E L L N E S S A s a travel nurse, Bailey Orvis has been all over, from her beginnings in North Dakota to New Hampshire and Maine. She has finally settled in as a per diem nurse at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Biddeford and a part-time nurse in New Hampshire. But back in March 2020, Orvis was a newly graduated nurse. She earned her nursing license and immediately went to work for an intensive care unit in Bismarck, N.D. "I did that for 10 months and that was very difficult," says Orvis. "I moved to New England and started working in the emergency department." Orvis's journey is not unusual. Travel nurses are registered health care workers who take on short-term roles at hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities, going where they're needed. Traditionally, they have been employed by independent staffing agencies rather than the hos- pitals themselves. Demand for travel nurses exploded during the pandemic, sending hos- pitals and health care systems into a frenzy of recruiting. Even before COVID-19, health care leaders warned that hospitals face a severe nursing shortage. e repeated surges in the pandemic made the situation dire, in part because of nurse burnout, stress, exhaustion, trauma and lack of support. Although travel nurses have helped Maine hospitals, the industry has created challenges for health care systems, especially rural hospitals. e higher cost of bringing in short- term workers could have been justi- fied during the pandemic. Maine's hospitals struggle with the higher costs of labor while coping with the ongoing nursing shortage. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY LIFE SUPPORT Maine has relied on travel nurses, but hospitals are still struggling to find help B y A l e x i s W e l l s F O C U S C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E ยป Bailey Orvis has been all over, from her beginnings in North Dakota to New Hampshire and Maine. She has finally settled in as a per diem nurse at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Biddeford. S O U R C E : American Hospital Association TRAVEL NURSE EXPENSES 4.7% 2019 38.6% 2022 Hospitals spent about 4.7% of their nurse labor expenses on travel nurses in January 2019, while in January 2022, that average reached 38.6%.