LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 12, 2009) – TotalMed, a national travel healthcare staffing company, recently projected an increase in travel nursing needs by healthcare facilities in the coming weeks due to anticipated outbreaks of swine (H1N1) flu virus.
“In recent weeks, our firm has been contacted by multiple client hospital facilities from around the country asking us to be ready to respond on short notice to a surge in travel nurse jobs”, says Gene Scott, President. “Hospital staffing executives are very concerned about the ability to adequately staff their facilities to serve admitted patients should a swine flu outbreak materialize. Historically, travel nurses have been available to staff nursing shortages caused for various reasons. However, the recent economic downturn has caused many travel nurses to take a permanent staff positions, so, it will be even more challenging for our industry to respond. TotalMed is in the process of pre-qualifying a pool of travel nurse candidates around the country that are ready to meet this challenge. The travel nurse jobs most often mentioned are specialty needs: intensive care unit (ICU), prenatal intensive care unit (PICU), neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and emergency room (ER) nurses.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, twenty-seven states are reporting widespread influenza activity at this time. Almost all of the influenza viruses identified so far are 2009 H1N1 influenza A viruses. These viruses remain similar to the virus chosen for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine and remain susceptible to the antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir with rare exceptions. The 2009-2010 influenza season officially began on October 4th.
About TotalMed
TotalMed staffs nurses, techs, and allied professionals on multi-week assignments in healthcare facilities in all 50 states. TotalMed was awarded the HCSS Certification with Distinction by The Joint Commission and is a founding member of the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO).
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