High pay for traveling nurses a symptom and cause of staff shortages

Sep 7, 2021
Traveling RNs make far more money than full-timers in the same job, stirring frustration at hospitals. Governments often foot the bill.
A poster lauding nurses'efforts hangs at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles. The COVID pandemic has put more demands on nurses — and created more demand for nurses.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The risks of going back to school can have economic rewards

Sep 28, 2017
Pam Palme, a nurse anesthetist in Colorado, shares her story of going back to school to pursue nursing.
A student looks through an instruction manual with a page open to directions on using a defibrillator during an elderly care training program.
Adam Berry/Getty Images

Working as a nurse but wishing to be a mom

Sep 6, 2017
Joy O'Brien is a nurse practitioner who wants children, but with $2,100 a month in student debt, she can't afford to adopt.
A patient has her blood pressure checked by a registered nurse practitioner during a checkup in Wellington, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Finding a first job not easy for new nurses

Jul 6, 2012
There's been talk of a nurse shortage for years, but why are many nursing grads still struggling to find a job?

Getting Personal: Health care, nursing, and investing

Mar 30, 2012
Host Tess Vigeland and David Lazarus from the L.A. Times answer your personal finance queries.
One way or another, if Americans want healthcare coverage, someone's going to have to pay.
KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images

From heavy industry to intensive care

Mar 21, 2012
Workers in Detroit who've been laid off from traditional industry are finding new and unexpected opportunities in the caring professions.
Kurt Edwards is a male nurse at Sheffield Manor Nursing and Rehab Center on Detroit's west side. Before he was trained in nursing, he was laid off in 2007 from his job stocking a warehouse.
Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times