“I was really apprehensive about it because I’ve always been at one little hospital,” said Suzanne Foster, a travel nurse with ECU Health, “so it was a little intimidating coming to a larger hospital.”

Suzanne Foster isn’t the only nurse who found herself looking for new and different opportunities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I wanted to try travel, nursing and experience other facilities,” said Foster, “but I have a husband and a son that I dearly love and do not want to be away from. The fact that I can drive home at night is huge.”

She can do both thanks to the ECU Health Travel Staffing program. It’s an innovative approach to recruiting driven by the ever-changing health care industry and the need to meet nurses where they are.

“For an organization of our size to develop its own staffing agency is significant in the innovation of nursing care and staffing hospitals,” said Dennis Campbell, ECU Health Beaufort Hospital, a campus of ECU Health Medical Center interim president. “It’s no secret that there is a nationwide shortage of staff nurses and nurses are more mobile today than they have ever been.”

“I was getting a little bit burnt out in my current role, which frankly after COVID, I think a lot of us needed just a change of scenery,” Foster said.

“The travel staffing program mimics any other staffing agency. The difference is it’s ours,” said Campbell.

Since the start of the program, the system has hired more than 500 clinical team members. Of those, 89% have opted to extend their assignments.

“The team, everybody that you encounter is extremely considerate and thankful to have you on board,” Foster said. “Working at ECU Health has been wonderful.”

To learn more about the ECU Health Travel Staffing Program visit: https://careers.ecuhealth.org/pages/vidant-health-travel-staffing-program.