For years, hospital leaders have operated under a widely accepted assumption: travel nurses cost more than permanent staff. On the surface, that belief makes sense. Travel nurses often command higher hourly wages, and those rates are highly visible on budgets and invoices.
But new data shows that this assumption doesn’t hold up when healthcare organizations look beyond hourly pay and evaluate the true, fully loaded cost of staffing.
A recent study conducted by KPMG and commissioned by the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO) delivers a surprising finding: when all costs are considered, travel nurses are often less expensive than permanently employed nurses.
According to the study, the average all-in cost for a travel nurse is approximately $89 per hour, compared to $94 per hour for a permanent nurse.
For hospitals facing rising labor costs, staffing shortages, and operational strain, this insight reframes how workforce strategy should be evaluated, and highlights why flexible staffing models, when executed correctly, can deliver both cost savings and performance gains.
Looking Beyond Hourly Wages: What “All-In Cost” Really Means
One of the most valuable contributions of the study is its emphasis on all-in labor costs rather than base pay alone. While permanent nurses may appear cheaper on an hourly wage basis, wages represent only part of the total cost of employment.
Permanent staff carry a wide range of additional expenses, including:
- Benefits and insurance (health, dental, vision, disability)
- Paid time off, holidays, and overtime
- Recruitment and hiring costs
- Orientation, onboarding, and training
- Risk management expenses such as workers’ compensation and malpractice
- Nonproductive time spent on education, training, and administrative tasks
The study estimates that nonproductive costs alone account for about $9 per hour for permanent nurses, roughly 10% of their total cost.
Travel nurses, by contrast, typically do not incur these expenses, as they arrive fully credentialed, trained, and ready to work.
When all these factors are added together, permanent nurses average $94 per hour in total cost, while travel nurses average $89 per hour, despite higher base wages.
This pattern holds true beyond nursing. They also found that travel allied health professionals and travel therapy staff are 9% and 13% less expensive, respectively, than their permanent counterparts.
Speed, Flexibility, and Cost Control
Hospitals surveyed reported that it typically takes two to three weeks to deploy a travel nurse, often the same amount of time required just to orient a new permanent hire.
Meanwhile, recruiting, onboarding, and fully training a permanent nurse can take months, especially in competitive labor markets.
Travel clinicians help hospitals:
- Fill critical gaps quickly
- Respond to patient surges and seasonal demand
- Reduce burnout among core staff
- Maintain quality of care during periods of turnover
Importantly, executives surveyed emphasized that cost, patient care quality, and relevant experience were the top three factors when selecting travel clinicians. This underscores a critical point: travel staffing is no longer viewed as a last resort, but as a strategic tool for workforce resilience.
What This Means for Hospital Leaders
The takeaway from the KPMG study is clear: staffing decisions based solely on hourly wages can be misleading and costly.
Hospitals that rely exclusively on permanent staff may unknowingly absorb significant hidden costs related to attrition, nonproductive time, recruitment, and training.
In contrast, organizations that strategically integrate travel professionals into their workforce mix gain greater flexibility, clearer cost structures, and faster access to experienced clinicians.
In fact, the study found that healthcare leaders believe the ideal mix of travel nurses is approximately 7% of the total nursing workforce, and 17% of respondents expect their use of travel nurses to increase in the next year.
The question is no longer whether travel staffing belongs in a modern workforce strategy, but how to execute it effectively.
How MedPro Helps Hospitals Capture These Advantages
At MedPro, we help healthcare organizations translate workforce insights into real-world results. The findings of the KPMG study align closely with what we see every day across our client partnerships.
-
Transparent, Predictable Cost Structures
We help hospitals understand the true cost of staffing by providing clear pricing, cost controls, and reporting. This allows leaders to make informed decisions and avoid the hidden expenses associated with permanent hiring.
-
Speed Without Compromise
Our national clinician network and streamlined credentialing process enable rapid placements without sacrificing quality. Whether hospitals need travel nurses, allied health professionals, or therapy staff, MedPro delivers experienced clinicians who are ready to contribute on day one.
-
Quality and Continuity of Care
The KPMG study found that the quality of candidates is the top factor hospitals consider when selecting staffing partners. MedPro prioritizes clinician quality, compliance, and specialty alignment, ensuring continuity of care while supporting internal teams.
Additionally, as more organizations turn to Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to coordinate contingent labor, MedPro’s experience operating within MSP environments allows us to integrate seamlessly into existing workforce strategies while maximizing efficiency and compliance.
Rethinking Staffing Strategy for the Future
Healthcare labor challenges are not temporary. Provider shortages, rising demand, and workforce burnout are long-term realities that require flexible, data-driven solutions.
The KPMG/NATHO study offers compelling evidence that travel staffing is not only a clinical solution, but a financial one. By focusing on all-in costs, speed to fill, and operational resilience, hospitals can build staffing models that support both fiscal responsibility and high-quality patient care.
At MedPro, we’re proud to help healthcare organizations move beyond outdated assumptions and toward smarter workforce strategies, backed by data, driven by experience, and focused on outcomes.