The Joint Commission Traveling nurses at KVHD

Oh those sidesteps of the question of how much is the healthcare district paying to outside registry; traveling nurses the hospital CEO and CFO have been doing for a long time now.

The only document I possess which tells any portion of the tale of the outside contractors; temporary agencies, came from the last finance committee meeting in Feb. 2009.

It gave the name of two contracts being approved; the costs were "Variable" and no exact figures were noted, broken down.

Here are the two companies that I found. First, one talks about the "highest pay" in the industry for it's staff.

But what is interesting is that both these companies are Joint Commission accredited. When administration and certain board members were asked why the hospital has not been accredited, it was dismissed that it was too "costly."

Now that I see both these organizations are accredited; we can afford to pay them at the higher costs because of it; why isn't this hospital willing to become accredited and follow industry standards?

They are even displaying Joint commission materials, handouts in the lobby (Look for Speak up: avoid medical errors); yet that is not the standard of practice adopted at the hospital.

Below are some links.

http://www.nightingalenurses.net/

Nightingale Nurses has earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval. Any clinical professional who has concerns about the safety or quality of care he/she observes is urged to contact the Joint Commission. The Company has a strict policy of ensuring that employees will not face retaliation for voicing complaints or concerns in this manner.

http://www.medtravelers.com/med-travelers.aspx

Joint Commission CertifiedMed Travelers, a division of AMN Healthcare, the nation's largest healthcare staffing firm and the leader in allied staffing, now joins AMN under its Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval™ for Healthcare Staffing Companies, first received in June 2005. The recent certification review determined that Med Travelers meets the Joint Commission's rigorous guidelines for certification.

www.jointcommission.org