With the COVID-19 vaccine being rolled out across the country, facilities are staffing up to address the surging need for nurses to help administer the vaccine. We've compiled a list of the COVID-19 vaccination jobs for travel nurses.
Last Friday, the FDA authorized emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID 19 vaccine, marking a critical milestone in the pandemic. Federal health officials hope to vaccinate 20 million people before the end of the 2020, with healthcare workers and long-term care residents being among the first to receive the vaccine. While this achievement is monumental, it does not mean an immediate return to normalcy. Distributing the vaccine will remain challenging, and experts predict low-risk adults will need to wait until mid 2021 to receive it. Moreover, it's estimated that 80% of adults will need to be vaccinated before we can achieve “herd immunity."
[Updated November 9, 2020] As of today, at least ten vaccines are in phase 3 trials. See this list for all in-progress vaccines and their current status.
Novavax is the third US company to share positive results pertaining to its COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine's phase 1 trial showed that all volunteers developed antibodies, and on average, four times greater than people who had actually contracted and recovered from COVID-19. Better yet? No severe or significant side effects were reported. Once the study is peer reviewed by independent experts, the company will move onto the next stage of trials.
On Wednesday, June 24th, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut issued travel requirements that people arriving from states with currently heightened levels of COVID-19 cases must self-quarantine for 14 days before resuming normal activity with the states.
These requirements apply to anyone traveling from a state that currently has a positive test rate higher than .01%, or greater than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period.
Update: As of July 15, the states included in the advisory are now Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.
Note: Hawaii, Kansas (traveling from Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas), Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island (travel from states with a positive test rate of >5%) have similar restrictions still in place. Some other states, such as Pennsylvania, also have similar restrictions in place.
This waiver allows Wisconsin to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows Wisconsin to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows Puerto Rico to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows Utah to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows Washington, D.C. to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows Washington, D.C. to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows Nevada to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows Michigan to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
This waiver allows Washington, D.C. to "provisionally, temporarily enroll the out-of-state provider for the duration of the public health emergency." Read more here.
South Carolina may provisionally and temporarily enroll healthcare providers for the duration of the public health emergency. The state has submitted an 1135 waiver, so any valid license from any state will be accepted. Read more here.
Tennessee may provisionally and temporarily enroll healthcare providers for the duration of the public health emergency. The state has submitted an1135 waiver, so any valid license from any state will be accepted. Read more here.
For the following 60 days, the state of Connecticut has waived single-state licensure requirement, meaning that RNs and other medical professionals who are appropriately licensed in another state or US territory, can practice without having to first receive a state-specific license. You can read more here.
Out of state Licensed Practical Nurses, Registered Nurses, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, Physician Assistants, Respiratory Care Practitioner, Physicians, and Surgeons can be granted a temporary license in Illinois. To receive one, you must have a current, active license in another US state or jurisdiction. You can read more here.
At least 10 nurse leadership organizations have called for a policy that instates academic-practice partnerships between healthcare facilities and prelicensure registered nursing (RN) and practical/vocational nursing (PN/VN) programs across the country during the COVID-19 crisis. Read the full update here.
New Jersey is allowing nurses holding active multi-state (compact) licenses to work in the state. this state under their multi-state licenses. Nurses holding a license from a non-compact state can apply for accelerated temporary licensure by reciprocity. You can find more on the NJ DCA alert here.
To limit community transmission of COVID-19, the New Mexico Department of Health is asking anyone traveling into New Mexico from outside the state to self-isolate for 14 days and monitor themselves for any symptoms. You can find the full release here.
Due to the demand of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Florida Board of Nursing has extended the licensure renewal expiration date until May 31, 2020 for any health care practitioner with licensure renewal deadlines between March 21 and April 30, 2020. You can find the complete announcement here.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has waived several regulations to help meet Texas’ growing need for nurses as the state responds to the COVID-19 virus. The Governor’s actions will expand Texas’ active nursing workforce by doing the following:
Read the official announcement from the Texas Governor's Office here.
At an emergency meeting called on March 20, 2020, the Alabama Board of Nursing adopted a new policy which addresses a number of licensing issues. The rule, which takes immediate effect, is intended to address barriers to patient care and staffing issues arising from the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. Here are the key takeaways:
To read the full announcement from the Alabama Board of Nursing, click here.
The OSBN issued a statement this week directing that if the only reason nurse is refusing is because the organization is following OHA rather than CDC or WHO, that reason alone is not sufficient to refuse an assignment. Their statement comes in response to reports of nurses refusing to care for patients when their hospital is following state OHA guidelines rather than the CDC or WHO.
To read the Oregon State Board of Nursing press release, please click here.
On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) coordinated an emergency international airlift of 500,000 swabs and sample kits used in the COVID-19 testing process in an effort to increase diagnostic testing for Americans. “Thanks to this quick coordination among agencies and the private sector, private diagnostic companies will have the ability to provide rapid tests for hundreds of thousands of more Americans" said HHS Secretary, Alex Azar. Read the full press release from HHS.
On Thursday, March 19, 2020, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing (LSBN) passed two emergency rules in response to COVID-19. The rules extend and/or reinstate expired temporary permits of RN applicants and allow advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) practicing with a previously approved collaborating physician to extend their practice to new sites without reporting to the Board. Click here to read the official press release from LSBN.
Despite VP Mike Pence’s announcement on Thursday, licensure process is still determined by the individual states. However, states may sign a waiver to allow their state to accept medical practitioners with licenses from other states. We’ve compiled a list of the states who have signed this waiver and will keep it updated as more states sign on. View the full list here.
