Healthcare Traveler - October 2008 - (Page 20) healthcare travelers’ earnings Anne Baye Ericksen A checkup on *Figures for current and previous full- and part-time travelers include responses from nursing and allied health participants. However, sample sizes for the various allied health disciplines were too small to report individually. Only nurses’ earnings are broken out where possible within this article. ith the next presidential election just weeks away, the economy has taken up permanent residence in the national spotlight. Given lagging housing values, unpredictable market swings, and less-than-affordable prices at the pumps, the presidential hopeful who takes office in January will be facing a daunting task. Have annual salaries kept pace with inflation and the climbing cost of living? Does it make financial sense to adopt or continue with a mobile lifestyle in the current economic environment? Read on to see how the numbers add up in the second Healthcare Traveler Salary Survey. The big picture When our first study was conducted in late 2006, mobile practitioners finished ahead of the national curve. Since then, a lot has transpired, domestically and internationally. How have these changes influenced the current marketplace? Latest findings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)—which collects data on permanent, full-time staff employed in a variety of settings across the country—can shed some light. When considering clinicians in acute care hospitals, physicians’ offices, ambulatory centers, and other settings, the clear winners were physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs). Their median annual salaries jumped over $12,000 and $10,000, respectively, from May 2004 data. Reporting median incomes of $66,200 and $60,470 in 2006, their salaries have continued to climb at a higher rate than other disciplines, increasing more than $3,500 and $3,300 for 2007. That year, average salaries were reported at $71,520, or $34.39 per hour, for PTs and $65,540, or $31.51 per hour, for OTs. Nurses’ salaries were next highest on the list, showing solid growth since 2004. That year, the median 20 Healthcare Traveler October 2008 Photo: Getty Images/Medioimages/Siede Preis
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