| Course | WMBA 6602 Contemporary Topics in the U.S. Healthcare Delivery System |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 6 |
| Paper type | Trend brief |
| Length | About 600 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration (MBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for WMBA 6602 Week 6
Nursing Labor Brief: Travel Nurses Cost a Two-Hospital System About $8.3 Million a Year; Converting 30 Positions to Employed Staff Would Save About $1.5 Million Net
Student Name
Walden University
WMBA 6602: Contemporary Topics in the U.S. Healthcare Delivery System
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Nursing Labor Brief: Travel Nurses Cost a Two-Hospital System About $8.3 Million a Year; Converting 30 Positions to Employed Staff Would Save About $1.5 Million Net
The Trend
The market for registered nurses remains tight and expensive, and Laurel Valley Health, the course's invented two-campus system in east Tennessee, is exposed to it in a specific way. The May 2025 wage survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median hourly wage for registered nurses at $46.90 nationally and $39.18 in Tennessee, where about 72,000 nurses were employed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026). The Tennessee figure is lower than the national one, but it is the local figure Laurel Valley competes on, and nearby systems in Knoxville and Chattanooga recruit from the same pool.
The Exposure
Laurel Valley has about 410 budgeted registered nurse positions, and 14 percent are vacant. It fills much of the gap with 38 full-time-equivalent travel nurses supplied by agencies.
Table 1
Laurel Valley's Nursing Labor Exposure
| Measure | Figure | |
|---|---|
| Budgeted registered nurse positions | About 410 | |
| Vacancy rate | 14 percent | |
| Travel nurses in use | 38 full-time equivalents | |
| Agency bill rate | About $105 an hour | |
| Cost of an employed nurse, wages plus benefits | About $52 an hour | |
| Annual travel nurse spend | About $8.3 million | |
| Premium over employed cost | About $4.2 million | |
Composite figures for a composite system; agency rates vary by unit and season.
The premium is the operational exposure: about $4.2 million a year paid above what the same hours would cost with employed staff. It is also a quality exposure. Aiken et al. (2002) linked heavier patient loads per nurse with higher odds of surgical patients dying and of nurses burning out, so units that run short while waiting for travelers carry clinical risk as well as cost. Needleman et al. (2011) found, within a single hospital system, that exposure to shifts running eight or more registered nurse hours under target was associated with a small but significant rise in the risk of death.
What Drives It
Two units account for most of the travel spend: critical care and the emergency room, where experienced nurses are scarcest. Exit interviews show that nurses leaving those units cite schedules and workload more often than pay, but pay matters at the margin: Laurel Valley's starting rate for experienced intensive care nurses is about $2 an hour below the nearest competitor's.
Recommendation
Convert 30 of the 38 travel positions to employed staff over twelve months. Three steps make that possible. Raise the base rate for experienced intensive care and emergency nurses by $2.50 an hour, which costs about $1.1 million a year across those units. Offer a $15,000 commitment bonus, paid over two years, to 30 new hires, about $450,000. Create an internal float pool of eight nurses paid a $6 hourly premium to cover gaps, about $200,000 a year.
The combined cost is about $1.75 million a year. Replacing 30 travel positions with employed nurses saves about $3.3 million a year at the current premium of about $53 an hour, for a net saving of about $1.5 million, before counting better continuity of care. The pay adjustment is the largest cost because it applies to every experienced nurse in the two units, not only new hires; without it, the units would keep losing the staff they already have.
Measures
Report travel full-time equivalents, the vacancy rate in the two units and the turnover of nurses in their first year, each month to nursing leadership and the board's finance committee. If travel use has not fallen below 20 full-time equivalents in six months, revisit the pay adjustment.
References
Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M., Sochalski, J., & Silber, J. H. (2002). Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. JAMA, 288(16), 1987-1993. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.16.1987
Needleman, J., Buerhaus, P., Pankratz, V. S., Leibson, C. L., Stevens, S. R., & Harris, M. (2011). Nurse staffing and inpatient hospital mortality. New England Journal of Medicine, 364(11), 1037-1045. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1001025
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Occupational employment and wage statistics: Registered nurses (29-1141), May 2025 [Data set]. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
The Walden WMBA 6602 Week 6 instructions
The trend brief hands a current issue to a management audience and asks for something they can act on. The recurring choices are nursing labor markets, consolidation and telehealth after temporary payment flexibilities. Instructors expect a brief that stays short, uses current data for the trend, names the organization's operational exposure in dollars and closes on a recommendation with a number attached. Linking the financial exposure to quality evidence strengthens the case. A brief should also say how management will know whether the recommendation is working, with a measure and a date for review. Figures from the federal Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey give the trend credibility and let a reader check the figures independently.
How the WMBA 6602 Week 6 example is put together
The brief opens with national and Tennessee pay figures from the federal wage survey and notes the local competitors. A table shows the system's exposure: positions, vacancy rate, travel nurses, agency bill rate, employed cost, annual spend and the premium. A paragraph ties the exposure to patient safety, citing Aiken and colleagues on patients per nurse and Needleman and colleagues on understaffed shifts. A section identifies the two units driving most of the spend and the role of schedules and pay. The recommendation sets three priced steps, a pay adjustment, commitment bonuses and a float pool, and computes the net saving from converting 30 travel positions, explaining why the pay adjustment is the largest cost. A measures section sets monthly reporting and a six-month threshold. Margin comments flag the exposure and the priced recommendation.
WMBA 6602 Week 6 rubric: what earns full marks
Graders reward a brief that is short, current and quantified. Using sourced data for the trend, and the organization's own figures for its exposure, earns credit. Naming the exposure in dollars and connecting it to quality evidence shows that the student sees both financial and clinical stakes. A recommendation with priced steps and a computed net effect carries the most weight. Explaining which cost is largest and why shows understanding. Measures with a review threshold make the brief actionable. Instructors also check arithmetic and the currency of data. Correct citations to the data source and research complete the expectations for the week.
WMBA 6602 Week 6 help from the desk
Choose a trend that touches your organization directly and find current public data that describe it. Then measure your organization's exposure in dollars: what the trend costs you now. Look for the part of the operation where the exposure concentrates. Propose a few concrete steps, price each and compute the net effect. Add a measure and a date for checking. Students often lose marks by describing the trend at length without the organization's exposure, by recommending without numbers or by forgetting that some costs, such as raises for existing staff, apply beyond the new hires. Hold it to a few pages. If you would like a custom sample trend brief for your organization, send us the trend and your figures.
Get a WMBA 6602 Week 6 example written to your instructions
Briefing-format samples are written from your Week 6 instructions, the rubric and whichever trend your classroom is working on, delivered in 24 to 48 hours with the first at no charge. Fixed headings or a required options table change the shape of the document, so upload the template alongside the prompt.
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WMBA 6602 Week 6 questions, answered
Where can I find a free WMBA 6602 Week 6 sample paper?
The nursing labor market brief for an east Tennessee system is posted in full here.
What do registered nurses earn?
A median of $46.90 an hour nationally and $39.18 in Tennessee in May 2025.
What is the system's exposure?
About $8.3 million a year on travel nurses, roughly $4.2 million above employed cost.
What does the brief recommend?
Converting 30 travel positions to employed staff with a pay adjustment, bonuses and a float pool.
What is the net saving?
About $1.5 million a year after about $1.75 million in added costs.