The pool is genuinely thin
Every system in your market is recruiting the same critical care nurses. A vendor promising a large ICU bench in a tight market is describing a database, not availability.
Home / Specialties / ICU & critical care
ICU vacancies compound faster than any other unit
When critical care runs short, ratios slip, charge nurses absorb the gap, and the most experienced staff leave first. We staff adult, cardiac, neuro, and surgical ICUs with clinicians whose recent high-acuity experience and device competency are verified before you see a profile.
RecentHigh-acuity within 12 months
DevicesCRRT, ECMO, IABP, Impella
ChargeIdentified at submittal
Same dayUrgent requests answered
Why this one is different
Critical care is not a volume specialty
Med-surg can be filled on availability. ICU cannot. The pool is smaller, the verification is deeper, and a mis-hire is visible on the unit within one shift.
Specialty is not competency
ICU experience covers both a 10-bed community unit and a Level I neuro ICU running ECMO. We confirm unit type, bed count, acuity, and devices rather than accepting the label.
Orientation is the hidden cost
A clinician who needs four extra shifts of orientation costs more than a higher rate would have. We submit people who can carry a full assignment early.
Verification
What we confirm before submittal
Primary source where it is required, direct confirmation where it is not. You get the file, not an attestation that a file exists.
- Recent ICU within 12 months — unit type, bed count, and acuity stated, not inferred from a job title.
- Device competency — CRRT, ECMO, IABP, Impella, and ventilator management confirmed individually rather than as a block.
- Certifications — BLS, ACLS, and NIHSS current, with CCRN noted where held.
- Drip and titration experience — vasoactive and sedation protocols, including independent titration.
- Charge and precepting — flagged at submittal so you know who can take charge if your own staff are short.
- Licensure — active state or compact, with status shown if an application is pending.
- Intake
Unit type, ratios, devices in use, and the orientation you can realistically provide.
- Screen
Clinical interview against your unit, not a generic critical care checklist.
- Submittal
Profiles with acuity, devices, and charge capability stated on the front page.
- Start
Credential file delivered to your office before day one, with expiry tracking active.
Commercials
Why ICU rates sit where they do
Critical care carries a premium over med-surg, and the premium tracks competency rather than the specialty label. A nurse who can run CRRT independently costs more than one who cannot, and that difference is the honest part of the rate.
- Device competency drives the premium, so ask what a rate assumes before comparing two vendors.
- Rate card held for the term, by specialty and market, with exceptions requiring written approval.
- If the rate is why nobody is taking it, we will tell you and show you the market number.
- Conversion priced up front as a declining fee if you want to hire the clinician permanently.
Client FAQ
Before you post the ICU requisition
Acuity, orientation, and what actually determines whether this fills.
Yes, and those take longer than a community ICU because the qualifying pool is smaller. We give you a realistic timeline at intake rather than an optimistic one, and we will say plainly if the market cannot support the date you need.
Individually, in a clinical interview conducted by a nurse. CRRT, ECMO, IABP, and Impella are confirmed separately rather than as a single critical care checkbox, because most clinicians hold some and not others.
Tell us what you can provide and we screen to it. If you can offer two shifts, we submit clinicians who can work from two. Pretending a nurse needs less orientation than they do is how an assignment fails in week one.
Where they have the experience, yes, and we flag it at submittal. We do not assume a traveler will take charge by default, because that is a common source of friction with permanent staff.
Partly. Critical care is usually the hardest competency cluster to build internally, so most systems run a smaller ICU pool alongside agency for surge. Our float pool math article covers where the line usually falls.
Send us the unit, not just the job title
Bed count, acuity, devices in use, and the orientation you can provide. We come back with clinicians who match it and an honest date.