One of the more interesting topics to pop in in nurse recruiting circles recently has been how many nurses are cashing in on PPP loans.
For those who are unaware, PPP loans were created as a form of paycheck protection. The people who were eligible for these loans were mainly: Non-Profits, LLCs, Small Businesses or Self-Employed individuals.
That last category is where nurses found their niche. And it’s been very lucrative.
Recruiters are running into this because nurses salaries have ballooned during covid (Nurses are making close to 20k a week in come major cities) and many are refusing to work unless they are paid hourly rates of $150 or more.
So, recruiters have hospitals and clinics clamoring for nurses who refuse to work unless they are paid huge rates.
PPP Loans have also given many RNs a cushion to hold out for lucrative travel contracts around the country (another major problem Nurse recruiters tell me is that local nurses are leaving their staff jobs to take high paying travel assignments where they make 2-3x their salary and also are tax exempt).
But, what exactly is a PPP loan and why would a working nurse be eligible for 50k or more from the government?
Let’s take a look at what is going on.
Nurses Filing for Paycheck Protection Loans
The PPP loan was designed to protect businesses (and individuals who were self employed) who lost their job due to covid and the shutdown.
Strangely, the only sector where work dramatically improved across the board was the medical industry.
As one nurse told a recruiter friend of mine: “this is the greatest thing that’s happened. I’ll retire a millionaire before I’m thirty thanks to this”.
The problem with the PPP loan system is that it was so huge that there was very little oversight. I spoke with a nurse recruiter friend of mine who operates down in Miami. Here’s what she told me:
Nurses are looking to make ten grand a week, and even the it wasn’t enough sometimes. So many clients were having nurses just not show up for work. And when we’d call them they would say they didn’t have any need to work. It was all over the news and word of mouth spreads. Once one nurse knows a way to game the system they all do”.
And this is all public record. You can find out who received a PPP loan. It might interest you, if you know a nurse or work with them, to check on their records online to see how much they received. You can check this publicly run database or this one.
How Much Are These Nurses Getting?
It depends on the circumstances. The loans vary. Some nurses applied for and received 50 or 60k. But there’s no complete study on this yet. Even business vary greatly. Some small businesses that have a few employees were able to get hundreds of thousands of dollars, whereas there are numerous stores of mom and pop style businesses with a dozen full time staff who never got a loan.
It all had to do with the banks that you worked with, how savvy the application processor was, and also how much advice you had. There were companies that popped up during the covid pandemic that were advising people on how to file and maximize their results.
Non-Profits, of course, are well skilled in that with NYC, LA, Chicago and other cities having billions of government funds running through them ever year (these are called the Form 990). It’s always illuminating to see how many millions a year even small organizations collect. Something any recruiter in the non-profit world is going to be interested in.
But back to Nurses. It depends. Nurses who file their claim can request an amount. If they are granted it, is another story.
How This Hurts Nurse Recruiting
The reason that PPP Loans hurt nurse recruiting, according to all of my friends and associates in the medical staffing field, is that it’s artificially raised the rate ceiling. Couple that with the covid rates that many states pay: (New York City, California, Chicago) where nurses right out of college are making 10-15k a week working travel contracts.
Nurses bounce jobs more than any other profession. And when they have access to 50k, they’re going to grab it. So, while it’s all speculation by medical administrators and recruiters, the high flight of nurses after the PPP loan program is suspicious. Think of it as a paid vacation.
White collar office workers and restaurant workers and retail workers who lost their jobs were unable to file for these roles. Nurses on the other hand often form LLCs (to handle sporadic per diem and second shift work at competing hospitals). They were able to file for and receive huge sums of money.
That money made the normal hospital salary undesirable. In NYC for instance, a new grad nurse starts at 100k. However, a travel RN working in NYC is making 10k+ a week.
Nurse recruiters have always had to deal with the challenges of working with nurses (unprofessional, switching jobs routinely, lack of communication skills and computer proficiency) but with the millions and millions of dollars influx into the nursing community it has made the staffing even more of a challenge.
Fraud?
What about fraud? Are these nurses entitled to receive millions in government money designed for people who are not working?
Well, that’s a tricky question. Many nurses received aid while also working at the same time. The numbers are impossible to quantify as the records are not public. Many more nurses surely quit their jobs for an extended paid vacation.
The privilege of being a nurse is that you never are without work if you want it. A nurse, in any city in the country, can get a job in less than a week.
But were there major cases of PPP loan fraud involving nurses? Sure. Here’s an example of a Nurse being accused of fraud.
However, due to the crisis nature of covid and the PPP loan program, it’s hard to keep track.
But this program, while designed to help struggling small businesses and self-employed people who lost their jobs, was exploited. For instance, this individual used the PPP loans allegedly to purchase sports cars and flaunt his wealth on Instagram.
This issue (fraud and PPP loans) is an even bigger issue, though. It's touched all aspects of society. A New York newspaper even listed a string of people involved in the scandal. Even high profile political figures such as Marilyn Mobsy are caught up in the tumolt.
Where to Find Out How Much A Nurse Has Gotten In PPP Loans
It’s not just for Nurse’s who are searchable. Everyone (and every small company) who has received a PPP loan is listed online.
If you’re interested in finding out this information, it’s all online. Thankfully, the databases are searchable as long as you know the individuals full legal name.
Even if they have applied for the PPP loan as an LLC or Sole Proprietor, they will have had to apply using their full name.
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