NEWS

Kansas Spent $61 Million on Travel Nurses in One Year. Hospitals Say They Had No Choice

Written By: Brandy Pinkerton

RN, Travel Nurse

3 Min Read Published January 2, 2026

Why Permanent Hiring Remains a Challenge
A Broader Nursing Workforce Shortage
Patient Care and Budget Pressures
What It Means for Nurses

Kansas Spent $61 Million on Travel Nurses in One Year. Hospitals Say They Had No Choice

Key Takeaways

Kansas psychiatric hospitals spent $61.4 million on travel nurses in 2025, more than ten times what they spent before the pandemic, as staffing shortages continued to worsen.
Hiring permanent nurses would save the state about $14.4 million a year, but hospitals struggle to compete with the higher pay and flexibility offered by travel nursing.
Vacancy rates at Larned and Osawatomie hospitals reached as high as 44%, forcing facilities to rely heavily on contract staff to keep patient beds open.
Kansas is facing a broader nursing workforce decline, with significant drops in registered and licensed practical nurses since 2019, making long-term staffing solutions harder to achieve.

Kansas state psychiatric hospitals are dealing with a growing staffing and budget challenge tied to their reliance on travel nurses. In 2025, Larned State Hospital and Osawatomie State Hospital spent a combined $61.4 million on travel nursing contracts, more than ten times what the two facilities spent in 2019 before the pandemic.

Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services Deputy Secretary Scott Brunner said the state could reduce costs by hiring more permanent nurses. According to KDADS estimates, staffing the same positions with full‑time employees would cost about $47 million per year, approximately $14.4 million less than what the state currently spends on travel nurses. However, recruiting nurses into permanent roles has remained difficult.

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Why Permanent Hiring Remains a Challenge

Brunner said many nurses prefer contract work because it offers flexibility and higher hourly pay. Travel nurses at Kansas state hospitals earn about $65 per hour, while permanent state nurses earn about $47 per hour when wages and benefits are combined. That pay gap makes it harder to convince contract nurses to move into full‑time positions.

A 2023 survey of travel nurses showed that 84 percent cited pay as their main reason for taking contract assignments, 71 percent said flexibility was a key factor, and 39 percent said travel and lifestyle opportunities played a role. Those preferences, combined with the rural locations of Larned and Osawatomie, make recruiting permanent staff more difficult.

Larned State Hospital relied on an average of 232 travel nurses per month in 2025, while Osawatomie averaged 105. Vacancy rates at both facilities reached up to 44 percent during the summer months, and during the past year only 20 travel nurses transitioned into permanent state positions, leaving more than 230 nursing roles across the two hospitals unfilled.

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A Broader Nursing Workforce Shortage

Kansas is also experiencing a wider decline in its nursing workforce. Barbara MacArthur, director of the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center, reported that between 2019 and mid‑2025 the state saw a 9.6 percent decrease in registered nurses and a 12.7 percent decline in licensed practical nurses. Nationally, similar pressures are visible: a 2025 Florida Atlantic University study found that 65 percent of nurses reported burnout or stress, 60 percent said they would choose nursing again if given the chance to start over, and 67 percent of nursing students reported concerns about future workloads.

At Larned State Hospital, there are currently 61 vacant nursing positions. Brunner said the facility typically receives only 10 to 15 applications during a strong recruitment month.

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Patient Care and Budget Pressures

State officials say reducing the number of travel nurses without replacing them with permanent staff would limit patient capacity. Fewer nurses likely means fewer beds available at psychiatric hospitals. Patients who cannot access inpatient psychiatric care often end up waiting in emergency departments or being placed in county jails.

Kansas has offered retention bonuses and other incentives to attract staff nurses. Larned hired more permanent employees in 2025 than in previous years, but not enough to significantly reduce reliance on travel nurses.

The state is also facing potential budget constraints related to an estimated $150 million reduction tied to recent federal legislation. That could limit Kansas' ability to raise wages or expand hiring programs.

What It Means for Nurses

Kansas psychiatric hospitals likely remain dependent on travel nurses to maintain operations. The situation may reflect a larger workforce issue that extends beyond one state or one hospital system. Travel nursing has helped fill critical staffing gaps, but it has also increased operating costs for public health systems.

State leaders continue to look for ways to make permanent nursing roles more competitive while ensuring patient care remains accessible. Until staffing levels stabilize, the financial and workforce pressures at Kansas psychiatric hospitals are likely to continue.

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