Problem: Summary of Now the need for clinicians has erupted again. "It's been insane," Nazem said. "Orders are coming from everywhere. There are no hot spots. It's crazier than we've ever seen." In the past, Nomad Health has provided hospitals with nurses who will work specifically on COVID-19. "It's now impossible to distinguish by job," Nazem said. "Hospitals are saying, 'Just come. Who knows what we'll need you for.' " Given the current wave's persistence, hospitals are renewing contracts for travelling nurses at unprecedented rates, effectively taking them out of circulation. "The number of extension requests tripled from summer to fall," Nazem said. "The market is getting tighter and tighter. Hospitals are saying, 'Let me hold on to whatever I can.' " In the past, they were picky about whom they would hire. "They used to say, 'We need the perfect person,' " Nazem told me. "Now they say, 'If you find someone, anyone, send them over.' " (Nomad Health thoroughly reviews credentials for each clinician; Nazem was at pains to say that quality has not been compromised.)