SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit

Travel Nursing Is at a Crossroads

Chris Sund spoke at the SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit as a featured panelist on “Travel Nursing Is at a Crossroads: Where to Next?” This session brought together some of the top leaders in healthcare staffing to discuss the current state and future direction of the travel nursing industry.

Held in Las Vegas, the summit gathered executives and decision-makers from across the country to address one of the most pressing topics in healthcare staffing today, the evolution of travel nursing in a changing market.

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About the SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit

The Healthcare Staffing Summit, hosted by Staffing Industry Analysts, is one of the premier events for leaders in healthcare workforce solutions.

The conference brings together top executives, operators, and innovators to explore market trends, share insights, and shape the future of staffing. The summit consistently focuses on market trends, technology adoption, and the evolving landscape of healthcare workforce solutions.

About the Panel: Travel Nursing Is at a Crossroads

The panel addressed a critical inflection point in the industry.

Travel nurse revenue has experienced a shift following the rapid growth of recent years, creating both challenges and opportunities for staffing firms. While the market is stabilizing, the path forward requires a new level of adaptability and strategic thinking.

The session explored:

The current market outlook for travel nursing
Emerging trends impacting demand and supply
How technology is reshaping recruiting and operations
Strategies to better serve both large health systems and rural facilities
Actionable insights for firms navigating a more competitive and evolving landscape

The panel was led by Timothy Landhuis and featured industry leaders including Jimmie Bilby, Jean Cook, Rebecca Rogers Tijerino, and Chris Sund.

Chris Sund’s Perspective

As President and COO of Uniti Med and GQR Healthcare, Chris Sund brought a forward-looking perspective grounded in both operational leadership and market insight.

His contributions focused on the importance of adaptability in a shifting environment. As demand normalizes and competition increases, staffing firms must rethink how they create value, not just for clients, but for clinicians as well.

Chris emphasized that success in the next phase of travel nursing will come down to:

Building stronger, trust-based relationships with clinicians
Leveraging technology to enhance, not replace, the human element of recruiting
Staying agile as market conditions continue to evolve
Focusing on long-term partnerships rather than short-term transactions

The conversation reinforced a clear message: the travel nursing industry is not disappearing, it is evolving, and the organizations that lean into that change will be the ones that lead.

Event Impact

The SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit continues to serve as a key platform for shaping conversations across the industry. Panels like this one highlight both the challenges and opportunities ahead, while equipping leaders with the insights needed to adapt and grow.

Chris Sund’s participation reflects his continued role in helping drive those conversations forward, bringing practical experience and leadership perspective to one of the most important discussions in healthcare staffing today.