Will the nurses stay after I buy a nursing agency?

A nursing agency’s roster is a list of people who are free to say no. Many nurses sign up with more than one agency and take whichever shift suits them that week. So a long list of names tells you little. What you are buying is the habit of those nurses picking this agency first, and that habit has reasons you can find out.

Who actually works shifts

Ask for the roster alongside shift records. Compare the number of names with the number of nurses who worked recently, and how often. A small core who work most of the shifts is a different business from a large list of occasional names. Also ask how many are on staff and how many are contractors, since your lawyer and accountant will care about that split.

Why they choose this agency

Ask the nurses, with the owner’s agreement, once the deal is far enough along. Common answers are the choice of shifts, how quickly they are paid, and the scheduler who knows them. If the answer is one person, that person matters more than the owner’s name on the door. Compare this with how home-care caregivers behave after a sale, where they are tied to clients.

A retention plan for the first months

• Keep the scheduler and the pay schedule exactly as they were.
• Have the owner introduce you to the busiest nurses before closing.
• Tell the roster plainly what is and is not changing.
• Agree a handover period with the owner in the purchase agreement.