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HealthcareTravel nurseBullhornBuffalo, NY

Care Team bet on referrals when job boards stopped delivering.

A relationships-first travel-nurse agency turned the network it already had into its growth engine, and pulled ahead while competitors leaned on shrinking candidate pools.

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+12%

company growth in 2024, the year the travel-nurse market shrank 37%.

39%
of placements now from referrals (up from 19% in 2023)
+12%
company growth in 2024
−37%
travel-nurse industry the same year
<2 hrs
per month to run the program
Results at a glance

The short version.

Referrals grew from 19% of all placements in 2023 to 39% in 2025 with Staffing Referrals.
Care Team grew 12% in 2024 while the travel-nurse industry contracted 37%.
Under two hours per month to manage.
01
The challenge

A relationships-first agency, hitting a wall on referrals.

Care Team Solutions was built on a contrarian premise by founders Justin and Kyle Cuviello: genuine human relationships outperform transactional automation. When the post-pandemic downturn hit in 2023, instead of cutting, they invested in their team. But job boards had stopped delivering ROI, and their referral motion had three problems:

  • The cold-ask problem. Recruiters hesitated to ask for referrals, worried about seeming too sales-focused.
  • No consistency. Referral engagement happened ad hoc, not systematically.
  • No visibility. Bullhorn alone didn't surface enough to manage and optimize referrals.
02
The turnaround

They put referrals on a platform, and let it compound.

Care Team adopted Staffing Referrals on top of Bullhorn: automated prompts replaced the cold ask, and real-time tracking gave them the visibility they'd been missing. Then they let the flywheel run.

2023
Industry downturn. Job boards underperform. Care Team invests in its team instead of cutting.
Adopt
Staffing Referrals + Bullhorn. Automated prompts and real-time tracking in the ATS.
2024
Grows +12% while the travel-nurse market falls 37%.
2025
Referrals reach 39% of all placements.
Referrals took over

From a fifth of placements to nearly two in five.

39%
of placements now come from referrals, up from 19% in 2023.
How it works for them
01

Automated prompts

Personalized SMS and email ask for referrals, so recruiters never make the cold ask.

02

Real-time visibility in Bullhorn

Dashboards inside the ATS give immediate insight and accurate source attribution.

03

Gamification

Ambassador dashboards and leaderboards keep talent engaged and sharing.

04

Low overhead

The whole program runs in under two hours a month.

“
Staffing Referrals and Bullhorn provided the strategic edge we needed. Referrals aren't optional. They're foundational.
Justin Cuviello, Co-founder · Care Team Solutions
Your firm, your numbers

See what your network
can place.

We run the model on your own data, not a generic pitch. 30 minutes, and you leave with a number you can take to your CFO.

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