How many temporary nurses are incompetent?

Every profession has incompetent personnel - doctors, lawyers, airplane pilots, accountants, etc.  Last month an article published at Propublica and at The Los Angeles, and reposted by Mother Jones, raised a question as to whether there are in inordinate numbe of incompetent temporary nurses:

Firms that supply temporary nurses to the nation's hospitals are taking perilous shortcuts in their screening and supervision... Emboldened by a chronic nursing shortage and scant regulation, the firms vie for their share of a free-wheeling, $4-billion industry. Some have become havens for nurses who hopscotch from place to place to avoid the consequences of their misconduct...

• Firms hired nurses who had criminal records or left states where their licenses had been restricted or revoked...

• Temp agencies shuffled errant nurses from one hospital to another, even as complaints mounted...

• Nurses who got in trouble at one agency had no problem landing a job at another...

When staff nurses err, hospitals typically retrain or monitor them afterward. Temp nurses often are just exchanged for replacements, never receiving further guidance...

Many agencies allow applicants to take competency tests online. Testifying in a malpractice lawsuit earlier this year, an official at Fastaff, a large traveling-nurse firm based in Colorado, said applicants have been hired without even a phone interview...

Much, much more at the link.  My mom was a nurse, so I would never diss the profession in general, but I would encourage people to be aware of the potential problems with temporary personnel.