How to become a Nurse Recruit Agency?

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I have a lot of friends from India and South Africa who wanna work in US but have no access to get in. I have helped two of them got their RN license and now working in my hospital. Of course, hospital gave me a referring reward for this. I wonder, can I start a business to help these international RN getting in US RN market and get some reasonable reward from hospital? If the answer is, how do I work with hospital? Do I just call HR and simply ask "do you need RN?"

Suzanne,

You are right! Actually I have a contracted ESL school, which provides the courses of oral speaking (medical communication and accent) and writing (charting) to my international nurses. They were here on F1 Visa to begin with.

It is hard to give information based on where the country states. It is much different trying to do something when you are already in the US and very familiar with how things are done. Since your friends got an EAD, more than likely they were here on another visa to begin with. Correct?

This is very different from someone that is overseas, and has no nursing experience, or even knowlege of hospitals overhere, but just wants to trade in nurses.

And unfortunately, it does happen. I get contacted all of the time, so going on what initial information that you gave, you got the answer that I gave.

Normally, if the agency is out of the US they need to pay for the immigration fees, and expenses for the nurse, and then they get it from the facility when the nurse actually starts to work. They do not get funds any earlier. That is why increased funds are needed, first to prove that you can pay their salary, if you are the hiring agency, etc. I have been getting e-mails lately from nurses in Manila that have signed up with aggencies and have patiently been waiting, only to find that the agency is no longer in business.

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yxj124 it appears, with the influx of Foreign Nurses, you have some excellent oppurtunites to make a lot of money. Do you sometimes set up your Nurses with permanent postions for a flat rate? Or is it similiar to the Tarvel Nursing Business with there is a set time frame?

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HarryHK,

The main reason I started my business was tax purpose. I got some referral bonus from my international friends but I didn't have any idea for tax plan until I filed tax return last year. Then my neighbor, who is a CPA, suggested me to start a S-Corp, and my husband's best friend, who is an immigration attorney, showed me the legal issues about "how to do this formally". We three are not business partners. My husband insisted to "contract" them, not "partner" them........ I still have no idea why my husband insisted this, but he said I will understand later :chair: .

Honestly, I am not a good businessman. I flied abroad and talked to every single international nurse who planed to work in the States. If I found out anyone was focus on green card and $$, I simply told them to find other recruiters. Cause I wanna recruite someone who is in love with nursing and wanna be a nurse for their career not $$. I believe if I was able to be more business, I would be one of the millionairs in Hollywood Hill now. You won't believe when I had several presentations in S. Africa, there were hundred people/nurses coming and wanted to work here.

My apologies to all. I apparently did not read the whole thread. The original poster has significant resources, and has already had success in the business.

Sounds like I was not the only one who did not read carefully. She did just get handed a referral bonus!

Definitely you have to go through the proper legal channels, just as it sounds like you have done. A corporation is not a bad idea, particularly if you have significant assets to protect, but not mandatory. The majority of small businesses in this country are sole proprietorships. Besides limited liability, there are some significant tax advantages to incorporating, I started just as you did and incorporated later when the benefits became overwhelmingly clear. Depending on the state, it is not usually difficult or expensive to incorporate.

OK, back to the original question I did not see. :-) This is a marketing question primarily. And yes, you can call the hospital and simply ask "Do you need RN". That is what I have been doing with some success to market myself. At this point, it sounds like you are very small, so really your best asset is a nurse you've helped through the system. This may well be your best way to market, one nurse at a time. As a nurse can get a position almost anywhere in this market, I would go with hospitals in areas where your friends would like to work.

It is probably more profitable to set the nurse up with an 18 month or 2 year contract than just taking a referral bonus. Of course there is some risk there of a cancelled contract.

I know larger companies may have a shared cost structure with agencies where some of the more normal upfront costs are shared in return for access to the now credentialled nurses. This would take much more marketing and negotiating savvy than your current slow progress but is perhaps where you want to go in the future. As this may limit where you could place your friends, you might want to wait until you are recruiting strangers!

Anyway, sorry to poo poo (that's Chinese isn't it?) your existing successful business. My bad. My advice was based on thinking you were investigating starting such a business from scratch.

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Nightngale,

My international nurses don't contract with me. They contract with hospital directly. I am more like a head-hunter, not a staffing agent.

yxj124 it appears, with the influx of Foreign Nurses, you have some excellent oppurtunites to make a lot of money. Do you sometimes set up your Nurses with permanent postions for a flat rate? Or is it similiar to the Tarvel Nursing Business with there is a set time frame?
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yxj124

So you get the referral fee?

In the Denver area, the HeadHunter Fees for Agencies, when they give upa Nurse to take a full time Regular job is about $ 15,000; are you anywhere close to that?

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Nightngale,

It depends on positions. But, regularly, It's close in Los Angeles area.

yxj124

So you get the referral fee?

In the Denver area, the HeadHunter Fees for Agencies, when they give upa Nurse to take a full time Regular job is about $ 15,000; are you anywhere close to that?

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We three are not business partners. My husband insisted to "contract" them, not "partner" them........ I still have no idea why my husband insisted this, but he said I will understand later :chair:

You have a smart husband. I can tell you two good reasons why he said what he said. One: No partners, no partner problems. There will always be differences of opinion on how to run your business, and you will like to have the final word.

Two: If your business is a success, you will not have to share your profits. Your costs to contract will be less than two thirds of the profits.

Sounds like you are doing just fine without our help!

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Specializes in Transplant.

I think that what you have done is great. I know nurses in Nigeria and would like to assist them to coming to the U.S. If you can provide any advise, please do email me privately.

Best of luck in your endeavors.

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the state dept officially stated that the schedule a numbers (green card quota for rn & pt) will expire probably in october. there is a general consensus among employers and recruiters that additional visas will be made available maybe within 6 months to 2 years.

i think that what you have done is great. i know nurses in nigeria and would like to assist them to coming to the u.s. if you can provide any advise, please do email me privately.

best of luck in your endeavors.

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Hello All,

Your thoughts on setting up an agency make fantastic reading. However, I am in the United Kingdom. Just finishing off my BSc Nursing. I've been told that the job situation is dire, with little chance of finding work immediately. My bursary ends this month and quite frankly, I feel a sense of panic setting in.

Then the idea occurred to me. I followed my instincts and searched allnurses.com for agency nursing. I've not yet come across anyone who has set one up in the UK and I would dearly love to begin the process. I've been given a business plan of one running in the South of England (I live in the North of England). But not clear, how to go about working with HR and finding work. I would do the work first, when I'm registered. Not sure about the marketing, negotiating, retaining staff and salaries aspect. I've been given some space rent free. I'm also gearing up to asking my bank manager for a start up loan.

Alternatively, Social Enterprise grants are the in-thing for entrepreneurs looking to combine private with voluntary work. I'm trying to see if I can get a grant to start up and then incorporate later.

Wow! Just writing about it like this is getting me all motivated!!!

Can anyone out there advise a wannabe agency recruiter of care workers where to start? I would like to own the agency, rather than share it, or am I being a bit untrusting?

Cheers and good luck to all your ventures..

Caraibrit

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