run around from travel agencies

[MSICUNurse131]

Hi,

I've taken an interest in travel nursing so like everyone else i've sent out my application/skills check list to several travel agencies. I noticed there were several openings in the state of SC where I am living in, and wanted to try those. It seems like every agency I speak with tries to divert my actual desire in location to locations in the middle of nowhere in different states. I have never traveled before and wanted to take an assignment in a familiar area prior to me going across country. I have two years critical care experience and worked in large teaching facility. I guess I am just wondering if travelers have to take an assignment in a smaller facility and then move your way up to bigger towns/facility? I just feel like I am getting the run around from several different agencies. One agency actually submitted my application to a hospital of my choice and I never heard anything from the facility, my recruiter assured me that he was trying to contact the hospital, but then tried to get me to send my application to other states and wanted me to apply for different state licenses, which is not what I wanted at all. Should I try a different agency for the same hospital I want to travel too? I am not sure if that would even make a difference. I realize the needs in SC aren't great so I applied for a FL license and was hoping to travel to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area but am just skeptical of being able to travel to a larger city for one of my first assignments. Any thoughts?

[GypsyNurse54]

-I think it's a good idea to try to get your 1st assignment closer to your home base (if possible). It makes the transition less intimidating because you know that if something goes wrong, you can just turn yourself around & drive back home in a day.

-The first assignment is the hardest to get since many places want prior travel experience. Be as flexible as you can, but if your gut is telling you no, then don't let the recruiter talk you into doing it (& believe me, they will try, bleh!), & don't let them scare you into thinking "if I don't take this assignment across the country, I won't get an assignment." It WILL happen for you, but it may take a bit longer. Many positions open & close every day, so when you talk to a recruiter, they tell you what is available at that time, at that moment. There could be no SC openings one day, and then the next day, there will be tons. Be on the lookout, something will pop up sooner or later (hopefully sooner). :)

I guess I am just wondering if travelers have to take an assignment in a smaller facility and then move your way up to bigger towns/facility?

-I've noticed that assignments seem to open up the opposite of that. You tend to see more positions available in larger cities/facilities, & less positions in smaller ones. I guess it's a supply & demand kind of thing.

-Be sure to ask about nurse/patient ratios in Florida (or anywhere else for that matter). Florida has become notorious for dangerous nurse/patient ratios. (This was told to me by a couple of recruiters & other RN's, not from personal experience, so it's just a word-of-mouth piece of info I wanted to share).

-Best of luck to you, & keep us posted! I'm here if ya need me!

[79Tango]

Advertising in travel nursing is very similar to the "Free Real Estate booklets" you get at the grocery store. You see a great house in the ad, call the realtor only to find out that one sold, BUT they have one right around the corner you might be interested in.

[MSICUNurse131]

Thanks so much Gypsy, I've just been reading threads on here about nightmare travel stories and don't want that to happen to me. The recruiters are full of BS and it's hard to separate it from the truth when I am so new to traveling.

Tango, funny you say that I used to work in real estate prior to nursing haha.

[79Tango]

Hah, then you know the deal.... All the good ones are taken & If it sounds too good to be true, then it is!

[meandragonbrett]

You often times have to trust your gut when it comes to your recruiters. I don't give my recruiters second chances. I have no problems calling the company and requesting a new recruiter if I am being given the run around, being talked to as if I were buying a car, or if I feel that my recruiter is not attentive to my needs and desires. I shouldn't have to repeat myself, answer the same questions over and over, or hear the same things every time I speak with them on the phone.

If I tell you I have a california, hawaii, and ohio license and you tell me about this hospital in Maine....then we probably won't have a long relationship as the recruiter is NOT listening to me and what I want. It's all about me when I travel!

[RN_travlr]

SC is slim picking, period. It is tough to get an assignment there. Usually if the location is a good one, you are running against nurses that have years of travel experience. My advice..first assignment, take whatever you can get....first time travelers are looked at like new grad nurses....