Anyone Work for Tenet Health or Parallon Workforce?

knitter523 · Jul 8, 2013

I start a contract with Parallon in TX starting July 22.

My recruiter is great. I sent you a PM with her info.

miam · Jul 8, 2013

not sure why you are specifically asking about parallon, but i would deff cast my net wider then that. They are a vendor manager, and as such will always cut you a smaller slice of the pie. If you are looking to get paid at a higher rate, i would def go with a different agency.

NedRN · Jul 8, 2013

While I always recommend going with Parallon subcontracting agencies over Parallon directly, what you are saying is not entirely accurate. The vendor manager has the whole pie! Depending on what they can get away with, they pay direct travelers as little as possible. in that, it is not really different than any other hospital, which Parallon really is as it is owned by HCA. Because of supply issues and agency profit margins, often Parallon's independent subcontracting agencies can pay more.

As far as why those two hospital chains, I'm going to guess that the original poster is trying to go to Florida. Going Parallon direct does have an advantage in that you will get first crack at assignments before other agencies. But the Parallon will almost never be on your side if you have a hospital issue because, well, they effectively are the hospital.

knitter523 · Jul 9, 2013

I disagree. I was looking for a contract in Denton, TX. I contacted my past recruiter with MSN. I learned that they were paying less than Parallon. I negotiated a good contract directly with Parallon at the hospital I wanted. The pay per hour was better and the housing subsidy was higher also.

NedRN · Jul 9, 2013

I'm not sure you know very much about the industry, but MSN strives for the highest profit margin they can. They are owned by a vulture venture capital firm (think Romney) and getting those numbers higher means that they can leverage MSN even higher (take more money out). Thus the MSN travel nurse suffers. So it is a bit of a laugh if the only agency you compared Parallon to is MSN.

Of course it seems logical that the bottom of the food chain can pay the least. But you are not taking into account all of the dynamics at play here. Parallon cannot staff all of their assignments in-house. When they fail, they have to offer more to subcontracting agencies to fill high needs. When the need is really high for a vital specialty (we are not talking about med-surg here except for the very worst HCA hospitals to work at - which is saying a lot), they have to go to rapid response rates - which are not offered to in-house travelers. Thus the very best rates always go to subcontracting agencies.

Next is the issue of pass-through to the traveler. Gross profit margins (the amount the agency keeps after paying all direct traveler costs) ranges from under 20% to over 40%. The industry average is 22%. MSN's target for comparison is 48%. That means on a bill rate of $60, MSN tries to keep almost half. (I'm not sure that they really come close to this on the average assignment - competition tends to not allow such extremes). But on the same bill rate of $60, you can see that some agencies will take only $12 an hour, and some will take over $20 an hour.

The next thing to learn is that the average cost of a vendor manager ( Parallon is a vendor manager beside having their own staffing agency) is 3-4%. While that number is kind of irrelevant with Parallon as all profits flow to HCA, you can see that that normal agency gross profit margin more than overwhelms the significance of that 2-4 dollars an hour that the vendor manager earns.

No doubt on bread and butter jobs, Parallon pays enough to be competitive with all but the most efficient agencies (which are usually smaller ones). So I don't doubt your anecdotal experience at all. But there is a larger picture out there, and knowing it can greatly enhance your earnings, especially if you are in a high demand specialty. But as I have posted before, working for Parallon directly will get you first crack at assignments, and keep you working steady, especially in the South.

Very few of HCA hospitals are union or in California, so if they don't fill assignments, it is just higher patient ratio for staff and HCA posts better profits. They are a for-profit hospital chain - this is why most HCA assignments suck big. And why they have so many assignments. More experienced travelers do not go to HCA at all without rapid response rates.

jhayroe · Jul 26, 2013

I was happy with Parallon. Just keep in mind Parallon can only staff HCA hospitals. So if you want to work in Texas where they have a lot of HCA hospitals this will be great. This is the best way to go if you want to work at HCA because you will get the highest pay.

NedRN · Jul 26, 2013

Please see the post prior to yours re: highest pay.

ItalianRN, BSN, RN · Aug 3, 2013

How were the pre-tests for Parallon? I have to take the math, cardiac rhythms & pharm tests. I'm not a great test-taker. They told me that all their tests are timed & you only get 2 chances.

trackhead, APRN · Aug 3, 2013

I'm working for Parallon at a NON-HCA facility. They staff HCA and other facilities, so there are more options than just HCA.

ItalianRN,

The pre-tests for the ER were no big deal.

Careandhope · Jan 15, 2015

Dear NedRN,

What a great post! Not only did I learn from you, but you correctly identified HCA hospitals as the miscreants they are. I worked at a HCA facility for 6 months and it was the worst experience in nursing that I have ever encountered. The workload is unbearable, the staff where I was located where hostile and miserable under the dictatorship of the hierarchy that run these joints. Saying that the patient care was lacking is an understatement, as it bordered on negligent homicide. I wound't send my dog to be flea dipped in one of those (eh hum) hospitals. I have a stellar resume` and am persistently presented with travel opportunities throughout the United States. I always look up what hospitals they staff then I read patient reviews and other researched material to make a determination if this is something that I want to pursue. Parallon staffs HCA hospitals exclusively and I am constantly called by recruiters for available contracts at an HCA facility. The reason there are so many availability's at HCA is because no one in their right mind would want to work there. After I spoke my mind to the nurse manager, and was subsequently fired and had a DNR put on my name, I kicked the dust (and germs) off of my shoes and toddled on to another, much better paying and hospitable environment.

NedRN · Jan 15, 2015

A DNR from HCA is a big plus! Helps remove any lingering temptation after the memories fade.