Cancelled contract

I have been traveling for almost a year and never had a contract cancelled. I have worked with a few travelers that were let go from an assignment. One was for call offs the other was because she had no idea what she was doing on an intermediate care unit. She was unfamiliar with gtts and titration.

The bad news is that industry-wide, the average "fall-off" rate is 10 percent. That means 1 out of 10 assignments fails to start or finish on the contracted date. That is actually my real life average as well over the course of 17 years of travel. The good news is that you can greatly reduce those odds, either preemptively or when on an assignment. Some have traveled longer than me without a single major issue. You can also reduce the financial consequences when it does happen.

Traveling can be unpredictable, as is real life. You should always maintain a financial cushion for life's unexpected events. Could be a physical injury or personal illness, a family event, or an unexpected low census at a hospital leading to termination.

Improving your odds are simple common sense and research. Don't oversell your abilities, don't take known bad assignments or work with known bad player agencies, understand there are often good reasons why an assignment is paying more than similar assignments, research the hospitals and agencies on traveler forums and simple news (I don't go to hospitals under bankruptcy protection for example - risk of not being paid is too high). Once on the job, projecting professionalism and confidence is the key. No complaining, no gossiping, positive attitude, and going out of your way to help others. Do things their way, even when it is dumb. Don't think you will be treated like staff, no get out of jail free card for whiny travelers. Let staff do their thing, it is your job to be professional. It is only three months, think survival.

Your odds will go up to at least 1 in 20 if not more (that is like 5 yrs of assignments). That is completely doable. Even though my ratio is industry average, I have profited tremendously by being a traveler. I have benefited professionally, and financially much more than I could have as staff.

Thnx for the responses imunurse2 and NedRN...I returned to the forum to check on updates to this query and found/read the posting of Feb. 18,'12 by RNx352008 which discussed the essence of my concern. As many others stated hers was a terrible set of circumstances none of us wish to face. So it is, through her experience, I was able to glean some valuable insight.

Since this is one of my greater concerns in becoming a Travel RN, as I am learning, I'll need to make sure there is proper wording in the contract to address cancellations. That and have a financial safety net.

The basic thing on contracts is not to have excessive penalties for termination. They are typically based on the cost of housing - if they provide a three month lease and you are cancelled in the first week, there are some real costs involved. You shouldn't have to eat them if you are not responsible for the cancellation, nor do you want to cover an agency's lost profits. But for the most part, no one is going to be able to guarantee that you will be paid for 13 weeks no matter what. Don't get too crazy on contract language to promise that.

The bad news is that industry-wide, the average "fall-off" rate is 10 percent. That means 1 out of 10 assignments fails to start or finish on the contracted date. That is actually my real life average as well over the course of 17 years of travel. The good news is that you can greatly reduce those odds, either preemptively or when on an assignment. Some have traveled longer than me without a single major issue. You can also reduce the financial consequences when it does happen.

Traveling can be unpredictable, as is real life. You should always maintain a financial cushion for life's unexpected events. Could be a physical injury or personal illness, a family event, or an unexpected low census at a hospital leading to termination.

Improving your odds are simple common sense and research. Don't oversell your abilities, don't take known bad assignments or work with known bad player agencies, understand there are often good reasons why an assignment is paying more than similar assignments, research the hospitals and agencies on traveler forums and simple news (I don't go to hospitals under bankruptcy protection for example - risk of not being paid is too high). Once on the job, projecting professionalism and confidence is the key. No complaining, no gossiping, positive attitude, and going out of your way to help others. Do things their way, even when it is dumb. Don't think you will be treated like staff, no get out of jail free card for whiny travelers. Let staff do their thing, it is your job to be professional. It is only three months, think survival.

Your odds will go up to at least 1 in 20 if not more (that is like 5 yrs of assignments). That is completely doable. Even though my ratio is industry average, I have profited tremendously by being a traveler. I have benefited professionally, and financially much more than I could have as staff.

Wish I would of seen this post along time ago. It just happened to me after probably my dozenth assignment. I have been very lucky to have worked at some really nice places. Most of those places I was replacement for someone who had surgery or is having a baby. But, of course I have worked at places I couldn't wait to get out of! Regardless I have fantastic references and have made some friends along the way.

I just said in another thread that I switched from my agency who took care of me very well to the one with the fast cash, free housing, and such... I was cancelled for hear say and left spending whatever money I made on that assignment trying to obtain another one without being homeless. Not only that I was suppose to get a Permanent Job there and now obviously not.

Learned the hard way.

Great advice!