Can't I just walk away?

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My contract was cancelled because I questioned a charge nurse. My agency said even though it appears that I was unjustly terminated, there has to be an investigation. My recruiter said once the report comes out and everything is cleared she can submit me out for another assignment. She said the process takes 3 days. That was 3 weeks ago. I have no money coming in, I owe several thousand for breaking that lease, not to mention I have rent and bills and a family at home who need to eat. Am I allowed to go on another assignment with another agency right now? Would that be unethical or unprofessional? I've tried following up with my recruiter about the status of their investigation and she's not answering or returning my calls. What am I supposed to do? Can I just walk away from all this mess?

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Correction: It was 2 weeks ago.

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Absolutely no reason you can't start with another agency. Ideally, two weeks ago. You don't have to tell the next agency anything about that last assignment.

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Do I or should I tell my old agency I'm traveling with another company or should I just not say anything?

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You can if you want to. It is the professional thing to do. However, they are not talking to you now so I would pass personally. Do not tell them the names of agencies you are considering and ideally, do not give the name of your current agency to other agencies. Do not list them as an employer on your resume or applications, instead list hospitals - perhaps excepting this last hospital if you did not get a written reference before termination.

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I assume you work for a large agency for them to run risk management on whether to continue to employ you. 16 years ago, I was terminated from an assignment in Seattle in my fourth year with Cross Country. I walked around the corner from Swedish to Virginia Mason and had myself an offer within an hour (and they had a contract with CC). Called CC and was told I have to be investigated. It took a couple days longer since I had to sign up with a local travel company, but I finished my three months in Seattle at Providence (ironically now owned by Swedish as they had the quite the rivalry going back then).

I'm still waiting for CC to get back to me with the results 16 years later! Consider yourself lucky with just two weeks wasted. You are hyper employable with your L&D specialty so just move on and don't look back. That is what I did, and I wished I had done it earlier.

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Thanks! You're always such a big help NedRN!

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