Contract vs Staff Nurse questions

[choco_noire07]

Hi all,

I applied to be a staff nurse at a hospital in NoCal about 3 months ago, I had a panel interview with Nurse manager and some other staff nurses about 4 weeks ago. I haven't heard anything from HR about their decision so far. I called in to follow up my case and they simply told me that if they decide to move forward with me in the hiring process, the recruiter will contact me by phone, in the mean time, just wait and check online status( which havent changed since I applied and after interviewed)

I've just recently contacted to a travel agency and they have the same position in that hospital, it will be a contract and from what they told me, at the end of contract, the hospital will usually either extend the contract or offer a staff nurse position in their unit.

Should I go ahead and work with travel agency to send my profile into that hospital again ( so I can get my foot in the door) or should I wait for the hospital HR to make their finale decision? It is my dream hospital and I hope someday I can be their staff nurse, that's why I dont want to jeopardize my chance by applying again under a travel agency.

I graduated from NoCal, i relocated outa state to get experience and I now have about 14months of acute care experience and I want to go back to California to be with my family.

Any feedback would be really appreciated!

[theRNJedi]

i've been a hiring manager and nurse leader for years, and just my gut reaction from your post tells me they've moved on from offering you the job. It's a 'possibility vs probability' issue....I'm not saying that they couldn't/wouldn't still offer you the job, but after 4 weeks...it's slim to none. There's a plethora of reasons why this could happen...but I don't have the wherewithal to get into that here in this post. As applicant's, we all have to accept that we may or may not ever know the reason why....it's par for the course in applying to jobs...unfortunately.

As far as the travel agency, I'd need to know more details and nuances about the whole situation to give a better opinion, but as a general rule of thumb...if you contract with an agency you will not be available for any other job that comes your way (including this one) because you will be tied up in a contract (unless you terminate it... which is usually cost prohibitive due to the fees of breaking a contract...not to mention your professional integrity for ever attempting to sign a future contract). On the other hand, if the travel contract can get you inside the 'dream hospital' you desire then it may be a good foot in the door that will allow you to see how the 'inside' works... which will either validate your perception and allow you to 'prove yourself' and network ...or it will send you running away when reality hits! So there's pro's and con's to the travel company.

One deciding factor could be your current job situation and need for income. Waiting on HR is an open-ended situation...you have no way of knowing if or when they will ever call you.....however, if the travel agency has a contract with start and end dates and a salary you like, and they want to 'present' you to their client (your dream hospital)...then that's a major plus.

It sounds like the travel agency may be the more appealing option to get inside your dream hospital and network. of course, just know....a travel company can only present your resume/profile to the hospital and it could be exact same hiring manager that will review/interview you....even though it's a contract gig..the hospital will still screen the contracted nurse for a 'fit' to their needs. You just need to be able to manage that dynamic if it happens.

Good luck.

-TheRNJedi

[choco_noire07]

Thank you so much for all the feedback!.