extremely new to travel HELP!

[AnnieJac, RN]

I'm new to blog, travel, and I'm in the middle of no where!!!!!!! Which means no nursing jobs. Can you hear me sighing???? So i'm looking at traveling. I've found 3 agencies with good reviews. I signed up with 5 but discovered 2 had super bad reviews, so i've been not so interested in them. I'm waiting to hear from 2 that had good reviews. Anyway, I have a license in a compact state. I won't say I'm not fearful of traveling cause you never know what your gonna get, and yes I've read thru some of your quotes lol. So....any advice? I've filled out there apps online, just waiting to hear back from the 2 with the good reviews. The 2 with bad reviews, nurse choice is bugging me to get stuff done. I think I'm going to go get my california license, which i hear takes awhile. My daughter lives there, so i thought being close to her would be nice so at least i would be close to family during my first venture out. The closest hospital where I'm at is a 10 bed corrupt hospital, so I have no options. And I am interested in traveling because its time for me to care about me. So....any advice?:)

[NedRN]

A good place to start learning, besides here, are specialty sites with relatively unbiased information like PanTravelers, TravelTax, and GypsyNurse.

About selecting agencies, the most important thing is your ability to communicate with your recruiter. Without good communication, you will have no possibility to pass on a good review yourself, or to be happy in general. So I would not start with online applications from agencies or "one-application" sites. Start by picking up the phone and having conversations with recruiters to pick one you can work with well. That is more important than anything you hear about a particular agency or assignments or pay.

Nurse Choice is a division of American Mobile, the largest travel company in the country by a good bit. In general, American Mobile is not a bad choice for a first time traveler. Nurse Choice can fill any assignment that AM has (and that is a lot), but they are supposed to be rapid response - troubled and needy hospitals are not usually the best foot in the water for a new traveler - but they usually pay better (for good reason). Bad reviews of this or any other agency is usually because of the individual traveler and recruiter fit, and/or a bad assignment. I wouldn't necessarily rule out Nurse Choice, you can learn a lot by talking to any recruiter. If you get along with them, it is worth considering them.

[sweetgurly25]

I found that alot of bad reviews from companies come from bad experience with a recruiter. My friend loves cross country but so many nurses hate. her recruiter is awesome and vice versa.