First time traveller in Chicago..plz help!

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Hey everyone!

I was hoping to get some input on travel nursing in Chicago. I've read through a bunch of the posts and most have been written several years ago on this topic, and I'm sure things have changed since then. So... I'm addressing anyone who is currently travel nursing in Chicago or knows about it.

First of all, this will be my first time travelling. I have 6 years of experience in total, 4 in med-surg/neuro/ortho/resp and 2 of which are in STICU (well, August will be my 2 years mark but as far as I've heard, it's enough for travelling). I'm super nervous, but I also feel this is something that will fit my personality. I switched into the critical care float pool a few months ago and float to MICU,CCU, tele, stepdown, and SICU (my home unit). I have discovered that I love this style of nursing!

The logistics: I recently got my temporary IL license, and getting all the required documents won't be a problem. So, with that said, I plan to head out there in the beginning of August (it's end of May now).

So where do I start? I have talked to several agencies and they say it shouldn't be a problem to find a job by then, but these forums are stating that Chicago is not very known to hire travelers unless they are with local agencies. I won't need housing, but I would like to be compensated well and work in a safe neighborhood. I'll need 401k/insurance, all that jazz.. I tried looking up the website for HPI Healthcare Personnel, like people posted about, but it seems fake- the font is in Japanese and I think it's a dummy site, so is that agency still around?

Any information will help! I keep reading about travel nursing and all this information is overwhelming, especially for a newbie! Thanks!

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Where in Chicago will you be working?

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It depends, I haven't picked an agency yet, but I'll be living like 10 min from the bean ☺️

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

Not quite sure what to tell you. Chicago doesn't use travelers as much as other major cities but I've seen a few. And yes local agency nurses are far more prevalent here than travel nurses. You might want to look into some of the local agencies if your housing situation is alright. Some of them offer benefits although I'm not sure how great they are. I'm an agency nurse myself but I handle my own insurance,etc.

But besides that I'd just recommend reaching out to recruiters 2 - 3 months prior to you wanting to come out here so they have enough time to look. Not saying the recruiters were lying, but like I said I don't see too many travel nurses out here.

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I've done several assignments over the years in Chicago. I really love Chicago even during the winter. But my assignments were always extremely tough. I definitely pride myself in my excellent work ethic, I'm all about rolling up my sleeves and getting things done. But it was almost humanly impossible at times. My agency paid me well, but I didnt have any of the extras that you want (401k, Insurace, etc).

I really doubt if I'll return anytime soon. It's a very corrupt state with 2 Governors who are in prison.

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