General career questions-Travel Nursing, cont. ed.

suzanne4, RN · Aug 23, 2005

You may find an agency that will take you before you haveone year of experience, but run as fast as you can from them. Many facilities are actually requiring that the nurse have two years of experience now.

Be aware that with a travel assignment you will get a very minimal orientation, not more tha a few days and you will be expected to fully function on your own. If you have only been working in the same facility since you graduated, and have only seen things done their way, and less than one year of experience, then you are only asking for trouble to try and accet a travel assignment now.

Yes, there are agencies that will provide everything that you are asking about, but again, they will not look at you until you have at least one year of experience.

adagiogray · Aug 25, 2005

Thanks for the response.

One of the advantages of having had a *lot* of clinical sites (seven in my case) throughout nursing school is figuring out how 'things are done' in a variety of settings. The basic patient care, assessments, med admin all seem to be much the same, the major differences seem to lie within documentation, and acquainting yourself with a different set of doc preferences.

Anyone else have some insights on my various questions?

suzanne4, RN · Aug 26, 2005

Yes, what you have heard is tales of an agency accepting a new grad..........

Many facilities are actually requiring minimum of two years for the nurses that they will accept.

Having a multitude of clincial sites, I had them also, does not prepare you for the work of when you graduate..............you were not working under your own license then, now you are. Remember that a facility uses travellers when they are short staffed, etc........., not on a routine most of the time.....

You do not get an orientation other than the paperwork, computer, etc.....

You need to be able to hit the floor working and handling pretty much everyhting on your own, other than soemone telling you what number to phone for a code, where the crash cart is, where the kitche is, and where the med room is. MOst of the time, you are on your onw after that.

suzanne4, RN · Aug 26, 2005

Do a search on this site, and you will get the exact same information that I am giving to you...........

CraigBSN02 · Aug 26, 2005

Greetings! I'll try to answer these for you.

1. I'm a recently graduated(June) associate degree RN, currently working on a med-surg/telemetry floor, 12 hr shifts, nights (thank goodness - days about killed me!). I really would like to see what travel nursing has to offer, I've been in my hometown for 33 years. Do I really need to wait a full year or so getting experience where I am before I should even consider travel nursing? I've heard tales of some agencies accepting new grads.

Yes, yes, yes. At least one year of on your own nursing (ie: after orienting/precepting). Having never experienced what other facilities are like, you really need to work on the basics. You're still learning 'real world' nursing skills.

2. Anyone have experience with travel assignments in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, west coast, Florida, Toronto, etc?

Actually living in Hawaii is different from the concept of living in Hawaii. It's small town, religious, and isolated. You want a big city break? Be prepared to hop a plane to Honolulu. That being said, if you are the outdoorsy type, love natural beauty and artery clogging food, Hawaii is the best place for you. :spam: :spam:

As far as international nursing goes (New Zealand, Oz), be prepared for a lot of paperwork, licensing fees, and beaucoup $$$ just to get there, and be prepared for lousy pay afterwards. Also plan on a minimum stay of 1 year, since facilities won't sponsor you for any less than that time period. It's similar to the H1B visa the US has. As far as Toronto goes, why?? Just work in upstate New York and travel there on day trips! :-).

If you want info on other places, search the frakin' archive! Seriously, you'll find 1,000+ different opinions on it. Nursing in the USA is pretty much the same, state to state

3. Should I be pushing for critical care experience, and is it necessary for good travel nursing jobs?

Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. It makes you more employable. Working ICU means you can work ICU and Telemetry, even Meg Surg if you want to. Having only Med/Surg experience means you only get Med Surg jobs. As far as good jobs go, you'll have to trust your recuiter on that one! Ask around to see if people have worked at the facility the recruiter is talking to you about, see what other people say.

4. What travel agencies in your experience have really done right by you? (paid housing, perhaps car, excellent pay in a good learning environment, exotic locales/other countries)

I've only been with one, but they've done right by me. Cross Country TravCorps has been on time with payroll, reimbursement and up front with facility placement. Housing has been good/better than I expected. Most mainland travel assignments will not pay for a vehicle. Hawaii postings almost always receive a monthly stipend for transportation. You have to ask the travel company, and most $$$ are negotiable. If you want exotic locales, there are postings from the US Virgin Isles to Alaska. However, the the number one rule to remember is...

If the pay is too good to be true, then there is a reason for it!.

There is a reason they will pay you $80,000/year to go to Alaska, or $150,000 to go to Saudi Arabia, or $50/hr for what seems like a "normal" hospital. There are reasons why hospitals cannot get staff, and it's not always because of the nursing shortage.

5. Would returning to school for a BSN really open up that many more opportunities for me?

No. Not unless you have a long term plan on going to grad school or getting into management. If being a staff nurse is your plan for the next ten years, skip the BSN. If you get into this, realize "Hey I want to do something else", then take advantage for your facility's RN-to-BSN reimbursement program sooner rather than later.

PM me if you want any specifics on Florida, Hawaii, or postings down under. I can even tip you towards facilities that will pay your travel/relocation bonuses to go full time staff.

Take care,

-Craig J.

RN, BSN... and others

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Aug 26, 2005

First things first!!!!!

Any travel group that would recruit a new grad should be busted for malpractice. No one should ever travel for the first year or two out of school!!!! It is for the nurse's, facility's and patient's own good. And, quite bluntly, while a recruiter may take your app and say that only one year of experience is required...most facilities will barely glance at an app that has only a year on it.

The chances are if the facility is willing to take someone with less than one year experience, it is probably not a job that you want to take.

Second, the vast majority of nursing programs require their students to work in different sites and on different units to give a variety of experiences. This is not even remotely the same as working "on your own" in the variety of settings in which travel nursing requires. You will have minimal orientation and frequently (at least initially) little support from the floor staff.

Florida has a lot of positions but very little pay well. The facilities also tend to be poorly staffed and the clientele elderly. Florida is also seasonal employment - busy during snowbird season, somewhat slower in the summer.

Toronto may not have many travel assignments. The tendency is for their nurses to migrate to the states not the other way around. Canadian nurses complain about the pay there.

Out of the country assignments require a great deal of paperwork, the pay is not all that good and the contracts are for longer periods.

I tend to stay on the East coast- Philadelphia, NYC/Manhattan, Boston.

ICU helps, but I am strictly Hemo/Onco/BMT and have yet to have worked out of speciality - I find plenty of good jobs in speciality. So, I have never needed ICU (though BMT is kinda ICU in some places). I also don't have a BSN.

Making a lot of money in exotic locales is a lovely idea...but the truth is the "exotic" locales generally have plenty of local staff to choose from and rarely need to pay a lot of money/or need travelers unless the cost of living is really high. Your better pay rates will be in less desirable locales or places with a major shortage problem.