Hard time getting a contract as a couple

NedRN · Feb 11, 2015

How many agencies have you talked to?

HikingNinja, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Feb 11, 2015

I know lots of people who do this. Not all are couples, some are friends who travel together. From what they told me it was never an issue. They did tend to travel to big cities that had facilities with a lot of needs. And they were all critical care nurses. I agree with Ned, talk to other agencies.

pinktermite · Feb 12, 2015

I have traveled with my wife for a while now, I'm ER...she's ICU. We get accommodated sometimes and other times not so much. However, we take long stretches off between assignments (when I keep her shoe budget under control lol) sometimes 6-8 weeks. So you do have to put up with some of that over time but the payoff is big when you get to take way more time off than you would with a regular job. My advice to you is to look at the big picture as much as you can. Good luck!

m2736185 · Feb 13, 2015

We'll I have tried the big agencies like cross country. They told me many hospitals will not allow a spouse to work on the same floor at the same time.

SFANURSE2011, MSN, RN · Feb 13, 2015

That's not true. When I was on assignment in NH CC had a couple working in the same unit. They even worked a majority of the same days.

revkev007 · Feb 13, 2015

Maybe she could do PRN? Just a thought. Good luck.

wanderlust99 · Feb 14, 2015

Maybe it was your recruiter b/c I know couples who travel together with both amn and cc. The only thing is getting the same exact days. But some managers will work with you. If it's a place with a lot of travelers, it's going to be easier obviously to get that.

bagladyrn, RN · Feb 22, 2015

You may have better responses if you compromise and simply ask to have the same weekends off rather than all of the same days off.

ChristineAdrianaRN, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

Question for the people saying it's not that difficult: is it easier to get jobs together if you go through the same company?

NedRN · Mar 4, 2015

It can be easier with one agency (more convenient for sure), especially if one traveler's specialty is in big demand. For example if one is L&D, the hospital may be able to magically open an assignment in a low demand area like medsurg. I see that happening all the time with folks that travel together. At the hospital I'm at, an OR nurse was scarce so they "helped" his wife get a PACU assignment.

ChristineAdrianaRN, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2015

I'm wondering if that's what I need to do. It seems like jobs for me (OR nurse) might be more in demand than for my boyfriend (physical therapist). We had to take our first assignment in my hometown because my dad fell ill, but it was a b**** trying to get my boyfriend an assignment here (he commutes an hour away). His recruiter (who was awful and we dumped her) gave me a hard time saying I should have let him take an assignment first and then I follow him because my jobs are easier to get (the whole "we have to take an assignment in this specific city" never did seem to register with her). But now I'm wondering if it would be possible for me to apply a bunch of places and then see if hospitals are willing to take a packaged deal. I didn't know if that was a thing we could try or not.