Help Me Travel Nurses!!

[cdngirl]

I'm a med/surg nurse of 13 years looking into my first travel assignment in January.

I have been talking to a recruiter for a few months and a couple things have come up and would love to hear your response. From reading these boards I have come to learn that it is the recruiter that can make or break your experience.

1. I had asked the recruiter if she could put me in contact with a couple of nurses who had been with the company for at least a year. She said she would, she hasn't and she or myself have not brought the subject up again. Is this a common request?

2. Today I was supposed to have a phone interview with a person that works for the company and was "very familiar" with the needs of the facility. Is this common practise? Do nurse managers ever do the interviewing?

3. I never recieved the call after sitting around waiting all morning. Kinda like waiting for the cable guy:) I called the recruiter and she said she would call the woman and get back to me that afternoon. Never heard from them. Not a very good first impression on my part OR am I not being "flexible" enough?

4. Contracts, do I sign one? What's in it? Can I request things to be in the contract?

I'm soooo excited about this but I think I'm still shopping for a company. Let me know what you think.

Thanking you in advance!

[NPAlby]

Sounds like you're seriously trying to do your homework before this contract. Good for you! I've been traveling for about a year and wish I had done some of my own homework. Live and learn. Anway to answers a few of your concerns:

1. Very good idea to talk to other nurses who have worked for the company. I haven't heard of a recruiter giving help in contacting other nurses though. I find these message boards are pretty good and of course word of mouth from other travelers you've come across as a staff nurse.

2,3. I have my package in at two companies. Pretty much when they say they're going to call to do the interview they have. I never had that waiting around. I'm not very patient so that's probably a good thing. And yes it always been the nurse manager from the unit I was going to be assigned to.

4. Ah, the contract. This is where you need to be careful. I got burned pretty bad at my first assignment. I learned the hard way of "paying out." I ended up hating the hospital that I was assigned and wanted out within the first few hours of being on orientation. Thats when I learned how much I had to pay to get out of the contract. Needless to say I stayed at the hospital but I felt like such a fool because it was a six month contract. So now even after the interview and going personally to the facility I wait to send in my contract. I don't know if you can do this with other agencies but I saw some other nurses do it and now I keep my contract for at least half a week before mailing it in. I have a hard time with committment as it is.

Now in regards to the actual contract: make sure that whatever you were promised is actually written out. I've been jipped out of my relocation money, license reimbursement and my best friend was jipped out the bonus they initially promised. Also, I'm not a med/surg nurse but my friend is and has experience many problems with rotating shifts. I never have but that could be due to being a psych nurse, I don't know. Have them spell out for you what shift you will be assigned to, as well as what unit. Rotating between three shifts within the same week is not fun.

Hope this helps. What company are you using? I've been with Supplemental and my friend is currently on assignment with American Mobile. Let me know if I can be of further help.

[cursenurse]

i have never done travel nursing, but i would feel very apprehensive about signing with a company that doesn't respond to phone calls, or that say they will do something and don't. what if you have a problem on an assignment? will they call you back and get it resolved in a timely manner? even if your recruiter was unable to get in touch with the person you were supposed to talk to, she should have at least called you and told you what was going on.

[mangubatmc]

hi anybody who knows a company who give good rates and good healthcare benefits LA california?pls advise. thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

[suzanne4, RN]

What exactly are you looking for? Which specialty? Travel assignment or per diem? That will make a difference as to what is recommended to you. Different agencies can have more shifts and placement for a certain specialty.

[nursypoo]

ive been in my first assignment for 2mths now. that whole deal sounds shady. there are so many different companies out there, you can easily find one that will accomodate you. usually once your recruiter gives your profile to the hospital, the nurse manager will call you for an interview. if the nurse manager hasnt called you, they may have found someone else for the position but your recruiter should get back with you that day or the next to see whats going on and contact the hospital. if your recruiter is not giving you 100% now, imagine how hes going to be once you sign that contract. ive heard of them getting you in touch with other travelers so if he said hed do it then he should keep his word. i dont think youre being too hard on your recruiter.

[sweetpea839]

I am a travel nurse in my second assigment. I have been with two different companies and have been in 2 thirteen week assignments. Travel nursing in unique in that you are like your own personal boss and you are scouting out the companies, they are not scouting you.

I dove into a travel assignment in New Mexico, was as excited as can be, and it went very well. The more you travel and talk to other travel nurses, the more info you get about what you should do for the next assignment.

I learned that you should look info about each hospital online, as the nurse manager is usually the one who interviews you, but you could get to the unit and find some interesting suprises that you didn't know you were getting. For instance, I had interviewed for a telemetry position and was told the 4th floor was telemetry, when in real life and I got to the floor, it was an oncology unit with only certain patients on telemetry.

The most important thing to do is ask questions to other travelers, which you are doing! Good for you! You will find that the companies are not out to get you the best deal. You are out to get you the best deal, the companies are out to get themselves the best deal, no matter what! However, switching companies is easy because if you don't like your assignment, it is only 13 weeks, you can move on with a different company. Most of the preliminary paperwork is painless and transferable, such as immunization record, TB, and even skills checklist if you make a copy and send to the next company. If you would like some more advice, you can always e-mail me and get more info from me, i'd love to share.

Personal e-mail addresses not permitted for your safety, feel free to exchange them by pm.

Spammers cannot reach them that way.

[k_cole21]

Well! I'm glad you asked so many great questions! First of all, a great recruiter will put you in contact with a nurse that has traveled for the company. If they won't....RED Flag! Some recruiter are bad about returning calls....that can be a red flag. If you really like this person as a recruiter just tell him/her that you expect a little more from them as far as returning phone calls & keeping you posted on the progress that he/she is making. If a phone call is too hard maybe email is better for them. Main thing...YOU CALL THE SHOTS!

Sometimes it does take a while to hear back from the managers for interviews. Some are very busy and may have a staff rep call to interview you. If it's somewhere you really want to go be patient, just let you recruiter know you haven't heard from them. Some company's will give you the manager's number & let you call them if you are comfortable with that. Just have your questions ready for them....You are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you.....You want to know things like....do they provide scrubs? nurse:patient ratio? how many nurses they staff per shift? are you req to float? if so to what units? do they allow OT for travelers (if you want OT)? who determines your schedule?

As for the contract....if you want a certain schedule like 6 on 8 off make sure it's in your contract. Anything you want make sure it's in there. No matter how minute it may seem. If your recruiter says "well sign the one you have and we'll fix it" DON'T. Make sure everything is accurate. Anything that is discussed make sure it's in writing!

I have my profile out to about 4 companies....I make them compete for me lol. Some benefits are better than others with different companies. Seems like you have been reading the posts by other nurses so just keep in mind what has been said about these companies. You can send me a private message if you want to know anyting else about any of the companies I'm with....

[swimer]

Sounds exactly like me. I have the same questions, plus more. I have been researching for a couple months now, many different companies, not only to make the right decision but also b/c some companies do not offer LPN traveler opportunities. I came here to see if I could get some kind of answers/suggestions. Wish you the best of luck.

[jsixxerrn]

First if you donnot like your recruiter now you will hae them later. remember the recruiter makes good money off you. She is trying to obtain you not you trying to obtain her. there are too many companies outthere to not like your recruiter. Read your contract carefulif they will not accomodate you find another company. it is too easy to find another comapny to get stuck with a crapcontract. let them compete 4 u. Rememver you have the skill they want. not the other way around.