HELP! New Grad Travel Nursing

Specialties Travel

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Hi everyone,

I am a recent new grad and I have been offered a wonderful opportunity of a travel nurse position. I have read all the travel nurse postings and people say to not start in travel nursing because there's no training.

However, I was offered a position and the hospital is willing to train me as a new grad for a month of training for the unit. (It's Not MS unit)

Please let me know what you guys think. It's really important to me to get advice from experienced travel nurses or maybe some who started off as a travel nurse new grad.

thank you feel free to Pm !

Obviously I concur with every post here. However this situation is the result of a desperate hospital, not a greedy agency. Both the hospital and the nurse know what they are getting (or should know). The hospital is leaving no marketing stone unturned as they should in their situation (although they should have required a one or even two year contract).

Hoping the OP will tell us the location or hospital name. I'm voting for rural hospital.

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.

There are lots of places you can go in other states that will give you a longer orientation. Have you considered the mid west?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.

Nope nope nope...I can't nope this enough. There's nothing more to say more than what others have said. Protect your license and give yourself the training and new grad orientation that you deserve and can set you up to being an amazing nurse.

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Hello everyone,

Thank you for your honest responses. I have given this much consideration. What I've been told is that in this rural hospital, there is a major staff shortage. The hospital asked the agency personally to find them new grads willing to travel in addition to experienced travel nurses because they have their program starting on January 9th. They will have us side by side with a nurse for a month, and it's 6 months position instead of 13 weeks like I had originally thought. Does this sound doable to any of you? Has anyone done this before?

I appreciate all comments and I am really reading them and taking them all into deep consideration because I did work very hard for my license and wouldn't want to jeopardize it, but I'm feeling desperate myself because it's getting difficult to find a new grad position that isn't a med-surg floor.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

One month of orientation is just not sufficient for a new grad. There is no way you'll be ready to be on your own after those few shifts.

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You didn't say what the specialty will be. One month of orientation may be sufficient for medsurg (and not too uncommon), especially since there will be some period where you have more access to help as needed in many hospitals. But probably not for most other specialties. I'm having a difficult time thinking of such a specialty. Perhaps clinic nursing?

A 6 month contract is certainly more reasonable, but there is little point to taking less than a year's contract (other than perhaps to switch to a better deal as staff). The reason as I mentioned in my original reply is that only a hospital in similarly desperate straights will be willing to hire a nurse with only 6 months experience (although a nursing home may take you with 6 months of medsurg).

No doubt the hospital will be willing to take you on as staff after 6 months (unless you prove to be a really subpar nurse or employee), but count on being there for 12 months or 2 years. Or downgrade to a career in nursing homes (no offense to those who love nursing homes). You are far less likely to get lucky after 6 months in a rural hospital than you will be applying from scratch to a real job right now. You need to reset your expectations of a first job far higher than this situation will provide.

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You have enough people that have warned you not to do this. When you lose your license, think back to these people.

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Definitely no!!! I started as a med surg nurse on a tele floor in 2008.. all I wanted was to do ER but there were no spots open. So I did the MS gig for three months, talked to the ER nurses when they brought up patients, made friends, met the director, and they let me come down and float an ER shift to try it out. Later when a spot opened up, I was a shoo-in. You don't have to stay in med surg, but it gets your foot in the door. I'm a supervisor in an ED now and oversee new grad orientation, even 12 weeks isn't enough for some new grads to be functional, let alone completely out of the nest. Like everyone else I have to chime in this sounds terribly dangerous to your career.. not simply dangerous to your license but also to your foundation and satisfaction as a nurse.. ours is a profession where we start out feeling in over our heads to begin with, even with support and proper training! Take a perm spot somewhere and get your feet under you, time flies and before you know it you will be ready.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
What I've been told is

And therein lies the rub. Just because it's what you've been told doesn't necessarily make it true. There's a reason my facility no longer hires travelers. It's because what we get told by the agency doesn't match what we get from the nurse/surgical tech. We've had some serious nightmares, and they far outnumber the gems. Take anything told to you by an agency with a grain of salt. Yes, I'm cynical, and I freely admit it.

I'm feeling desperate myself because it's getting difficult to find a new grad position that isn't a med-surg floor.

Welcome to today's employment market. New grads are a dime a dozen- there are far more of them than available new grad positions. Want a good job with a good orientation? Take that med surg job, put in the year or two to get experience, and then move on to the specialties you want to work. In this environment, new grads can't afford to be choosy.

Bottom line, I think you're setting yourself up to take a fall if you take a traveling job with zero nursing experience.

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Specializes in PICU.
You have enough people that have warned you not to do this. When you lose your license, think back to these people.

Exactly this. Who is going to precept you? A hospital is not going to spend resources and pay for a staff nurse to precept a brand new grad who is from an Agency. You need to learn the basics about time management, med calculations. I realize you are desperate for a job, but this sounds like a bad set-up for you. Remember, always think what would a reasonably prudent nurse do in this situation? I just see this as leading you to a fail, and if too much time passes you would miss out on new grad internships and year-long programs that make you a safe practicing nurse.

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The original post says a month of orientation. All hospitals are required to validate and document in writing observed skills and competency. No independent practice until this is done, nor can they perform tasks they are not signed off on. I do this every three months at every contract (big pain from my perspective). Huge legal jeopardy for the hospital if they don't do this JC mandated practice, not the new nurse.

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Thank you everyone for your advice!

I am not taking this job. I will be continuing my job search.

I also decided to do my own research, call the hospital, and talk directly to the director who hired the company.

I got my answers that I wanted, and turns out that the agency like you all said wasn't supposed to be seeking new grads in the first place!

Thank you all for your support and advice!!

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