How to get into Travel Nursing?

[MrMango]

Hello all, I'm a relatively new nurse, I've worked in Outpatient Dialysis for a year. Recently, I've been putting some thought into travel nursing.

However I don't know how to go about looking into getting hired through an agency, which agencies to go with or avoid, and how to get the process going, or if I even have enough experience yet. I'd like to stick in my specialty of Dialysis.

Any input is appreciated!

[NedRN]

Maybe you didn't quite catch everything I had written. I have mutliple licences in 2 countries. Nothing says a restricted geographical area. They advertised jobs in provinces and states (multiple) and then admitted after everything was done those jobs don't exist and they've never placed anyone in those states. This is not a case of lack of experience. They did outright lie. Nor are these the only agencies and recruiters I have spoken to, these were just the ones I completed the paperwork with. I am a nurse with many years of experience in many different places and advanced education, certifications. There was no competition from other nurses against me. I was offering support to the original person posting because you can research all you want, but getting a contact from another traveler is far more valuable. But, I'm done. I'm not interested in an argument.

Oh yes, I caught that. But you know what, what happened to you was entirely your fault. Travel nursing in Canada is minuscule. Not hard to find that out. Get licensed in three provinces and you still have the same problem. Virtually no jobs posted online are "real" and haven't been for 15 years. For various reasons, jobs are just "representative". This is not a secret either and has been posted by me and many others for the last 15 years in travel nurse forums and more recently on FaceBook. Top ten lists are click bait and have zero to do with how good an agency is. Effectively, you put all your eggs in one basket and had exactly one chance to find a good recruiter. You failed to shop around, and limited your search severely.

You are not alone, many make similar mistakes (some get lucky). I wasn't arguing with you, I was trying to help you with a path forward should you want to try travel again in the future. I understand you were just venting, but others do need to learn how travel nursing works, and the way you did it does not work.

[oldpsychnurse]

I traveled for a while. Never even had to leave my state, but could have if I'd wanted to. After reading some of the comments here, I've seen some things that should never happen. For example, you should never have to pay to get licensed in another state. The travel agency should either pay upfront or reimburse you. And I never searched specific agencies. I went on-line and found the jobs I was interested in and then contacted the agency. Use an on-line job site to find what you want. I like Indeed.com. You can to there, type in Travel RN Dialysis and see what pops up. I think most travel agencies want 2 years experience, but it depends on how desperate the need is. Good luck! Traveling can be really fun.