I have signed up for Fresenius's Travel program.

Published

Hello all,

I am not a nurse, but I am a Dialysis Tech - CHT. I have signed up for the Travel Program with FRESENIUS.

For years I have always wanted to do some type of travel assignment. Not only had I not pursued it, I just never knew that there were travel opportunities for Dialysis Technicians. I thought that there were only "Travel Nurses". Well, not only have I recently found out that Fresenius has a travel program for nurses and PCTs, I also found out that there are other travel agencies out there. This is all new to me. And when the heck did Fresenius start a travel program? Has anybody known if this before? I used to work for Fresenius 2013-2014. I had never heard of this being available? I will say this, just last week I did check out another travel position of a big travel-nurse agency ( i was curious since i now have learned of a couple ). And the way this company adds up the wage and the stipends and allowance is wayyy different than Fresenius.I was shocked when the recruiter of this other company layed it all out. Wow! Sad. Looks like Fresenius it is. $$$$$ :)

So, are there any traveling PCTs or traveling Nurses who have traveled with Fresenius? Or any other companies? I have so many questions I am not sure what/which to ask first basically. I am just excited to be able to venture out -- an assignment here and there, etc.. TRAVEL!

Also, if I ever decide that I would want to not travel anymore, I wouldn't have to leave the company. I would just have to see who is hiring at what ever hospital or unit of Fresenius.

:)

Most content in most posts in this travel "nurse" travel forum applies equally to allied health travelers and locums. The primary exceptions are discussions about licensure. Read some random threads here for more insight!

If you want more in depth stuff, grab a free membership on PanTravelers where you can read articles on just about anything imaginable travel. 95 percent of which applies to you directly. You certainly need to understand the concept of tax homes before you take a travel assignment.

PanTravelers also has a very useful calculator in which you can plug in the very differently structured quotes you get and compare them on a level playing field. The results may be different than you think right now. What really matters is how much you can put in the bank, right?

Yes, Frenesius has had in-house travel for over ten years, probably over twenty. I would try to compare an offer at the same Fresenius facility with an outside agency as the offers are often higher with agencies. Yup, paradoxical. But working in-house will be more consistent and you will have first crack at any assignment over an agency traveler. One downside is that if you work direct for Fresenius, they may not allow you to work later at a Fresenius facility for an outside agency.

Well I thank you NedRN. And yes I have read many threads on this site, and some of them have a lot to do with peoples experiences (travel, work conditions, etc...). I had even commented on a few. And thanks for the info I greatly appreciate it. Also I will check out PanTravelers as well.

Specializes in A variety.

I used to work staff at Fresenius and yes I knew they had travelers. Since you are a ccht that would be a great option for you because you would be compensated better and if you don't like a clinic you get sent to you can leave where As when youre staff you have to stay with your home clinic for at least 6 months before the clinic manager is required to let you go to another one if you want. Also I Have seen The Travelers get preferential scheduling where is the staff people can get all kind of screwed up schedules and loads of overtime when they don't want it because Fresenius is often short. But I am curious how did your compensation offer from Fresenius travel compared to that of what an agency offered?

@ Jive Turkey

From what I researched on my own (I checked out 4 different traveling agencies), I found that Fresenius was the ones that DID NOT include the stipends into the salary. Basically, for example: if Fresenius offers $25 an hour, then that is your wage WITHOUT stipends included. The stipends are additional. Now as for all the other agencies/companies they include the stipends in the $25. Which then the break Dow is your actual hourly wage turns out to be $11 - $13an hour. So yeah.. Lol. That's the difference between Fresenius and the rest of the other travel offers. I was shocked to have learned this. Soon after this, i contacted the travel recruiter at Fresenius to make sure that my compensation was explained to me in full (the break down, wage, stipends, housing, etc...). I was assured by the recruiter that Fresenius does not do the same as other travel agencies. Pertaining to the salary and stipends being including in one number$. Which is great!!!! So for me, FRESENIUS IT IS! 100%

:) :) :)

Umm, many if not most agencies provide a full breakdown of compensation. They will also separate taxable from non-taxable, and your take home pay. I can promise you no travel nurse is paid $25 complete compensation. That would just be the taxable hourly pay. On top of that are M&IE and housing and travel.

Specializes in A variety.
Umm, many if not most agencies provide a full breakdown of compensation. They will also separate taxable from non-taxable, and your take home pay. I can promise you no travel nurse is paid $25 complete compensation. That would just be the taxable hourly pay. On top of that are M&IE and housing and travel.

I'll second what he says but encourage you to take another analysis of the situation. It sounds like Fresenius offers you a higher base pay which on paper sounds great but remember that whole $25 is taxable.A higher base pay rate likely means a lower stipend rate and vice versa. It also sounds like your agencies are quoting what you would make per hour factoring both the base wage and the stipends in. And technically they're not supposed to do that but it sounds like this is what's Throwing you off Let's expand on your example Using generic numbers

Fresenius

Base 25/hr (fully taxable) stipends 250/wk untaxed

Agency 13.75/hr (fully taxable) stipends 700/wk untaxed

Notice how in both of these examples regardless if the stipends are included or not In your quoted hourly wage the gross pay comes out the same. The trick here is going to be taxes and how much you end up being responsible for and what you can deduct. So I would recommend you do the math again and focus more on Net pay rather than the stipend amount and where they pay it out. The other thing to remember is as you know with Fresenius your clock out Times May Vary considerably depending upon the clinic your responsibilities how many patients you run how many show up that day and if patients show up late or their treatment runs longer forcing you to clock out later

My net pay came out to MORE with Fresenius. Also the "$25" pay was just an example amount I was using just to make my point. Although my compensation wasn't too far from that. I did my research, I went back and forth, calculations and all and still Fresenius came out on top. The housing stipend is a lot more than the others, travel stipends are about the same and the food stipend I just don't remember off the top of my head. But trust me when i say I have the break down of one agency on paper right in my email. Along with my contract from Fresenius. Either way, I am very satisfied and hope that this is a very good experience. I'm sure I will learn a lot from this.

Hey thanks Jive Turkey for the info.

Specializes in A variety.
My net pay came out to MORE with Fresenius. Also the "$25" pay was just an example amount I was using just to make my point. Although my compensation wasn't too far from that. I did my research, I went back and forth, calculations and all and still Fresenius came out on top. The housing stipend is a lot more than the others, travel stipends are about the same and the food stipend I just don't remember off the top of my head. But trust me when i say I have the break down of one agency on paper right in my email. Along with my contract from Fresenius. Either way, I am very satisfied and hope that this is a very good experience. I'm sure I will learn a lot from this.

Hey thanks Jive Turkey for the info.

Are you doing acutes or clinic? PM me if you don't mind, Id like to hear more about your experience. I've considered trying dialysis again some day and was once offered but it came after I accepted some thing else

Im having trouble finding locating different agencies for fresenius. Can anyone please help.

+ Join the Discussion