Never again with Cross Country TravCorps

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Specializes in ICU/PACU.

I will never work with this agency again. Wow this is a long story but I'll try to summarize quickly. I just completed an assignment at DHMC. I will preface this by saying, I have worked as a staff nurse and agency nurse before but this was my first travel assignment and I have never received poor ratings regarding my nursing care...EVER.

While at this assignment, I was asked four times to extend my contract, to which I politely declined. My manager just asked me last week to renew again and when I declined she says, "Never forget us here, maybe come back in the summer."

So fast forward a week. My recruiter emails me that I received a "below standard eval". I ended up talking with Cross Country's clinical liaison arguing against what was written about me. The manager lied!! The liaison said he will get with manager to discuss the points I brought up. This occurred at 2pm.

I received a phone call from my recruiter at 445pm to "update on what's happened in the past 2 hours". (I recently interviewed for a Pediatric position and was offered the job, I was just waiting to interview with the other hospitals that called me). My recruiter tells me that she's required to send any eval to any job I've been submitted for so she sent this eval to the hospital that offered me the job and they retracted the job offer. I asked her why she would do that when the liaison was currently doing research to validate or refute the eval comments that were made. She said, "It's my job to send that eval."

My issue is, as your recruit your job is to advocate on my behalf. She has never heard a negative eval of me from any of my jobs. So you would think she would call me prior to sending that eval. In addition, why not get a rebuttal statement from me to attach to that eval or wait until the clinical liaison concluded his research? But she prematurely sent that eval. There were selfish reasons behind it. I will be following up with the Director of the company on Monday.

I have had several issues with this recruiter. She is not a nurse nor has ever been so at times, she does not understand things I tell her or things I require from a job opportunity because she's always had an office job. She is incompetent. And she forgets that taking a job away from me, loses money for Cross Country and takes away from her funds. Once this is cleared up, I will no longer work with this company and most especially this recruiter. And you'd be wise to do the same.

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I've never heard of someone doing that before, especially in her position! Her job is to get you contracts, makes no sense.

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Specializes in ICU/PACU.

Right? That's what I said and thought!!!

I think she was being spiteful because she thought I accepted the job without consulting which I never did, but could do if I wanted to. In addition, we had an issue recently where I had to politely remind her that I work with other agencies so I'd never be hung up on Cross Country.

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So I went to work for Cross Country as my first agency in 1995. Almost four years later we parted ways for a very similar reason to yours. A very long story but I had a bad eval come in late a month after I left an assignment, so bad I thought they must have mixed up travelers. This was after two good evals from the same hospital (happened to be UCSF). I protested and eventually the hospital agreed to retract the eval. I did that only because I didn't want to change agencies - demonstrating loyalty, right? Well a couple years go by and I have an issue with another hospital and was terminated (another long story). This was Swedish in Seattle. I found another nearby hospital with a CC contract willing to hire me inside of an hour (just walked over to Virginia Mason) and call my recruiter of four years. Found out I was suspended pending clinical review! I was flabbergasted and hurt. I was so mad I forgot about the longevity bonus of $4,000 due me (just had to apply within a month of leaving) and to this day they have never called me and I have no idea if they would work with me again. Not that I care, I've done much better since leaving.

So that cause me a delay of a day, talked to a local Seattle agency and found another job inside of hours at Providence (now owned by Swedish). Actually being terminated from Swedish was a selling point for Providence because the heart surgeons split from Swedish. I already had housing so I wanted to finish my 13 weeks in Seattle.

Pretty boring tale I suppose. But yes, Cross Country claims that it is Florida law that if you give out a reference/evaluation in your file, you are required to give out all of them. Don't know if it is true or not but they sure stick by it. It taught me several valuable lessons that I have tried to pass on here. One of them is that your recruiter doesn't work for you, they work for themselves first, their agency second, and you lastly. They are not your friend, and it is dangerous to think that (I had actually sent my recruiter's daughter birthday gifts from England when I worked there). It is fine to be friendly, but recognize that it is a business relationship.

Second is that your professional portfolio and control thereof is vital to your career. Gather written references yourself, as early in the assignment as possible, and as many as possible. This helps protect you should you ever have an issue, as well as give you control about which references future employers will see and what they say about you.

Not too long after the UCSF fiasco, I did an assignment at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor (great assignment). The manager was a traveler and allowed me to copy all the Cross Country evaluations. As a result, I have evaluations from every hospital I've ever worked in which is an incredible asset. It was also the first time I was actually able to read the UCSF eval - my recruiter had given me the gist of it, but at the time, they had a policy (as do most agencies) of not giving copies or even reading them to travelers. The eval was really really bad and I had to ask the manager why she had hired me. She said that it was an outlying eval and all my other ones were excellent so she discounted it.

Anyway, just consider it a cheap business lesson. You had a lot less time for attachment than I did, so the separation should be easier. Lots of agencies out there and while a bit of work, choosing to be more of a free agent not tied to just one agency should be a good boost in income. It was for me!

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Thank u for posting this!! You can bet your ass that I will nrver do an assignment with them now. I was considering contacting them because they have so many assignments in areas that is like to live. But now, he'll no. I'm sorry that you are going through this. I would call the manager and ack why she gave u a bad eval, yet, asked u to stay. Very strange!

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Thanks for the post as well! I was talking to them and they seem pretty sketchy. I won't be signing with them either!

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Spiteful employer reps are not confined to travel agencies. This type of power-wielding personality can be found in lots of work situations.

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Specializes in ICU/PACU.

The thing is, as I stated before, I NEVER put my eggs in one basket but I will pursue this because it's not just an issue that has cost me future money (as I would have accepted the position that was offered me) but my reputation as a nurse is on the line. My reputation personally and professionally means everything to me so I won't take this lightly. The thing I don't understand is why they would send an eval that I was adamant was untrue without concluding their research or at least getting a statement from me to attach to the eval they sent until they conclude their investigation. I already had 3 other companies I was working with (1 of which my recruiter tried to get in trouble a few weeks ago) and I will never use this company again. I just want my name cleared and I want disciplinary action to follow.

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Specializes in ICU/PACU.

So after requesting I'd be contacted today, it's 3:30 pm and no one has contacted me. I called the clinical liaison who tells me the floor mgr won't retract her eval (and claims that this eval was from the charge nurses (who I have complained about yo the mgr by email) and that they addressed their concerns with me but have no proof of emails sent or signed write ups that I've received). So they have no proof supporting their claims and Cross Country has participated in this slander and defamation by forwarding a negative eval that was unfounded to other facilities. I just got off the phone with one of the Directors. She will "research" this situation and get back to me.

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I can really feel your anger and frustration in this thread. I can also feel that your reputation is the biggest thing that's affecting you at this time because you worked hard to maintain professional demeanor and to put your best foot forward and don't want this evaluation to jeopardize any of your future endeavors. I know you're venting on this thread, but while this investigation is going on, I would take a step back and try to do something to reduce the amount of stress that you're experiencing at this time. There are other travel companies for you to work with. I hope you find some. Good luck! :)

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Ok, my blood is boiling for u. But please clarify something: the eval was not from thd manager, but it was from the charge nurse? If this is correct, why not call the manager or call HR if the hospital?

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I agree with Soliloquy's suggestion to step back. I worked hard on my similar issue to reverse a bad eval for the same reasons you are stating (plus being loyal to CC), but you know what? It didn't help me, and it won't help you. Just start fresh with a new agency. One bad eval is not going to significantly hurt you. Lots and lots of hospitals and agencies out there.

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