pay and contract help, new to travel

trackhead, APRN · Jul 11, 2014

Not sure about med-surg pay, I work ER, but that pay package is a bit low for what I'm used to working for. If it's a town your excited about, then maybe it's worth it to you. If it's your first contract, then even more so. But you might try for a bit higher on the hourly wage. Again, not sure what your specialty is, guessing med-surg based on your signature.

Ultimately it's your choice.

NedRN · Jul 11, 2014

Lebanon is in the boonies, but don't let that fool you. That is a major teaching hospital with tons of travelers. I wouldn't be concerned about the charting system, you will be fully oriented to it before starting and get help when you are actually working.

Personally, I would want to get a full quote about everything (including insurance, licensure reimbursement, per diems, travel pay, and if supplied housing is available - not much excess available housing in the Lebanon area on either side of the border), and look at the proposed contract before agreeing to take this assignment. There may be some things in it that you can't live with.

Before getting to this point, it would have been far better to talk to several agencies to compare pay. I'm not positive, but I think Cross Country (or American Mobile) is the prime vendor there, but they have many, many subcontracting agencies, and paradoxically, some of those other agencies may pay more. Too late now for Lebanon, you are locked into this agency as you have already been submitted there (they "own" you for the next 6 or 12 months). But you don't have to be railroaded into taking this in a big hurry. There are tons of assignments at Dartmouth-Hitchcock so you can almost certainly get in for the next orientation.

Don't let what I've written here get you too worked up. If this is your first assignment, treat it as a learning experience and don't worry too much about compensation or anything else. It is good to have a successful travel assignment on your work history, and most travelers like this hospital from what I have heard. I've never been there myself (thought about it frequently as I like the area), but I do have a staff friend on the open heart team there.

shortstuff52 · Jul 11, 2014

Thank you for all the advice and help. The hospital is actually Alice Day Peck, not the more common Dartmouth. I believe I did look into CCTC and their pay was less than what aya is offering me. Which is the package I wrote above. I will ask about the insurance and per diem etc.. Housing there is pretty expensive.. I'm trying to travel with my pitx but it is very hard!

also what did you mean about me being locked in for 6-12mo?

Thanks so much!!!

NedRN · Jul 11, 2014

I had no idea there was another hospital in the Lebanon area! I have no doubt it is small as you said. No about the "lock in period":

Think about a traditional employment agency. They "introduce" you to an employer, you get a job, and a fee is paid. Once that introduction has been made, you cannot go to another employment agency and get the same job and generate a fee to them. The first agency "owns" you contractually.

Travel nursing is directly analogous, in fact travel companies are indeed employment agencies (even doing permanent placements). They get a fee for placing you, a percentage of the bill rate they will charge the hospital for every hour you work if you get the job. You cannot now go around them to another agency that is offering them more, or even simply go staff for that hospital without a fee being paid to them.

The term of that "ownership" was traditionally 12 months, but now is more usually 6 months before the facility and you are free to do what you like without generating a fee.

No big deal, right? Unfortunately, many travelers do not talk to lots of agencies to determine the best ones to work for. They talk to one, or maybe two, the ones with the best marketing (and thus the highest overhead and lowest pay), sign up, get an interview, and then get the compensation numbers. They then think, this can't be the high pay I've always heard travelers get and do a bit of checking, often on a traveler's forum like this one. They discover that there is another agency paying perhaps another couple dollars an hour, perhaps even another $8 an hour and now the job is ruined for them. They can't possibly work there doing the same job for less money, so now they start trying to figure out how to work for the better agency.

Technically, you are now in a gray area with no contracts having been signed. But if you put yourself in the facility's shoes, they don't want to get involved in a fight between two of their vendors over a commodity traveler. This is a reason not to let your agency submit you to an assignment without your permission because either the first agency to submit "owns" you by agreement with the hospital, or the hospital not uncommonly receiving the same traveler profile from two different agencies will throw up their figurative hands and decline to hire you at all.

Another time this becomes a big deal is if you get hired and there are travelers from other agencies there, you may find that other agencies are paying more (perhaps not, compensation packages differ in makeup from different agencies -sometimes the provided housing is better for example - or the traveler lies about pay - go figure!), and now try to switch agencies for an extension. Same issue, you are locked into the first agency because you didn't do your homework prior to submission. But again, the assignment is ruined for you, you are doing the same job for less money and this agency you picked because of their great marketing and friendly recruiter is making a higher profit off of you. If you want to work for that other agency, now you have a contractual agreement not to do so for 6/12 months without the first agency getting a healthy fee, which of course will not happen.

shortstuff52 · Jul 11, 2014

Thanks again. I decided to take it and see, as it is my first assignment I guess. Still nervous!! Thanks for your help!!