Potential Travel Nurse

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 30, 2015

Moving to Travel Nursing to help you get more responses.

Best of luck!

Chi_ · Mar 30, 2015

Hi Limitlesslisa89!

I'm excited that you're looking for change. The experience and education that you'll earn through a travel opportunity is a big one to look forward to.

Being a Travel Nurse makes you a hot commodity! Especially with your experience and specialty, there are always opportunities for you. When you first apply to Travel Nursing, you want to be selective about which agency you choose. Normally, as soon as you make yourself available on a job-search engine by posting a resume or applying to travel nursing, you will be BOMBARDED with recruitment calls! So how do you know which agency is right for you?

There are top-ranking agencies, high-volume agencies, and high-paying ones... but what's most important is:

Do I have open and honest communication with my Recruiter?

Keep in mind, even though you are looking for work, it's the recruiter that should be working for you.

Your career and life ambitions are priority and with the right recruiter, you can establish the ideal relationship that caters to fulfilling your motivation and needs. You'll want to find someone that you can trust to keep things straightforward, honest, and have open communication. It's almost like dating -- so how are you going to find an agency that will prove to make a positive difference for you?

Travel Nursing is considerably a career move. Assignments on average run about 13 weeks and you can expect to earn a pretty penny, as long as you're employed! You'll want to choose an agency that will never leave you unemployed, offer benefits, safe housing, and the right type of hospital work, and PAY (of course :)) that is ideal to you. Most importantly, you want the agency to always give you exceptional customer service. Truly, your options are limitless, you just have to find someone to trust that will give you the best of all worlds.

Best to your endeavors.

Chi

NedRN · Mar 31, 2015

Actually, I pretty much agree with all your thoughts although I prefer working with multiple agencies as a way to solve some of the issues mentioned. You may be working with the wrong agency: it will take more than a name change to erase the bad rep that Access/Aya has with experienced travelers.

genluv83 · Apr 2, 2015

Hello! Welcome to travel nursing! I am an experienced med surg telemetry travel nurse currently living in CA and i can give you some great advice on a great company I now work for .

NedRN · Apr 3, 2015

Just name your good agency for Pete's sake! Or are you just into referrals for personal gain or perhaps you are the recruiter?

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 3, 2015

Yes, please name a company that you endorse. But, asking for members to private message you with recruiter information is against Terms of Service.

DatMurse · Apr 3, 2015

I got my first assignment in a few weeks when I felt that I was ready.

I signed with AMN, I am still skeptical of the company, but they have the contracts I want.

here is a list of agencies.

Travel Nursing Company Ratings - Travel Nursing Central

icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN · Apr 3, 2015

My first travel agency was Cross Country. They have contracts pretty much anywhere and are an exclusive vendor for some major hospital systems. They also do a lot of Epic EMR conversions which are super well staffed assignments.

They were very good and did the skills checklists for ICU and PACU with me over the phone. I had several calls from their nurse liason who coached me on how to interview, provided some checklists for interview questions to ask the nurse manager. She was very helpful and available anytime if there was a clinical issue. The nurse liason also interviewed me for a couple of assignments in two very large well known facilities. I think you need this kind of safety net for your first assignment.

The housing was nice and in a safe area. The pay was not that great but I regarded it as a learning experience. 1000 per week after taxes, fully paid housing and utilities and a travel stipend of 500 each way. The health insurance was decent for only seven dollars a week and with a 220/ month COBRA payment. Send that document back immediately, and I would even send it by priority mail, or, if I recall correctly, it will be cancelled as of your last day of the month.

My recruiter was rather aggressive and we did not click. In looking back I should have just asked to be assigned to someone else. But CC was good for getting me up and running and everything was well thought out and organized. I believe that this is the way to go for your first assignment, to build your confidence and if you want the hospitals that are world class facilities on your resume, definitely the way to go.

I plan to go to Alaska at some point and I will be with comparing Cross Country and Providence Staffing.

There are also other smaller and very reputable agencies which pay more and focus on certain states or regions. If you have a particular area in mind, just ask specifically who staffs Boston, Phoenix, Nashville, Seattle or Orlando, and someone here should know.

I do not get involved in giving referrals, or taking bonuses, as I would not vouch for someone unless I was very sure of their skills and abilities. Good luck to you.

genluv83 · Apr 3, 2015

icuRNmaggie,

I have not worked with CrossCountry on an assignment but I am "locked and loaded with them and ready to travel" when ready. The larger companies usually do not pay well but usually have more exclusive contracts- i.e AMN, CrossCountry.

There was a really good review for Ketchikan (PeaceHealth) as it is called. I am not sure where you would like to travel but Ketchikan is the southeasternmost city in AK. Good luck to you! Keep us updated as to your travels! :)

merner1012 · Apr 3, 2015

icuRNmaggie- Just curious about the travel stipend you got with Cross Country because I travel with them now with my boyfriend and we both only got $300 each way for the travel, and we went 2,500 miles... Is the $500 normally what you've been getting? It's a little frustrating to me to hear this since we both literally just drove across the country! Not sure if it's kosher to even be asking about the money part, but if you could answer that would be great! Thanks!

icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN · Apr 3, 2015

I took a flight from the East Coast to the West Coast and the contract included a 500 travel reimbursement each way.

I would not drive across the country for three hundred dollars. I insist on travel reimbursement for airfare. $300 does not begin to cover the cost of tolls, gas, and hotels and your time.

Next time, after the contract is presented, do not agree to it, just negotiate for more on the travel reimbursement and have a plan B with another agency in the works. They can do better. You can walk away from CC anytime that you want.

You have to do this because you enjoy the lifestyle, the temporary nature of the work and not because you want to make bank.