NurseThompson

Thanks for your advice Bluebolt, this has definitely been a learning experience for me.

Thanks for your advice 8-ball. My question to the recruiter was what is in the contract between the agency and the hospital regarding cancellations due to low census not what is in my contract. I want to be compensated for all the cancelled shifts. My contract with the agency does not address this. My contract with the agency basically supports the agency. As this is my first assignment I was totally unaware of all the things that could go wrong. I thought I was guaranteed for 36 hours a week. I will definitely be walking away from this agency especially since I am expected to wait around a few weeks with no pay to see if things will get better.

Thank you for your advice NedRN. I really don't have any other travel agency, but I do have work that I can return to back home. So I think I will just return home and decide whether travel nursing is right for me. My recruiter sent me a text today letting me know that the account manager spoke to the nurse manager and the nurse manager says that they expect their census to go up in a few weeks, like that was good news. I can't believe he expects me to wait around for a few weeks to see if things will get better, also why won't the hospital just go ahead and cancel the contract for low census? None of this makes any sense to me.

I am new to travel nursing and my first assignment is not going well. My recruiter acted as though he was my best friend in the beginning and told me not to hesitate to call him if I had any concerns. Well after driving 1,000 miles away from home and being stuck in my apartment for 10 days with no work, because I keep getting cancelled due to low census( been here over two weeks and have only worked 3 shifts). I spoke with my recruiter about this and he tells me that it is my responsibility to speak with the nurse manager about the cancellations because I will end up owing the agency money for housing expenses. I could not believe what I was hearing. I would be penalized because the facility keeps cancelling my shifts. According to my contract I should not owe anything unless I was the one who called in sick etc. Also isn't it my recruiter's responsibility to speak with the facility regarding what may be in the contract between the agency and facility? Also to find out if the facility still requires my services? So I asked him what does the contract say between the agency and the facility and he just said that the contract does not state "guaranteed hours" and once again that this situation is basically between me and the nurse manager. I am so frustrated that I want to just walk away from this contract. I am not sure if the whole agency is shady or just my recruiter. So my questions are 1.Do I have an obligation to stay in this contract since I have not had any work? 2. Is it really my responsibility to work this out with my nurse manager? 3. Is it too early for me to be concerned about these cancellations? 4. Should I just ask for a different recruiter?