Too many cancelled shifts

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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?

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A contract does not need the words "guaranteed hours" to be valid for just that. If contracting for some number of weeks and some number of hours doesn't mean that, then there has to be language in the contract about hospital cancellations. Look over your contract for that. If it doesn't have such language, you need to tell your recruiter that you expect payment for those hours that you were available to work and no shifts were provided.

That conversation isn't going to go well, and you will need to escalate to your recruiter's boss. And no, it is the agency's responsibility to talk to the hospital about a lack of scheduled shifts - it is their contract with the hospital, not yours. Your contract is about availability to work and working scheduled shifts.

Yes, I would start tapping into your other agency connections (you do have them, right?), and start looking for another assignment stat. If you haven't earned any money, the agency is going to have a difficult time penalizing you. If you arranged your own housing, well, you have effectively already paid a penalty for housing and travel.

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Specializes in ICU, and IR.

Here are my thoughts...

1) Start talking to another agency and look into a sign on bonus (to pay any penalties with another agency if any)

2) Look at your contract yourself don't trust your recruiter to tell YOU whats in the contract

3) Your relationship with your recruiter is a business relationship not a friendship and its up to you to keep those boundaries not them.

4) Once you determine what your contract says talk to your recruiter and use strong but respectful language to get your point across and include the wording that is in the contract when you talk.

5) If your contract supports you then the hospital or agency is breaking the contract you need to make that point clear to your recruiters boss and him too.

6) Let them know you will be talking to other agencies.

7) If you stick it out I would still walk away from that agency after

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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.

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If the hospital doesn't have to pay you for not working, why not keep you around for a census buffer? If that is really the agency's contract with the hospital, it is the worst one ever written. I don't see how the agency can afford it or how they could keep travelers with such a contract. Whatever it really says, it is your contract with the agency that defines what you get paid. If low census is not in there, you can sue for all missed hours.

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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.

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Specializes in ICU, and IR.

Well I can tell you there are a few Hot jobs in in Ca right, a recruiter for AMN just told me about one in Sanford with a 6K completion and pay $53/hour I bet if you talk to them you could get half that bonus up front if you explain your situation. Thats only if you have a Ca licence already though, since it had an immediate start date.

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Specializes in Peri-Op.

I just had AMN do my California license, it took under 2 weeks for my temporary to come through. I mailed their office all my stuff including Fingerprint cards and it was done.

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Specializes in ICU, and IR.
I just had AMN do my California license, it took under 2 weeks for my temporary to come through. I mailed their office all my stuff including Fingerprint cards and it was done.

I am working on the same thing with them right now, they have the ability to expedite your licence. The package is in my house to fill out right now I just need time to do it.

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Specializes in Peri-Op.

Oh, as far as the OP is concerned, if you continue to travel, in regards to the cancelled shifts. .... make sure you always get guaranteed hours in your contract. I won't do a contract unless the hours are at least 36 a week guaranteed.

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Since your recruiter is being unhelpful I would go over his head to his supervisor, and tell them you require a new recruiter. Let them know you are not impressed with your experience thus far and at this point, you would not take another contract with this agency or recommend them to anyone else. Your recruiter is hoping you'll just shut up and take it, so he can be lazy and collect his fee from your assignment without actually doing any work.

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Generally recruiter pay is pegged to hours worked. Thus he has an incentive to get the contracted hours actually worked. That is not the reason for what is going on here.

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