Travel with American Mobile?

NedRN · Apr 28, 2015

I don't have specific advice about AM other than to tell you they are the largest agency. I do recommend that you talk to a number of different agencies. This confers a number of advantages. One is that you will learn a lot right now and who is being honest. Two is that having multiple agencies is the only way to learn what compensation should be for your specialty and experience in a given market. Three is that if you put all your eggs in one basket, you will not have a Plan B should something fall through. Finally, the quality of communication with your recruiter is far more important than the agency brand. A good and trustworthy recruiter at a "bad" agency will be far better for your career and quality of life than the reverse. Only way to find recruiters that work well for you is to talk to lots of agencies, perhaps 15, and pick the best 5 recruiters to work with further.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2015

I'm currently with AM, starting my 3rd contract with them next week. I've had a decent experience with my recruiter. I went with AM to start out based on the recommendation of a former coworker and she got a bonus for referring me when I completed my 1st assignment.

Despite AM's lackluster reputation, I've had an OK experience overall. I've always been paid on time and I've been able to get into some of the top hospitals in the country through them. That's been my plus.

However, I've noticed as of late that they are getting horrible at returning phone calls and emails so for my subsequent assignment I'm definitely going to compare and shop between my other agencies.

HikingNinja, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Apr 29, 2015

One of my agencies is an AMN subsidiary. No problems with them so far. Did one assignment and was paid timely and no mistakes. I'm using another of my agencies at the moment this my current assignment but would use them again.

Dinsey · Apr 29, 2015

I have had similar experiences with them. I'm currently on my second assignment with AMN and will start my third next month. My recruiter is wonderful, I get called back quickly and paid on time. Issues have been cleared up quickly. I'm sure I'm not earning as much as I could at other agencies, but AMN also has exclusive contracts with some facilities. They're a huge organization which has benefits and drawbacks. I will say I've had some turnover in some of my support staff (my quality services analyst and my account manager), which can be frustrating. After my third assignment, I will definitely explore opportunities with other agencies, but AMN was a good place for me to start.

Argo · Apr 30, 2015

I am completing my first and getting ready to start my second assignment with them. They are large, corporate and professional. This is why I went with them to start out. I did not want any delays in payment or shortages of assignment offerings. I didn't pick my first recruiter, I went with the second one. When you sign up with them online you will get a couple of calls from different recruiters so they can be sure to get a recruiter linked with you that you like.....

When the hospital I am at didn't submit my hours properly, I still got paid based on my verbal times given to the payroll dept. I had to do this for 2 pay periods and I don't think a smaller agency would be able to do that. I have also shopped around some and based on the rates I have been given for similar areas, the pay is very close to the same. AMN pays a little more than some places and a little less than some others.... I have talked to about 10 different agencies so far and plan to stick with AMN for now.

I also like that everything is done digitally and the updates are immediate(like direct deposit changes). Feel free to message me if you want my recruiters info.

NedRN · Apr 30, 2015

That's a nice policy about picking recruiters and giving travelers a stress free mechanism. Very, very smart of them.

Verbal timecard fixing is also a very traveler friendly policy. There is really no downside as they can cover any errors on the next pay period and the reconciliation hassle is about the same. The benefit is a happy traveler and higher retention. I'm delighted to hear even the largest of agencies is able to evolve.

Thanks for the post. My opinion of AM just went up although I've always thought large agencies are a good fit for new travelers.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2015

With AMN, the recruiter really makes or breaks one's experience with the agency as a whole. The agency itself runs a pretty efficient operation but every traveler will only rate their experience based on their one avenue of interaction: the recruiter. This will be true with other agencies as well but the size of AMN's offerings and the number of exclusivity relationships with top U.S. hospitals is what will keep them on my short list.

NedRN · Apr 30, 2015

Even an agency as big as American Mobile cannot supply all the needs of their "exclusive hospitals". They will in every case be operating as a vendor manager for those hospitals, which include big contracts such as Kaiser and Stanford in California. Perhaps 100 other agencies are vendors for American Mobile and can also place travelers at those "exclusive hospitals". The major advantage to working directly for American Mobile is that depending on your own profile and the hospital needs, you will get priority on that assignment before other agency travelers (this also depends on AM's priorities - some clients will be prioritized over others and even in-house travelers may not see the opening).

There are several downsides to working directly for American Mobile, or any other vendor manager that also employs travelers directly such as Cross Country, at their vendor managed clients. One is that paradoxically, pay will likely be lower. Second is that sometimes it is valuable to have a third party between you and the hospital as in an ordinary agency. That relationship is deprecated in the case of vendor manager who is much less likely to take a travelers side. Finally, if you have a problem and are working directly for American Mobile, you will not be allowed to work with a different agency for that assignment or client. If you work for an American Mobile subcontracting agency (not their branded agencies), you will be able to switch.

The convenience of working for the large agencies is undeniable given a good recruiter, but does come with downsides including generally lower pay (which can be a good tradeoff). I'm not suggesting anyone switch, but knowing the upsides and downsides of working with different agencies is valuable. My general advice of working with several agencies is more work, but can lead to better outcomes even if just held in reserve. I worked for Cross Country for four years and then things broke apart. I was easily able to get on board with other (and better for me) agencies, but those times were far simpler than today. If travelers have a three month financial reserve, it is easier to take risks without a big downside. But my fear for new travelers is that if their first or even second assignment goes south, and they are living check to check, the lack of other agency relationships will make life very difficult.

Argo · May 1, 2015

Ned, what smaller agencies do you recommend or agencies in general..? I am also an OR RN..... Also, I care more about pay then I do about benefits....

NedRN · May 1, 2015

I don't have specific recommendations for agencies. I recommend you talk to many and pick a few with recruiters you communicate well with. Everything follows that.

You can decide on a style of agency I suppose. Small, medium, large, or a mix of all. All of them have advantages and disadvantages.

You can also go with agencies with specific assignments, location, or pay. For example, recently Indiana University was posting crisis rates of $100 an hour on Medefis (that's the bill rate, not traveler pay). But that is super high and many if not most agencies have a Medefis relationship. Medefis is a vendor manager of sorts. This week, Santa Rosa Memorial in California has crisis rates of over $90 an hour. That is also high for OR, L&D territory! Santa Rosa's vendor manager is MSN, who has many subcontracting agencies in addition to their own agency. There are also 8 direct agency vendors to Santa Rosa but I don't know their names.

I talked with a California based agency today, and they seeing a lot of crisis rates for OR nurses in California. A good way to find them is keeping in touch with a lot of agencies, and even just recruiters willing to contact you when something they know you will want comes along. Keeping an eye on some online sites, including Facebook, can keep you up on good paying assignments.

Argo · May 1, 2015

Also, they did make an adjustment that month, on both checks. They should have taken back a couple of hours total but they just wrote it off. They didn't even ask about it, they just did it. I have been impressed by them and their professionalism for sure....