Travel Nrsg: Will they train me in new certifications?

NedRN · Mar 28, 2016

You will have the opportunity to take certification/recertification classes offered to employees (off the clock, and you will have to pay for the class), but you won't get paid to learn new stuff. Travelers are there as a hired gun, not a resource to be developed for the next hospital.

Nor is there really what you would call career advancement except in unusual circumstances. I have a travel ED RN friend who is now a travel house supervisor (and I know of one other such story of ED to HS). In his case, he had some experience in dink hospitals as dual role night ED charge nurse prior to travel and some luck at a hospital he extended at.

For professional development, travel is only matched perhaps at super large teaching hospitals. You will be going to many different sized hospitals as a traveler, experiencing different patient populations and cultures and clinical interventions. That is going to make you a stronger nurse, and incrementally you will be adding to your skills checklist (every agency has them) and then being able to do assignments say in specialty ICUs that you were not qualified to do before. It might be unlikely that you could become a CVICU nurse and take fresh open hearts, but I'll bet it has happened - either slowly with post 24 hour hearts first and moving up, or someone that is exceptionally gifted and the unit was critically short when they happened to be there.

No personal experience with going back to staff - I did my three years initial staff position and never looked back! But I know lots of travelers with ongoing relationships with home hospitals, and now you should be able to get stories here of travelers dropping out in 2009 to go back to the safety of staff, and are now off to travel again.

Annie:) · Mar 28, 2016

RAD! thank you NedRN! this was the explanation I was after. Any other advice?

NedRN · Mar 28, 2016

Have fun! If your assignment workplace turns out to suck (will likely happen sometime), remember it is only 13 weeks and focus on having fun exploring the area. But you will learn something of value from every assignment.

rnnluvnit2006 · Mar 29, 2016

Like Ned says...furthering your skillset/certifications is on you, but most agencies give you a bit of $$$ for obtaining certifications.

I personally dont think I will ever go back to staff nursing. The money in travel is phenominal, and the fact that politics and floor drama seem to miss the travelers is what makes traveling awesome. I love being a traveler, and I love that I can take contracts on my terms, deciding when I want a break, and taking a few weeks off between them and that counts as my vacation.

I literally make double my take home pay as a traveler than what I made as a staff nurse...so I could choose to work only half the year if I wanted to, and I would still be better for it.

It is the biggest, bestest most fun adventure that I have ever been on!! I am getting paid more money than I ever made, doing the least amount of work I have ever done!! That to me is the greatest measure of success.

Good luck!!!

Annie:) · Mar 31, 2016

Guys, I am so excited. But, where do I begin?? How do I negotiate my first contract? I'm researching and gaining perspective but do you guys have any advice for me when it comes time to pick up the phone and contact my first agency? The only thing I've ever negotiated was the purchase of my car. I'm afraid I' a little over-excited and may not get everything I really could have. I don't even know what I should be expecting or, more to the point, asking for. . . and like any red-blooded American, i want it all! how do I get them to give me that? Thx! THX! THX, so MUCH!

Annie:) · Mar 31, 2016

And how about this in particular? what Should I expect to be offered? As an RN since '14, Tele nurse since '14: CSU/CCU, operated more like a step-down ICU, NIHSS certified, to have CCRN cert soon.... what should I presume they will give me? Have I been a nurse long enough? Should I leave my current unit for ED... my thinking being I will get my PALS cert in addition to ED experience.... What will matter to these guys? Should I be thinking about it this way, i.e. thinking of it like I'll get more the more I build my "resume"?

My husband and I plan to imbark this winter... Maybe I'm asking what should I be doing now to prepare?

CardiacDork, MSN, RN · Mar 31, 2016

NedRN your posts are always so insightful and full of good travel nursing knowledge thaaaaaaaaaanks! :)

CardiacDork, MSN, RN · Mar 31, 2016

Like Ned says...furthering your skillset/certifications is on you, but most agencies give you a bit of $$$ for obtaining certifications.
I personally dont think I will ever go back to staff nursing. The money in travel is phenominal, and the fact that politics and floor drama seem to miss the travelers is what makes traveling awesome. I love being a traveler, and I love that I can take contracts on my terms, deciding when I want a break, and taking a few weeks off between them and that counts as my vacation.
I literally make double my take home pay as a traveler than what I made as a staff nurse...so I could choose to work only half the year if I wanted to, and I would still be better for it.
It is the biggest, bestest most fun adventure that I have ever been on!! I am getting paid more money than I ever made, doing the least amount of work I have ever done!! That to me is the greatest measure of success.
Good luck!!!

Awesome! Thanks. I really want to continue my travel plans after getting some good critical care experience at my level 1 trauma university hospital.

I can't wait for fun adventures and discovery! :) :) :)

NedRN · Mar 31, 2016

Guys, I am so excited. But, where do I begin?? How do I negotiate my first contract? I'm researching and gaining perspective but do you guys have any advice for me when it comes time to pick up the phone and contact my first agency? The only thing I've ever negotiated was the purchase of my car. I'm afraid I' a little over-excited and may not get everything I really could have. I don't even know what I should be expecting or, more to the point, asking for. . . and like any red-blooded American, i want it all! how do I get them to give me that? Thx! THX! THX, so MUCH!

Super enthusiasm! I'll try to make a super response!

Just start calling agencies and go ahead and overwhelm them with questions! When it becomes obvious, thank them and think about what you have learned, and call the next agency. They will love your enthusiasm but tone it down a bit so they don't get too excited about recruiting a new traveler.

The deal is, don't even bother stressing about negotiating your first assignment. Your following assignments will almost automatically pay better after you have a successful assignment on your work history for many reasons. One, you will be more competitive than someone with no travel, and two, you will know a ton more about what you need from an agency and how much you are worth.

Likewise, don't worry too much about where the first assignment is. You have plenty of time to work through your bucket list of locations. You just need that great first assignment at a friendly hospital. As a general tip, stay away from the South (and Texas), and closer to union heavy areas for your first assignment. Union hospitals (and others in union areas) are better places to work, no insane workloads. Those areas usually pay better as well. These include all the West Coast states, the upper central Midwest (yup, where auto workers used to rule), and the Northeast.

But what you really need for your first assignment is a really awesome recruiter. The more agencies you talk to, the more recruiters you will talk to. You are looking for one (several actually) that you communicate with really, really well (very personal fit) with and truly appear to have your best interests at heart (always remember that they are on commission though). You are not looking for a high paying assignment, you are looking for a good assignment with a good orientation. That will put you on the right path to learning how to deal with harder assignments at minimal orientation hospitals.

You should perhaps also ask your recruiter about their experience in travel recruiting. You really want one with a fair bit of experience. A newer recruiter may steer you towards jobs that are not good for first time travelers.

Cut off agencies that want you to do a ton of paperwork before they talk to you honestly and tell you what they have available right now in your specialty and how the compensation works. You will run into a number such agencies, but there are even more recruiters who will talk to you straight.

On the same note (take notes during these conversations by the way - you will have followup questions for this recruiter or the next) on cutting out agencies you don't want to work for, try not to give out your contact information until you have talked to a number of recruiters. You don't know what is truly a good experience and which recruiter is great until you have a frame of reference. You want some space to reflect on what was said to you and the tone and tenor of the conversation. BS? Sales pitch? The real thing?

Your contact information will live on forever, so protect it. Many agencies you give it to will routinely try to get value out of it by requiring new recruiters to call you (also helps to train them on how to talk to travelers), or they might sell your contact information. Or they will eventually be purchased and the new owner will do the same. I once called a couple agencies from my parent's phone during a visit to save my then limited cell phone minutes, and never gave them any contact information. My parents are still getting calls 10 years later! Caller ID blocking will protect you! *67 before the rest of the number you are calling.

Agency brand is unimportant to you (although check back with your faves and we can steer you away from really bad brands). It is all about your relationship with your recruiter. That is more important that a particular agency, hospital, or location.

Finally, try to establish a good working relationship with three to five recruiters. That is what you need to have a good Plan B if your first plan doesn't work out for whatever reason. You will also get an better idea of your fair market value in a give location. And you will have more assignments to choose from. Go ahead and do all their paperwork and be ready to go! You may find you have a clear favorite recruiter and stick with him/her, and that is fine to great!, but you need alternates ready. It is wrong to over share with recruiters about work (they don't have a medical background so don't gripe to them about work) or about your personal life. They are not your friend, this is a friendly business relationship. Easy to get confused. I stayed with my first recruiter 4 years, gave her children birthday presents from my travels, and unceremoniously dumped when I had trouble at an assignment. Not your friend, their first priority is to their employer, not you, no matter how it feels.

Very long post, but basically simple advice about how to get going. Oh and yes, you will need PALS for ED. But I would go for the specialty you love most. If it is ED, you want two years of experience first before you travel. You will perhaps have more options going forward in ED over tele.

NedRN · Mar 31, 2016

NedRN your posts are always so insightful and full of good travel nursing knowledge thaaaaaaaaaanks! :)

Thanks! Nice to hear. So much positive energy in this thread!

Maevish, ASN, RN · Apr 11, 2016

I wish!! The only hospital that came close is a large teaching hospital in the Sacramento area, but you weren't on the clock and you paid for it yourself (at a somewhat discounted rate). Then you just had to hope that the agency reimbursed you like they said they would :) I really miss that about being a staff nurse and that's one of the many reasons I'm trying to get a staff job again (the other being medical insurance!).

Also, ask things I didn't know to ask at the start: are they on strike, are there charge nurses (that sounds like a no-brainer, but it ain't), etc. The other advice on this thread is stellar too. Read the contract before you sign and make them give you one! haha

xo