Travel Nursing <6 Months!

ChrisMMS · Dec 13, 2018

Hi! Recruiter here and my answers to your questions have been posted below, I hope they are of some help to you.

1) My tips to you when choosing a company is decide what you are needing from a travel agency and go based off that. For instance bigger companies like Aya, AMN, etc. will tend to have better benefits, more contracts, and faster placement. However, you will tend to make less money because these companies are taking a much larger margin of your contract compared to small/mid sized companies. Also factor that often times recruiters at agencies like this have anywhere between 40-100 nurses at any given time which means you may not always have the same relationship you would with a smaller company. On the flip side a smaller company will tend to pay more, but have less benefits and possibly less jobs. Decide what's most important to you and start your research from there. If you go to Gypsy Nurse you can get a pretty good idea of the general temperature of certain companies and i believe there is a nurse only group that rates each company on different criteria.

2) We generally recommend that you start working 6 weeks before your desired start date so you are given adequate time to find a contract and complete the credentialing process. You can have your paperwork done far in advance, but jobs are only posted so far in the future.

3) It is in your best interest to work with multiple companies because some of the reasons previously stated in the last question. You never know what you need at what time, being able to have multiple offers from different companies helps make sure that you are always well taken care of. It is also important to note that working with multiple companies adds a sense of stability which allows you t work year round. To your second part of this question refer to the answer above.

4) Not a nurse, but I've listed challenges that my nurses experienced or have been discussed in travel groups.

-Housing (finding adequate and safe housing can be difficult at times).

-Pay Packages (Understanding pay packages and the breakdown can be confusing when companies do them so differently, it's very important to understand this part to make sure you are being paid properly and legally).

-Being away from home (Traveling away from your family and friends can be difficult at times and many nurses go through that burnout. There are dedicated travel nursing groups for meeting other travelers at your current travel assignment).

-Adjusting to the facility (Not all facilities are going to treat travelers the same some will love having you there and integrate you into the fold very quickly. Others will see you as an outsider and give you the unwanted/difficult assignments. It is something that travelers will have to get use too as it is part of the industry).

5) I would 100% recommend that you do because once you start signing up or working with certain websites or agencies you will get bombarded with emails. Not to mention that your information can/will be sold to travel agencies based on which websites you use and you can receive dozens of calls/text/emails in a single day.

Best of luck to you on your travel journey! If you have any further questions please let me know.