Waiting for a travel assignment

[ANNIENURSEANGEL]

Hello fellow nurses.

I need to know how long do I wait for a travel company to find me an assignment. It has been almost 4 weeks. Do I tell them to forget about it, and just find a job when I get there? I feel my recruiter is trying her best, but I need to start working. Any advice would help.

[Argo]

Are you trying to get into a small town or a specific hospital? Whats the specialty?

[Gary Mendoza]

There is a lot of competition in the travel world right now. All the desirable positions are getting lots of submissions. If you don't have lots of experience and all the desired certs it's going to be hard to get the best contracts. I'm seeing some positions with over 60 travelers submitting for that one spot.

[NedRN]

Even if demand was great, you need to sign up with more than one agency. Wider range of possible assignments, and the only way to find out if the compensation is competitive (admittedly not so important on your first assignment. If demand sucks, I still cannot believe you haven't even been submitted to a hospital in four weeks. Start shopping around!

[ANNIENURSEANGEL]

No. My specialty is med/surg with surgical and orthopedic experience. I have not asked for any specific hospital. I just want to be near my family. They live in Delray beach, florida.

[ANNIENURSEANGEL]

I have 6 years of RN experience. The recruiter tells me my credentials are great, but the hospitals she's putting me in for, are not calling me.

[gnovime]

Aiming for one specific location will definitely limit you, more so if you're only working with one agency. Your best bet might to be look at seasonal jobs since high season is about to hit Florida, then you're also cutting out the middle man and working directly for the hospital system. Seasonals will often pay the same perks as travel, others can chip in but there's plenty of threads on here about seasonals in Florida, I know I always see them for Naples.

[FLstateGirl]

Unfortunately Delray is a fairly small town but there should be plenty of opportunity. There are quite a few hospitals in a commutable distance in the area. I would suggest looking into different agencies or apply for staff jobs in the area if you're going to stay permnantly.

[nurse.ethel.RN]

Im new to the travel world and Ive discovered / read that 1) you need to be registered with several agencies (the others dont need to know about each other - just take one contract at a time), 2) you cannot always limit yourself to one area or hospital - its way too competitive right now, and 3) ICU and L&Dare the highest demand from what Ive seen - I do LTAC / acute care. Ive opened myself to SE and NW USA and Im still waiting.....

[Swellz]

Any luck yet? Florida has got to be hiring for season by now. There's a hospital system in Boca Raton that hires their own travelers, although if I recall they wait until later in season to start them.