Finding the Right Travel Nurse Company
There are many travel nursing agencies to choose from and not all are the same. You will have to do some homework to find the right travel nurse agency for you. Guaranteed there will be travel agencies advertising on nurse Websites all over the Internet. Click on the ads and start researching.
The first thing to be aware of is that some agencies entice nurses with ads promoting huge salaries for travel nurses. Take this with a grain of salt as most of the time these figures represent much more than just your take home pay. They include such items as benefit packages, sign-on or completion bonuses, and moving and housing allowances in addition to the actual gross pay.
The nursing shortage has created and helped to sustain the travel nursing field for over twenty years. Hospitals are willing to pay huge sums of money to fill voids and vacancies. Travel nursing agencies make money off of having nurses to fulfill these contracts. So another important factor to consider in finding the right travel nurse company is where are their priorities and loyalties.
Without nurses, these agencies have nothing to offer. Nurses need to remember this and demand an agency treat them well. The agency needs to negotiate in their favor and go to bat for them should the need arise.
In finding the right travel nurse company, you need to do your homework, and you need to learn about other’s experiences and then to interview prospective companies to determine a good fit for your specific needs. Seek out information on travel nurse blogs, websites and forums. Network with travel nurses and find out what they know about travel nurse companies.
For the new travel nurse, some agencies are just better prepared to help than others. Some depend largely on experienced travel nurses to fill their contracts and others are more willing to work with novices and mold them to fit their needs.
You will need to consider YOUR needs first.
- Where are you thinking about working? What state and what type of facility?
- What kind of experience do you have? (ER, ICU, psych, peds, OR, etc.?)
- Are you traveling alone or with a spouse, children, friends, pets?
- How much help or support do you need?
- Are you able to figure things out on your own with minimal guidance?
- What are Your needs in regards to finances, benefits, housing, career goals?
Some of the specific questions to ask of an agency include:
- How long they have been in business?
- Are managers and recruiters nurses or health care professionals?
- Where do they place travel nurses? (What states or countries?)
- What kinds hospitals do they work with? Teaching hospitals, community, rural, and what trauma level?
- How long are their typical assignments?
- Do they pay travel expenses?
- Do they offer hourly or salary assignments? Are they flexible with this?
- What kind of benefits do they offer, the cost and how soon do they start?
- What is their typical housing arrangement? (Apartments, extended stay hotels?)
- Is someone available 24/7 to assist with problems?
- Can you expect personal service and assistance?
- Do they have any nurses willing to speak about their experiences with the agency?
- Why are they the best choice in a travel nursing company?
Remember that you are in charge of your career and always have the freedom to change agencies. Do your homework and find a travel nurse company that best fits your needs. After some careful consideration of the assignment, you should be ready to try travel nursing.
By Kathy Quan RN BSN the author of The Everything New Nurse Book, and author/owner of TheNursingSite.com.