Many travel nurses have a list of healthcare facilities that they want to work at. A travel nurse staffing agency will run any submissions to these facilities by you before submitting. This ensures you get the assignment and hospital you want to make your professional milestones. It also means you’ll have options if the facility is in high demand during peak season.
They Pay You to Save Lives
When you work with a traveling nurse staffing agency, you’ll be placed on assignments that let you truly experience a place before moving on, and your job and income will always be taken care of. This enables you to enjoy travel and personal freedom like most people never do.
Many nurses find that the flexibility of traveling to different parts of the country, meeting new people, and experiencing a variety of healthcare settings makes this career path perfect for them. It also allows them to advance their skills and build on their professional expertise without waiting for a full-time position.
Travel nursing agencies like AMN offer competitive pay, great benefits, and 24/7 support. They even offer a mobile app that helps you track your shifts, access time and pay, and organize your credentials. They also make sure that you run all submissions to a facility first. This prevents recruiters from another company from applying for the same job with your name on it, potentially putting you in competition with them.
They also help with housing and provide a stipend or pay you a pre-arranged amount to rent your apartment or house. You can also choose to live in housing provided by the agency if that is your preference.
They Pay You to Travel
Travel nurses see parts of the country they might never otherwise have and pick their assignments based on what they want to experience. This enables them to broaden their horizons and work at different facilities, from top research and teaching hospitals to rural clinics. It also enables them to expand their professional resume by demonstrating that they can adapt and learn at each location, a vital skill for healthcare in general.
Staffing agencies are like matchmakers, matching nurses with hospitals that fit their skills and interests. Nurses indicate their availability windows, ideal pay rates, preferred geo-areas, and specialty units to their agency, which scans the market for matching contracts. Once the match is made, the staffing agency takes care of all the nitty-gritty details, including payroll, licensing, housing, and extension support for the duration of the contract.
Talking to several travel nurse agencies and recruiters before settling on one is essential. Ask them questions about the benefits they offer (such as housing assistance, travel insurance, 401(k)s, and licensure reimbursement) and find out how they’re committed to making their nursing travelers happy.
They Pay You to Live
If you’re looking for a way to get ahead in your nursing career, working with a travel agency can help. Staffing agencies can match you with hospitals that are a good fit for your specialty and give you plenty of opportunities to advance your skills. Plus, you’ll see the country and make new friends.
Most travel nurse agencies offer a variety of benefits to their nurses, including free housing or a housing stipend, health and dental insurance, a 401(k) retirement plan, and 24-hour customer support. But what’s more important is that they offer the flexibility to choose the right travel assignment for you.
A travel nurse’s salary will vary depending on the region, hospital, and nursing specialization. In addition to base pay, a travel nurse may receive overtime rates or a shift premium. Some agencies have specialized rates that honor medical specializations, while others have negotiated rate packages with hospitals.
In addition to negotiating pay, a travel nurse should always consider the cost of living in each area where they want to work. For example, a $5,000 travel nursing contract in California may not be as lucrative as a similar contract in Washington state, where the money goes further. It’s also important for a travel nurse to be comfortable with the ebb and flow of hospital staffing. If they cannot be flexible and adjust to the whims of hospitals, they won’t be as successful in the industry.
They Pay You to Be Yourself
While working a long-term job can leave you feeling burnt out or compassion fatigue, traveling nurse staffing agencies give you more freedom to create a healthy work-life balance. As you move from assignment to assignment, you experience different locations and enjoy each region’s beauty while taking time off between assignments. This can help prevent burnout and even returning to homelessness, which is common among travelers.
Travel nursing assignments typically last from eight to twenty-six weeks, allowing you to see more of the country without finding permanent housing or committing to a full-time position. Staffing agency recruiters screen every new travel nurse job opening before they present it to you, so you can trust that they’ll only send you opportunities that fit your desired schedule and specialty.
Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to explore a range of healthcare settings in prestigious facilities around the state or country to discover your ideal work environment. For example, you can test drive non-profit hospitals vs. for-profit ones, urban vs. rural, or large hospitals vs. small clinics to determine whether you prefer certain facilities’ atmosphere and patient populations. Travel nurses can also earn various bonuses, including sign-on and completion bonuses, shift differentials, and referral bonuses.
*This is a collaboration post
