Top Tips For Travel Nurses

Travel nurses are registered healthcare professionals working in short-term roles at clinics, hospitals, and healthcare facilities worldwide. They help fill gaps where there are shortages of nurses, making their salaries relatively high. Below is a list of tips for travel nurses.

Make Sure Your Profile Is Up To Date

Travel nurse assignments are competitive due to increased demand, and they usually come with a timestamp. Once you submit your certifications, agencies have to sell your skills to the hospital you may be interested in.

Include references, skills checklists, resume, and licenses in your profile, and organize your paperwork before submitting it to the agency to increase the chances of securing high-paying assignments. Organizing your paperwork swiftly to the recruiter increases the chances of landing a top-paying job.

Many nurse managers tend to hire nurses on a first-come, first-serve basis as the agency does the vetting on their behalf to determine whether the professionals are qualified. Since the hospital requires your skills for temporary staffing needs, treating each high-paying job with the necessary urgency increases the chances of landing the job. Keep your paperwork updated online using Google Drive to make it easy to share the paperwork folder with a recruiter.

Work With Agencies That Are Known For Their High Pay And Transparency

Different agencies tend to structure the pay packages differently. Transparency is usually the key, and trustworthy agencies will continually publish compensation packages publicly and disclose take-home pay. The focus on transparency enables nurses to skip fact-finding or negotiating steps and swiftly decide whether the position is right for them.

Industry jargon such as blended rates may be confusing at times, and negotiations can lead to mistrust and confusion between recruiters and nurses. Working with agencies helps minimize the possibilities of negotiations to ensure the nurse secures the best rate.

Work With Multiple Agencies

The agencies you contact may not have assignments in every location you may be willing to work in. Some hospitals have different rates for each agency. However, local agencies tend to have better relationships with healthcare facilities in their area. Working with multiple agencies increases your chances of securing a high-paying assignment.

If you get the opportunity to work with multiple recruiters, avoid being shady by being honest about each other. Do not pit them against each other, and ensure you keep in touch with them even if you do not consider their assignment.

Maintain Multiple State Licenses

Many hospitals do not even bother to assess your professional license if you do not have a state license. Maintaining active licenses across multiple states increases your chances of landing high-paying jobs continuously.

Nurses who want to work in a specific state should consider traveling there soon to apply. Some states have a licensure turnaround of 48 hours, while it may take time for others to process licensure paperwork.

Find Your Own Housing

Consider taking a housing stipend to secure your own housing, as it gives you the freedom to select the price point. Agencies with a reputation tend to house nurses in pricier accommodations. Other agencies sign corporate leases and offer free housing to healthcare professionals who stay in their preferred hotels. However, most other agencies do not cover such costs outright but will help you set them up.

Communicate With Your Recruiter

Recruiters are the link between healthcare professionals and the highest-paying travel nursing assignments. Communicating with them regarding compensation needs is necessary. Negotiate with the recruiter by requesting a sign-in or completion bonus and make the recruiter aware if you need an increase in your income.

Be Flexible

Flexibility is usually the key if money is your motivation. The highest paying assignments typically tend to pay higher, since they are not the most ideal. They may also be on a hard-to-fill shift or in a less desirable location. Though this is not always the case, variables, nights, and weekends usually come with shift differentials or higher pay.

Refer Your Friends To Agencies

Referrals are golden in the travel nursing industry. Nurses will trust their friend’s opinions regarding the agencies they may work for. Agencies pay nurses who refer to their friends with bonuses as high as $4,000 per nurse referral!

Most nurses go into travel nursing to explore new places, make new friends, and experience diverse practice environments. Such healthcare professionals receive great benefits, competitive pay, and accessible housing to enhance their comfortability.