When looking to find an assignment you need to plan enough time and realize it may take awhile. How long is awhile? It depends really... how many nursing agencies are you registered with, was your profile one of the first to hit the desk of whomever is screening the aplicants, how experienced are you, do you currently hold the license for that state, do you hold all the requirements asked for?
To start off you should find several travel nursing agencies you want to register with. The application process takes time and the best advice I can give is to have a folder that contains all important documents. All traveling nurse companies require esentially the same information:
- An up to date resume listing all work positions and experience
- Proof of immunizations
- Proof of any titers you may have (example: Vericella -90% of companies now want proof you actually had the chicken pox)
- Copies of all licenses and certifications
- Some companies want a copy of a drivers license or passport
- References
Usually the application for the company is done on line, if you have an up to date resume the application process is a little less painful since you should have all working dates and expiration dates at hand. The nursing resume objective is to give the prospective hospital a quick impressive opinion of what you have to offer. I also include in the packet a list of good, dependable, nursing references whom I know will give me an excellent review. The nursing reference needs to be a charge nurse or higher and someone who can attest to your nursing skills. I make sure to have at least 6 or more references available so when I sign up with a company who has an open position, the odds of getting the necessary reference is feasible.
When choosing a travel nursing company make sure you are aware of:
- The type of contracts they hold
- What the benefits are
- How the pay is broken down
- How frequent pay day is (weekly or bi-weekly)
- What type of support they offer, especially after hours - what will they do for you if something happens at work?
- If they carry additional malpractice insurance on you
Some travel companies offer contracts for as little as 4 weeks on up (I've seen some over a year -especially the international contracts). The companies that usually have the shorter contracts tend to staff for emergent immediate openings and nursing strike.
The travel nursing pay is different for each company. Some companies pay an hourly rate that is taxable, an hourly rate that is non taxable (which is for meals and incidentals), and then a housing stipend if the nurse is not taking the offered housing - the housing stipend is non taxable. Other companies alot a monthly income into a pre-tax account and pay a weekly amount to you minus the cost of housing and other incidentals such as your flight to the location. With this type of payment you and the agency work together to find housing and it will be your choice; do you choose a more expensive nicer place or a cheaper ok place to stay, one will give you more weekly in your pay.
The biggest thing you need to watch for when you have multiple agencies working for you is not to double submit you application to a hospital... as tempting as it sounds if the hospital sorts through and finds 2 profiles for you they will almost surely toss both. I recomend having a place to keep track of what companies you are working with and what needs to be done to complete the application. Once the online application is filled out and you've faxed all the paperwork the agency can get a profile together for you for submission, but there is still quite a bit of paperwork still left! Such as: a notarized I-9 form, a urine drug screen, online testing, other miscellaneaous forms that need to be signed and returned. Keeping something handy so you know who needs what should help with organization, also leave enough room so you can write who submitted your profile and where. When the agency calls to get permission or to tell you they submitted you (if you gave persmission to be posted for any position that opened up) get the city and hospital information and write this down. Many hospitals work with several agencies and the odds are another agency will call to tell you they have a position open.
Hopefully this gets you started with travel nursing! The pay to me is definetly worth is, I can't make what I make now as a staff nurse... although the not knowing if I'll have a contract is a little strenous I try and remain relaxed and pick up per-diem time at my local hospital in the mean time!
