Travel Nurse Assignments

The covid19 pandemic has been a wild ride for medical workers. The experiences that this pandemic has brought has been everything from pain, frustration, saving lives, holding hands, N-95 masks, heart ache, death, and bonding with your peers. The list goes on and on, but one thing no one can deny, this pandemic has brought the Travel Nurse so much opportunity to make a nest egg. If you are one of those nurses who can't seem to find those opportunities I'll give you a few tips that may help you land one of those high paying Nurse assignments:

1. FACEBOOK GROUPS This is a given since you may have already seen this article in a fb group. Don't limit yourself to one or two groups, add them all. You may be shocked at how many groups are out there. Not only search for them yourself but ask your recruiters about travel nursing groups they may have one because keep in mind the high paying jobs go fast so they may not be listed on companies websites. Some key words are "travel nursing" "strike nursing" "covid crisis" "covid19 Nurse" Some groups even filter out recruiters making rules to only post jobs over a certain amount.

2. NETWORKING I know a lot of travel/crisis nurses just get in work assignment and then go home. Mingle with other travel nurses, you don't have to become best friends with everyone but some of my highest paying assignments have been forwarded to me by my contacts I've made on my assignments during the pandemic. Don't forget once your friends land a great gig at times they may have an inside scoop on up coming deployments/openings or may be able to help you land that gig as well.

3. STAFFING AGENCIES It is a no-brainer that you can get a job through staffing agencies but do you maximize your agent? Give clear concise needs, expectations. If you give your agency vague idea of what you want, you will just waste your time as well as theirs. Remember time is money for them as well. Most recruiters only make money when you land AND complete your contract. This means any offer they send you that is not what you want is not helping either of you. If you tell them "Hey I'm looking for ER, I'm licensed in NY, KY, CA, Compact" then you will get have a email full of useless emails. Tell the recruiter you are serious and give them this information:

Locations: Let them know locations you want to work but also keep in mind you need to be very clear on what states you HAVE your licence in, not what you plan to obtain. You can break your list up by priority locations/off limit locations. When you get a new license update them

Specialties: If you have specialties make sure you let your recruiter know what yours are but also make them aware if you are only wanting to find jobs in a certain specialty. For example if you are specialized in ALL ER/MS/COVID SWABBING but are only looking for swabbing in New York City, just make the recruiter aware you are ONLY interested in NYC covid swabbing. Now this is VERY narrow so you would simply let them know if you would consider other areas in that specialty. You will then need to notify them when you change or open up what you are willing to accept. Do not falsify what you have experience in be honest, you will thank yourself later. Of course you do not have to be so narrow but I think you get the point. If you only will accept certain offers make it loud and clear.

Pay: This is so important. Recruiters can and will only send you offers in a certain pay bracket IF you make it very clear on what YOUR parameters are. You can even get detailed. "Please only send me offers for ER in NY over $4500 and in GA/KY over $3000. Be specific. If you want crisis rates only then you will need to say it, but keep in mind higher rates means there is a strong need. Crisis means you are needed now and getting higher pay so expect to put your roller skates on and save some lives.

Loyalty: I have seen so many people loyal to only one company. There is nothing wrong with supporting the company you love and that was good to you. This does not mean you can not have many agencies, recruiters, companies you are loyal too. Recruiters know you are looking for the best deal out there, so unless you sign an exclusive contract with an agency go right ahead roster with many companies. Honesty is always best policy so just let your recruiters know what is going on and when your contracts end so they can look for you a deal. On this note very important that IF YOU TAKE A CONTRACT WITH AN AGENCY OR SUBMITTED FOR A FACILIY SPECIFIC POSITION AND YOU FIND A AGENCY WITH SAME EXACT POSITION FOR A HIGHER RATE-JUST TALK TO YOUR RECRUITER AND LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU FOUND OUT THIS WAY THEY CAN SEE IF THEY CAN GET YOU MORE MONEY. DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT PULL OUT AND JUMP TO THE OTHER AGENCY WHAT MAY HAPPEN MAY HURT YOU. WHY? SOME FACILTIES WILL NULL AND VOID SECOND SUBMISSION SO YOU MAY MISS OUT COMPLETELY ON A GOOD CONTRACT .

4. EMAIL: If you do not have contacts with a company you are interested in or curious if they have openings simply google the company and find their email address. Most will be in the "contact" spot. Send them a email like this:

Hello My name is Sally Mae. I am a Licenced Practical Nurse licensed in NY/CA/GA/NC/WA/HI. I am interested in Crisis contracts/Rapid response positions. How do I best get in touch with someone?

Sometimes you have to go out and get what you want, do not wait for it to wander by. GO GET IT!

5. STRIKES: This will be a touchy subject and I bite my tongue just typing it, but long before pandemic there has been "strike nursing". This means you are deployed to cover for the striking nurses. Strikes range from 1 day all the way to indefinite. There are several companies who do strikes and you will need to call/email them to get a profile set up. Think crisis deployments but for strike coverage. You can google strike nurse staffing companies. A few things to remember, some people feel very strongly about strike nurses. So be prepared if you are verbal about what you do you may find people have very strong opinions about you covering, if you never heard of a "scab" you may hear it once you pick up strike nurses. These normally are short in duration, but you can bank some really good money. Important: Safety first, if you do get a contract do not post on social media, disclose your location or hotel. I know during the pandemic we love to post our pics on social media but know during strikes this should never be done.

6. FILTER: Notice if you give clear concise expectations to your recruiters this is almost like creating a filter for yourself so keep in mind you may get less contact with your recruiter if they do not have anything for you at the time so it is important for you to reach out from time to time so they know you are still looking.

7. JOB BOARDS: Sometime you can still get lucky on the "big name" job boards one that starts with an I that you can upload resume to. Not too often huge money but if you do not look or search you may miss a great opportunity.

8. FORSHADOWING: Again, do not wait for something to just go by you. Use your critical thinking. Let me explain what I mean. Real life example:

I did an State contract for the covid crisis which was so amazing. Met the best people, made some extraordinary pay. This job including swabbing as something we did from time to time. I followed the updates from the State and our agency. I knew at some point that the state would eventually be doing vaccine when it went through. (this was last summer timing when published) After a few months my agency no longer carried this contract. But knowing that vaccine would eventually come to fruition in possible contract. I literally googled, fb searched, asked around, inquired in emails about any talk of any vaccine positions. KEEP in mind this is important because before contracts can come out they have to roster for it agencies have to show they have the means to staff. For over 4 months the search was silent UNTIL it wasn't. I was on FB and search "Covid vaccinator" and there it was sitting pretty right in my face. Contracts not complete but they were rostering for up coming deployment. I'm done with that contract now but 5 months later and a great experience it was but would not have been possible had I not searched before the contracts went out. Ideal positions and contracts are less likely to have high turn over so spots do not normally come available.

Do this also for your specialty. If you are ER/ICU/MS/TELE follow the nurse news. Where are nurses walking out of? Where are covid cases going up? Who has pending strikes? Get a head of the game and you will have better results then passively waiting for a share on fb/IG/tik tok. Those are all great resources but if you use a few tactics you will have a leg up!

I really hope you find just one small thing that can help you. This pandemic has been tough for all of us, but there is no reason we as Nurses can not take it and build a nest egg. Nurses are important and your importance during this pandemic can put you in a better place not only financially but in experiences. Make the best out of it and go make memories, friendships, and some $$$$$$.

Feel free to send me any questions