IF I were a recruiter...reply
Make sure that you tell the recruiter up front what you are looking for....don't wait until the last minute. Also, it is the recruiter's/agency's job to set up your interview and to get the specifics of your shift, etc. I like the travel company I am with now, but for both contracts that I had signed on with, they have expected me to set up my own interview with the hospital and to find out the specifics of the shift. Also, the travel company guaranteed me 40 hours a week..I have the signed contract stating such, but when I started the job, I only had 30 hours one week and 40 the next. Then, the recruiter told me that i could just pick up an extra shift to make up for the missing 10 hours. Well, no shit. But that's not the point......they made me a promise in a contract and then couldn't stick by it. Also, most of the recruiters I have encountered have no healthcare experience whatsoever, so they really don't understand or appreciate the needs/struggles of the traveler. I'm not badmouthing all companies, but this is just a tip to follow. Don't sign ANYTHING until you read the contract and have it in writing. Don't take them on their word.

thanks for writing peachy, but there is one thing i am unclear about. you and others i have read about seem to have these experiences where you sign contracts and the agency does not follow through on the contract. then what is the point is signing one? are there any repercussions for the company not holding up its end?

the contract is allegdy supposed to protect everyone. but if a hospital wants to get rid of you they will make all types of stuff up and just have you fired saying you were bad and breeched the contract. it is mostly to scare you into sticking into it. most of the time contract is really pointless just forces the hospital into things like paying you when they want to send you home because they are overstaffed for the day.

you have to ask the right questions
it's not easy to ask all the right questions the first time. Be sure that you read the contract thoroughly before signing it. Hospitals are changing their contracts to avoid paying for cancelled shifts by insisting that travellers work "available" hours. So if you get cancelled on Monday you have to make it up anytime they ask you to that week. They will hold your bonus over your head.

Peachy
Hello, Make sure that you read the contract and know that it is meaningless unless you have the ability to fight the issues legally should things not go your way, which at times they most certainly will. Should you be ill and need to miss a shift(s) most travel companies will pay you at minimum rate, take out your benefits and then not reprsent you when the hospital says too bad. Travelers for the most part are held to a higher standard on this issue as they are filling in for lack of or ill staff members. Should you become ill, too bad! I recently worked a full week in Seaford, Delaware. Thanksgiving was part of that week. I had been exposed to the Norwalk virus which was not acknowledged. I became ill and the following week was paid $5.37 for a full week of 12 hour shifts, with no breaks, no lunches. They took out taxes, health benefits, and that was it. I was told they(INA) would find me another contract. But here I sit. Very little money to get home. So, moral of the story.....be very careful!!!
Some of the travel agencies are like used car salesman. Once you drive off the lot.....it is your problem! Sorry for being so cynical but I just want to warn those who are new to this business and that is exactly what nursing has become......Sad, but true. You are expected to be loyal and caring and that is, for the most part, what nurses are. But, hospitals feel
you are expendable and can be replaced for the right price.

its ok snolover.
change companies. i have been telling people companies are like insurance salesmen the more they make the company the more they get.... i have had similiar things happen. i always take housing stipend that way they have nothing to hold over my head. since they will figure out pay on hourly rate (this is if i am not working for mysself) i have had one company (the only one i use when not traveling for myself) say no problem for taking a day off. i still got paid what i should minus the 12 hours i missed.

ridiculous
I had a travel company call me last week and go over open slots around the country. I voiced an intrest in Florida and she gave the run down of information including how much the contract is worth and the whold break down of monies. Her end statement was and that comes out to about $18/hr. I said YOUR KIDDING ME!! Why would I take a job like that??
Her reply is the EVERYONE wants to work in Florida in the winter months.
I was immediatly annoyed that she wasted my time....then turned on her asking why I would want to work for her travel company instead of the the bigger paying outfits... She said oh...your not a number Our 2 girls do everything for you and they answer their own phone yatta yatta...So I said it comes down to customer service. Yes she says..But then I told her...MONEY talks so when and IF you get a decent postion then bother me with a call. Usually I'm not so short with people but fighting the traffic she called with that stupid rate just irked me. And people actually take that??

Change agencies
I've been traveling for 14 years, worked for a bunch of different agencies. Big and small, and I have found the smaller agencies take much better care of you. They are hungry, and realize that Nurses feed them!

Also, some towns/hospitals you go to have "master vendors", and those are the ONLY agencies that Hospital will deal with. So, if you go to Bayside in Tampa, Fl. and their master vendor is Am. Mobile, your agency is subcontracted by Am. mobile. What does this mean for the RN?? It means that your agency AND Am. Mobile EACH get a slice of your pie, before you get the pie.

Although this sucks, unless you know who the master vendor is, and join that agency,... you gotta "pay-the-piper.

If your agency is NOT giving you straight answers, or taking care of you, put them out of business,...go join another agency.


[/b]AGENCIES WORK FOR NURSES!!!!![/b[b]

We don't work for them.

We pay their mortgages, electric bills, payrolls, advertising, etc., etc.

Big agencies don't pay as much, they can't afford to, their overhead is to high. Am. Mobile just fired 5% of their staff, ALL Nurse Recruiters, in an attempt to bring down their overhead to pay their Nurses more.

So, if THE AGENCY WORKING FOR YOU IS NOT find another agency.

I stuck with my current one for the past four years because they WORK for me. They are a smaller company with Nation wide contracts, pay higher then anyone else in the industry (that I've found) are upfront, honest, and bust ther butts to keep me working; and they have.

I posted about them under "Best Travel Companies",...be sure to tell them Christopher sent you,...and HAPPY TRAVELS!!!