Comments on: The state of travel nursing in 2009

By: The state of travel nursing in 2010 | Travel Nursing Blogs

The state of travel nursing in 2010 | Travel Nursing Blogs — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:56:36 +0000

[...] first let’s take a look back at 2009. 2009 was an interesting year for travel nurses and travel nursing companies to say the least. The level of impact that the economies downturn had on travel nursing seemed [...]

By: The state of travel nursing in 2010 | Travel Nursing Blog

The state of travel nursing in 2010 | Travel Nursing Blog — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:27:54 +0000

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:21:51 +0000

You are right to not take a travel nursing assignment you don’t feel comfortable in. I would suggest working very hard on making sure your recruiter knows exactly what you want out of a travel nursing job and are willing to accept. A lot of issues like yours come from a lack of up front agreement between the traveler and the recruiter at the beginning. granted right now the recruiter may be doing their best just to find you something, but they need to remember that this is temporary and they don’t want to lose you as a traveler in the future for a temporary gain. I have a series of posts (below) I am working on that give you some questions you can go over early in the process to avoid any travel assignment surprises. Hang in there.

http://www.travelnursingblogs.com/category/ultimate-travel-nursing-questions/

By: i travel

i travel — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:28:42 +0000

It have been finding since the beginning of April til now that after I’ve finally got an interview that some hospitals have not told the recruiter about some important ad ons. For example on a telemetry unit pt ratio is 1/8 or mandatory charge nursing or putting you in a position that was never discussed when you were initially seeking work at a particular hospital. I realize that it’s a bad time to be “picky” but I don’t want to be put in a position that I don’t feel comfortable in or feel forced to take a position for 13wks because of the current market. Has anyone else had similar experiences? Does any one have any suggestions for me? I’m ready to go work ASAP!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:37:05 +0000

Eric,

Right now travel nursing companies and hospitals are more able to ask for the two years experience because the supply vs demand equation has flipped and there are more nurses looking for travel nursing jobs than there are travel nursing jobs. As far as staying put, it really depends on your risk threshold. If you are young and don’t have many financial responsibilities you are probably going to be able to deal with the potential gap between assignments you wouldn’t have had to deal with 5 months ago. Hope that helps.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:24:48 +0000

Wow! I stopped traveling about a year ago to switch areas of nursing in hopes of returning to Travel. I am now seeing that most want at least 2 years in your specialty, which a year ago I had to have a year in a specialty. Is this change across the board? Also, it is sounding like now is not the time to give up my perm. position for travel. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Should I just stay put?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:56:05 +0000

Cheryl,

Most companies know that a lot of travel nurses will probably travel with other travel nursing companies at some point, but obviously they would rather you didn’t. But is your nursing career so you need to do what is best for you. It is the company’s job to treat you well and try their best to make sure you don’t want to switch. So if you are happy with your company and they keep putting you in travel nursing locations that you like then stick with them, but often it is the location, or lack thereof, that leads travelers down the path of working with multiple travel nursing agencies.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:54:53 +0000

I am currently on my second travel assignment. Given the state of the economy and decrease in available assignments I decided to extend my current contract; hoping, like many, that positions will open that will meet my needs by the time I’m ready to move on again. I only travel with one company, but I notice that you encourage traveling with more than one. As a new and inexperienced traveler, I am wondering how the companies feel about this. Do they feel a sense of disloyalty or is this expected? How do other travelers handle issues like health insurance and pension plans?

By: Kim Lawrence

Kim Lawrence — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:27:31 +0000

After 17 years in the industry the last time I saw such a depressed market was in 1991-1992-. The state of economy, the loss of jobs and insurance loss has taken a strain on the market place. Hiring freezes and no replacement hires calls for dangerous numbers of patients for nurses. There will be a stand soon and I see the market picking up this month- slow towards the last 2 weeks and again we will see a rise in mid March and a boom in April- where fun and sun takes over. This will mean overworked nurses will require time off and replacment needs. Until then because there are more nurses than jobs opening some of my travelers have opted to perm. I beleive that if security is what is needed than prehaps a year back in perm is what the doctor ordered. If you are willing to wait it out as I have done. You will get what you need. I have seen many recruiters leave the market now due to cut backs and just leaving- this I find sad. It’s a sign of the time. I have faith that the nursing shortage is real and will never change. Right now it is it it was in the 1940′s you get no choice of where you go you go where the need is.
My personal belief is that there are some exceptional nurses that are not getting chosen and they are great but because clients receive 100-200 profiles in 10 minutes- few have a chance. It’s all about timing. Each nurse is special and no one can take that away from all the beautiful nurses out there. I know 17 surgeries makes me a professional patient. I beleive the market will change we just have to wait it out. Just my thoughts!

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:13:11 +0000

Great article! You are right, the economy will turn around, but not as quickly as we all might think. According to many of the leading Austrian Economists (Lew Rockwell, Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, etc…) who predicted this economic collapse, we are headed for a depression that will last many years. So I suggest that you prepare for yourself and your family.