Travel Nursing Insider, Episode #5

This episode: Travel Nursing Pay & Benefits

Welcome to an all new episode of Travel Nursing Insider brought to you by Onward Healthcare. Joining us again today are resident experts Deb Shea, Vice President of Travel Nursing with Onward Healthcare and Sera Cullen, Director of Travel Nursing. DOWNLOAD MP3.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In our first four episodes here on Travel Nursing Insider, Deb and Sera have walked us through the process of why nurses choose to travel, what the benefits are, and how to best work with a staffing agency to find the job you want. Today, we’re going to close the loop and let you know what happens once you accept a travel nursing job.

Sera what about pay and benefits, how do I go about getting those things in line?

Sera: When you have an offer from the facility, you’re going to work with your recruiter to customize a package for exactly what you’re looking for. The first thing that you guys are going to talk about is the pay that you’re looking for. There is tax advantage which is a program where you can take part of your pay as per diem, a daily allowance, and you’re giving it on a weekly stipend amount. There is also travel allowance to and from the hospital. This is tax free and follows the IRS guidelines for the amount of travel allowance given to a particular individual traveling. There’s also insurance. The insurance is amazing. It’s through United Healthcare and in fact, I have my whole family on it as well, so I have to say it is fantastic.

There are also license assistants so when you have to get your licenses for the different locations that you’re going, Onward Healthcare is going to be able to help you out and then there’s the housing piece and housing is either going to set you up with housing or you can also take a stipend amount which is a tax-free housing allowance so you can use that to either stay with friends or find your own housing and use it anyway that you need to. The great thing I said about the packages is the fact that you can customize it. So say you don’t need all of these benefits that we offer, you don’t necessarily lose out on that benefit. What we’re going to do is you’re going to decline that one and will be able to put the dollars that we would have used for that into another part of something that you’re looking for.

It is truly a great system and nurses can come out getting exactly what they need and we can help them accomplish what they’re trying to do financially.

Peter: Do you guys keep track of all these stuff as far as once the package is put together and all the different pieces and elements and the healthcare – do you track all of this?

Sera: The way we track is as soon as you and your recruiter have discussed all the different options and exactly what you’re looking for, your recruiter is going to then draw up a contract. We’re going to fax or email it to you and then you’ll be able to read it, sign off on it and fax it back to us so then we have the full commitment.

Peter: Deb, why don’t we talk a little bit about the contract and the different parts of that and the process of going through and making sure that the person is on board with this and understands all the different pieces of this, okay?

Deb: Sure. Once a nurse signs a contract, what happens is it gets entered into our system which is a priority system, and every department is alerted. Housing is alerted that the nurse is going to be in housing and the housing coordinator immediately starts partnering with the nurse to get them their housing. Payroll is alerted, our compliance team is alerted and so is our insurance department. We absolutely have experts in each one of these areas to make sure that we can give you these benefits and support you during your assignment.

Peter: How about getting the licensing and all of that kind of stuff that’s necessary to go to one of the states and go to one of these hospitals.

Deb: What’s great about the process at Onward Healthcare is you have two points of contact. You have your recruiter, which you work with day in and day out and then once you’re booked on an assignment, you’re assigned a nurse service coordinator and he or she is your right hand person and they basically are experts in all of the paperwork and help you get compliance. If you were to need assistance in getting a license, your nurse service coordinator would kind of hold your hand and walk you through that process.

Peter: Is it generally the case that people drive their own cars to these assignments or how does that work?

Deb: We do recommend that our nurses take cars to the assignment because they end up having a better experience. So we do recommend that you take your car because you can have flexibility to enjoy what sites that might be in the location. We do have some nurses, although we don’t suggest it, that do not bring cars and at that case we do get them housing close to the hospital and make sure they’re on a bus line, what have you. Again, if you’re in New York City, we’d probably recommend you don’t have a car but most of the times we prefer if our nurses take a car.

Peter: Deb, now that we’ve gone through this whole process, how do I get my file ready to go and what are some tips you can share with us so you are really organized so when you arrive at your new assignment, you really feel that you’re organized and everything is pretty well buttoned up.

Deb: We’re experts at this too, thank God. We’re JCAHO certified so it’s important that when a nurse arrives at a facility, the hospital has a complete file on the nurse so that if the hospital ever got audited, their file is tight. Again, like I just said earlier, we partner you with a nurse service coordinator and she’ll walk you through all the paperwork. There’s basically three buckets I say.

There’s a medical file, so you have to get a physical, have a drug screen, need some titers, etc. and again, we’ll walk you through exactly what you need and talk to you about this prior to locking to this on the assignment to make sure you have all this. So you need your medical file.

Then we need your certifications and kind of some basic JCAHO testing done, so we need copies of your license, your BLS, your ACLS if needed and then of course, copies of your license. That’s a second bucket. We have your medical and your certs and JCAHO paperwork.

And then we need your payroll documents, which we never have problems getting from nurses. Everybody wants to get paid. So we make sure that we have a couple forms of ID and all the right paperwork in place.

One thing that we are proud of is that we do do direct deposit on the first paycheck. The nurses love that.

Peter: It seems direct deposit is just so much more convenient and the money is there, you’ve got it, you don’t have to worry about it, and you don’t have to go open up a checking account in a different place.

Deb: That’s correct. I’d say 99.9% of the nurses are in direct deposit. If you wanted us to mail a check, we would of course accommodate, but it’s always easier to do direct deposit.

Peter: Okay, so once my paperwork is in order and I’ve made a decision I’m going to drive or I’m going to fly, let’s talk a little bit about what the travel reimbursement really involves.

Sera: The travel reimbursement couldn’t be easier. All you have to do is fill out a form, which is already emailed to you with the original documents when you were starting to fill them out and get prepared for this assignment and so it’s actually a form that has your beginning odometer reading, your ending odometer reading, and that’s it. You fax it in to us, we’ll process it, we’ll do all the legwork for you and then it will be direct deposited into your account.

Another great thing about what we do is we pay weekly. So, you don’t have to wait two weeks to get a check or anything like that. Once a week, you’re getting a check from us for the hours that you work so you can go have a great time whatever city you’re in.

Peter: Talk to us a little bit about housing. We did touch on this a little bit about the different options you have, you can stay with friends if you’re going to a city that you’re familiar with. What is the typical housing stipend like and what is the typical apartment like that you guys would provide to a travel nurse?

Sera: Our housing department is fantastic. One thing that we haven’t mentioned here is we have departments for everything, so no matter what you need or how we’re customizing your package, there is a department working on everything for you. Your recruiters have lots of backup, they have the nurse service coordinators but then we also have a housing department who exclusively works on the nurse’s housing.

What they do is they check with the chamber of commerce, the police department and with the local hospitals to make sure that you are in A-rated housing. The housing is going to be completely safe because a lot of the nurses traveling are single and of course, we want to make sure that they feel secure no matter where they go. So then with the housing, what’s going to happen is they’re going to go into a one-bedroom, one-bathroom private apartment. It’s going to be furnished and utilities are going to be covered.

The other great thing about the housing is that there’s deposits and stuff like that. That department handles everything. The nurse isn’t going to get there, have to write a check out of her checking account just to, you know, walk through the door. Housing is going to talk with them multiple times before they even get on the assignment.

We do a survey with the nurses when we first closed this deal and write up the contract where we find out, does the nurse not want to climb stairs? Does she want a first floor apartment because she’s traveling with pets? Does she need extra parking spaces because she’s bringing multiple cars? Whatever the nurse needs, we are going to accommodate as much as we possibly can.

And also the other thing is we want to make sure that we put the nurse as close to the hospital as possible. Nurses don’t want to spend an hour in traffic everyday, their days are long enough, and then also, we want to make sure they have the most amenities possible. If there is a fitness center, if there is a pool, if there is a gated community, we are going to put you in there. Again, we want to make sure this is a pleasant and safe experience for you. Inside the apartment, there’s going to be a queen size bed. There’s going to be your bedside tables, couches, flat screen TV, everything that we can possibly offer.

The other thing that we do is housing as I said will actually contact the nurse several times. So they’ll discuss what you guys talk about in the survey. We can offer these amenities but it’s going to be 15 minutes from the facility or if you want to be right next door to the facility, these are the other things. So we give the nurse choices, which is the biggest thing that I think is important to someone going to a new area is to really choose where you want to be and what’s the most important and so then they work with the housing department to find out exactly where they’re going to be as soon as they have all their compliance material in which Deb was talking about. They will then be given a call and given their address. They will be told how to check in, where they’re going, how to pick up their key, all the information they need. In fact, the recruiters are so sweet, they will even MapQuest it and help the nurse get directions there if she needs it.

Then the other great thing about the housing department is they follow up. They’ll give then a call the first week to find out how the housing is. Is there anything wrong with it, is there anything that needs to be changed. They are so focused on customer service that they’re going to do whatever they can. The housing department will call them the first week to see how everything is, how the move in was just to get some feedback.

They also call about the third or the fourth week just to follow up to make sure everything is going well and they also do another phone call about seven or eight weeks in, again, to follow up to make sure everything’s well.

I cannot say enough amazing things about the housing department and all the other departments because they also are so concerned with customer service and do whatever they can.

Peter: Speaking about amenities, do most of these apartments have high speed internet access?

Sera: Yes, when available. Let me preface with that. We, as I said, try and give you the most amenities possible. So, if high speed internet, if fitness centers, if pools, whatever is available for the nurse, we are absolutely going to try and get within reason.

Peter: Alright, so Deb, let’s talk about some hot jobs that exist out there today for travel nurses. Where are some real cool opportunities that you guys are seeing coming in to your offices here?

Deb: Great. We actually have a plethora of positions coming in in California. We’ve got assignments down in southern California and San Diego for all specialties. We have assignments in San Francisco, the Monterey Bay Peninsula. Right now, we’ve got a lot of hot jobs in California and we have a lot of nurses that are real interested in California, so we’re spending a lot of our client development time and effort in that market and it’s really paying off. So, if you’re looking to go to California, give us a call.

Peter: That will end this episode of Travel Nursing Insider. I’d like to thank both Deb and Sera for joining us again today.

Deb: Thanks.

Sera: Thank you.

Thank you for tuning in to Travel Nursing Insider. For more information on the exciting world of travel nursing, you should visit Onward Healthcare on the web at onwardhealthcare.com or call 1-800-278-0332 to speak to a travel nursing recruiter.

You should also follow Onward Healthcare on Twitter at Twitter.com/onwardhealth, fan them on Facebook at Facebook.com/travelnursing, and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. Just do a keyword search for Travel Nursing Insider.

Travel Nursing Insider, Episode #4

Welcome to our fourth episode of Travel Nursing Insider. We’re back in Wilton, Connecticut with Deb Shea, the Vice President of Travel Nursing at Onward Healthcare and Sera Cullen, the Director of Travel Nursing. (download mp3)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

TRANSCRIPT

In our last episode, we discussed the application process and what happens once you’ve submitted your online CV or resume into the Onward Healthcare database. and this week we’re going to talk about some interview tips, some expert advice on the kinds of things that you need to do, and the preparation that will really help you ace that interview.

First of all, I think, it’s important for our listeners to understand that the interview process is always going to be a phone interview, is that correct Deb?

Deb: That’s correct. It’s always a phone interview, which I think is nice.

Sera: The reason that it’s a phone interview is because a nurse in Florida could be interviewing for position up in Alaska and we’re not going to make her go all the way up to Alaska just to do an in-person interview for a position that she may or may not want. So that’s why everything is done over the phone and that’s why the online applications and the profiles are sent over to the hospital beforehand so the nurse managers can review it to make sure everyone’s a good fit.

Peter: In the world today out there, most interview processes, even for a full-time job, the first thing is a phone screen. Is this first interview a phone screen or is this a real interview with a hiring manager?

Deb: That’s a great question. It’s actually a real interview. Nurse managers, as all the nurses know, are extremely busy so when you get the nurse manager on the line, that’s your time to have that interview.

Basically, when you get the nurse manager on the line, it’s your time to really find out a lot about the unit and the expectations that the manager has of you. So what we do is we recommend that you specifically ask about the patient population, what types of patients are at the unit, and what expectations the nurse manager has for her nurses on the unit. If you feel that your fit, your skill set is equal to what the manager is talking to you about, then I’d suggest you get into more kind of the nitty-gritty, asking about the scheduling – does the nurse need you to work for the holidays, what’s the weekend requirements, how many days a week are you going to work, what shift is available, are you going to be floating to other units – kind of getting again a little more granular. If you feel comfortable with that, then I’d suggest going more into a little bit about the orientation, how the manager is going to get you orientated to the floor.

Peter: Sera, is this similar to taking a full-time position where you really want to check that’s it’s a good cultural fit for you and that you’re going to feel really comfortable working in this environment?

Sera: You want to be able to make sure that you hit the ground running. That’s one of the biggest things. They’re not there to train you. You are coming in because they have a staffing shortage and they need your help. Unfortunately, no one is going take you aside and teach you all new skills, they want someone that’s already experienced that has the background to make a smooth transition onto the floor and really them out. That’s the purpose of the interview too; you want to make sure that it’s going to be a good fit for you. That’s why the nurse manager is going to explain about the unit, the types of patients they have, the cases that they see, the ratio, the charting that they use so you have a really good idea of whether this is something that is a good fit for you.

Peter: I want to back up just a little bit in something you mentioned Deb in calling in; is this something that is scheduled or do you send them the phone number and say, this is the person you want to talk to, call.

Deb: We work at about 2000 hospitals. So I’d love to say every hospital is the same in cookie cutter but unfortunately, it’s not. We have intimate relationships with each hospital. So depending on what hospital you go to, some are going to be set up because the nurse manager prefers it that way and some are going to be just kind of like a warm call to the nurse manager trying to catch them live when they are free. So it depends hospital to hospital.

Peter: Sera, what are some of the things that you should do in preparing for this interview?

Sera: Your recruiter is going to help you by sending you an email of the list of questions that you can possibly ask. They’re also going to give you a description of the hospital so you’re prepared going in there, knowing how many beds in a unit, what the nurse-to-patient ratio is, and kind of what the hospital is all about, whether it’s a large teaching hospital, whether it’s a small hospital, you will be prepared going into this interview.

One of the biggest things I want to stress is that these interviews are not intimidating. It is not going to be a nurse manager saying, what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses, that type of interview, more traditional interview that some people have in mind. It is more going to be casual conversation between you and the manager can last about 10 minutes and you’re going to see whether you’re a fit for the floor and whether she thinks that you’ve got the skill set to make it work.

Peter: Deb, can you give us some tips on just getting prepared to do an interview? What kinds of environment or things should you try to establish before you even make that phone call?

Deb: The first thing we suggest is that our nurses make sure that the message that they have on their message machine is professional and appropriate. Because when you have a nurse manager call, if you’re unable to answer the machine, you want to make sure your voice message is very appropriate, a little bit more professional than you might have on a day-to-day basis. So, first thing is we make sure that your voice message is appropriate. If you’re going to be calling in to the manager, you want to make sure that you’re in a quiet place, and you have at least anywhere from 10 minutes to 15 minutes to talk to the manager. So you’re sort of putting yourself in an environment that’s quiet and professional.

Peter: So, you don’t want a couple of toddlers running around in the room while you’re trying to do this.

Deb: Well, sometimes that happens and if you have that, I think you should the set expectation at the manager upfront and let them know that you have a toddler bouncing around. Nurse managers are real people just like our nurses so if you have a situation like that, upfront let them know that you might have a little bump in the road during the interview and usually that cuts the ice and makes the conversation actually go a little better, but that wouldn’t be plan A, but if that’s what happens… if they happen to dial you in when you have two toddlers running around, just let them know upfront what your obstacles might be and see if you can work around it.

Peter: Obviously, it’s best to try to be in a quiet environment; you don’t want to be driving your car somewhere on your cell phone while you’re trying to do this interview, right, Sera?

Sera: You want to definitely put your best foot forward. This nurse manager is going to make a decision on who she chooses for this assignment based on this 10-minute interview so you always want to be as professional as possible and also be as courteous and understanding because again, she’s in a busy unit so be thankful for the time that she gives you and be professional and polite and follow up.

Peter: How much time do these interviews usually last?

Deb: The interview are anywhere from 10 minutes to about 25 minutes just depending on the nurse manager, how much time he or she may have. I wouldn’t say it’s anymore than 20 to 25 minutes.

Peter: But it’s always a good idea and this is something that Sera brought up to have a list of questions because you do want to ask questions during this interview, is that correct?

Sera: Onward has a great list of interview questions, maybe not all of them will apply for every nurse applying for a job, but you can definitely pick and choose the ones that you are most interested in and make sure that you bring them up in the interview. One of the big things is time off request, what shifts, my weekend requirements, everything that Deb went through before, those are things that you want to bring up upfront because if the nurse manager knows where you’re coming from, then she’s going to be able to make the best decision as well.

Peter: Are there any standard questions that you should expect hearing from the nurse manager?

Deb: I don’t think there’s anything standard. Again, we work at over 2000 hospitals, so it can vary from hospital to hospital but every single interview, they’re going to be asking what shifts you’re going to be comfortable working with so if you should go in to the interview as flexible as possible but again, you should know what shift you want to work, whether it’s a night shift or a day shift. They’re going to be asking what kind of computerized charting that you’ve worked with in the past. They’re going to ask about some of you’re credentials, whether you have BCLS, ACLS, what skills set that you have and they’re going to be asking you about what type of patients you worked with in the past, and tell you about the patient load at that particular unit to see if you guys are a good fit.

Other than that, I think what Sera mentioned, a lot would be due to the scheduling – can you work every other weekend, are you available to work the holidays? S, you’re really going to be able to kind of – you and the nurse manager – peel back the layers of the onion to find out exactly what they need and if it matches what you can do. That’s really the purpose of the interview.

One thing that’s nice is as a company, we’ve been in business a long time and we have awesome relationships with these hospitals, so once we send your file over for interview, you’re going to be able kind of from a clinical standpoint fit in on the unit, it really then comes down to kind of the nitty-gritty. Can you do this shift, can you start where the nurse manager wants and does you personality fit in with that floor.

Sera: That’s huge, Deb. One of the biggest things, a lot of times the interviews are started out with the nurse manager describing what the unit is like. Just because the nurse does have to hit the ground running as we said before, and so the nurse needs to find out what kind of environment they have on the unit just to make sure that it’s a good fit. So that nurse manager is going to try and give the nurse the most accurate description possible because she wants to have no surprises. That nurse manager doesn’t want you to get on the floor and then realize that something was different than what you guys discussed during the interview because then it’s not going to be a good fit and you know, then we’re going to have to make some changes. So she really is going to give you the most accurate picture of what the unit is like.

Peter: How many applicants are typically looked at for each position that’s available within a unit or within a hospital?

Deb: I’d say anywhere from 5 to 10 nurses are being sent for every one open position. It’s extremely important that you understand that because timing is of the essence. Once your recruiter submits your file and then gives you interview information, it’s extremely important that in real time your following up and setting up that interview because if you’re not, the other 9 or 10 people are, and then you’re not going to get the job.

Peter: And Sera, once that phone call is over, what’s the next step that you should take if you really want to have that particular job?

Sera: Well, you’re always going to thank the nurse manager for her time and then as soon as you hang up that phone, you’re going to call your recruiter back and tell your recruiter that you’ve just interviewed. You’re then going to tell the recruiter if it was a fit or not. You’re gong to say I love the position, go confirm that I’ve got the offer, I’m so excited or they may come back to me and say you know what, I interviewed, it just doesn’t sound like it’s the right fit for me. It was too small, it was too busy, whatever didn’t fit for the nurse and then I would simply write a thank you note to the hospital for giving us the time to interview and we’d move on to the next one.

The biggest thing is that the nurse call the recruiter back right away so we can jump on it and get the ball rolling.

Deb: But if you do want the position, at that point what would happen is you’d let the recruiter know and the recruiter would totally hold your hand through the process, work through the pay rate package, work through the start date, and work on telling you the items that you need in order to be compliant to start the assignment. So once you want that job and the hospital wants you, we would kind of hold your hand through that process to get you started into the position.

Peter: During the interview, if I decide that Wow! This is just really a perfect fit for me and I’m really excited about this and I really want this job, should I express that interest and that enthusiasm to the individual who is interviewing me, Sera?

Sera: You definitely want to tell the nurse manager that you think that you’re a perfect fit for the job, that you can do the required tasks that they’re asking, that you’ve been on a unit similar to that and you think that you would fit in right away. So, yes that is something nurse managers definitely want to hear.

Peter: What haven’t we discussed about acing the interview that you’d like to share with the audience today, Deb?

Deb: I think we covered quite a bit. The one thing I’d like to say on the last point that you made is if you are on the line with a nurse manager and you really feel you’re a good fit and you’re excited about the job and want the job, ask for the position. Let the nurse manager know I really want this job, I know I’d be an excellent fit, can you offer me the position? That’s showing confidence and will generally get you the job. So if you think you’ve got a good fit in that and when you talk to that manager, ask for the job for sure.

Peter: Does Onward Healthcare do the negotiating as far as the pay, or if I’m saying to this individual offer me the job, are they going to negotiate directly with me or are they going to go back to the recruiter at Onward Healthcare, Sera?

Sera: They’re going to come to us. They don’t need to discuss pay or anything like that with the nurse manager. The nurse manager is there to interview the nurse, to see if it’s a good fit. Anything beyond that comes directly to us.

Deb: You’re an Onward Healthcare employee and we would manage the whole pay package; the hospital really doesn’t have anything to do with that.

Peter: This is really a fun and informative interview. Thank you so much for joining us again today on Travel Nursing Insider.

Thank you for tuning in to Travel Nursing Insider.

For more information on the exciting world of travel nursing, you should visit Onward Healthcare on the web at onwardhealthcare.com or call 1-800-278-0332 to speak to a travel nursing recruiter.

You should also follow Onward Healthcare on Twitter at Twitter.com/onwardhealth, fan them on Facebook at facebook.com/travelnursing, and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. Just do a keyword search for Travel Nursing Insider.

Travel Nursing Insider, Episode #1

Travel Nursing 101

Our first episode on Travel Nursing Insider features Deb Shea, VP of Travel Nursing, and Sera Cullin, Director of Travel Nursing at Onward Healthcare. Deb gives us a Travel Nursing 101 – reviewing the basics of the profession, qualifications needed, and an overview of typical travel nursing assignments and opportunities. Sera describes many of the advantages of becoming a “traveler,” and ends the show with insider information on hot locations and opportunities for travel nurses.

Download MP3 or Play Live:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

TRANSCRIPTION

Welcome to our inaugural show here on Travel Nursing Insider. We’re in beautiful Wilton, Connecticut at the headquarters of the Onward Healthcare who is the sponsor of this show and joining us is Deb Shea who is the Vice President of Travel Nursing for Onward Healthcare and Sera Cullen, the Director of Travel Nursing.

Deb, why don’t we start by having you give us a little bit of background on what Onward Healthcare is all about?

Deb: Great. Onward Healthcare has been in business eight years. All the senior management team has extensive industry experience. Kevin Clark founded the company, again eight years ago. Because we have extensive industry experiences, the nurses reap the benefit and enjoy the travel experience. That’s a little summary of the company.

Peter: Deb, so why don’t you tell us a little bit about what travel nursing is all about and who gets involved in this?

Deb: Travel Nursing started about 25 years ago. Hospitals all throughout the country had peaks in census for various reasons. It could be something like a maternity leave, perhaps a new unit was opening and they have to hire enough nurses to fill 25 new beds or it could be seasonal fluctuations. Census peaks in Florida and in Arizona during the winter months as the snowbirds come into the market, so instead of hospitals hiring full-time staff for the whole entire year and not using them 100%, they hire supplemental staff or travelers to come in and work 13-week clips of time.
What’s great about it is from the patient’s standpoint, there is excellent consistency of care because it’s not like you have a nurse coming in one day and a different nurse coming in the next day. It’s for that three-month period so the quality of healthcare that’s provided to the patient is not interrupted at all.

Peter: So, this isn’t like a substitute teacher.

Deb: That’s exactly it. Bingo, you got it.

Peter: How many hospitals utilize travel nursing?

Deb: There are about 5500 acute care hospitals in the country and 87% of hospitals across the country have used travelers or use travelers. You can pretty much go wherever you want as a traveler.

Peter: I’m assuming that nurses then can pretty much have a choice of the geography, where they want to work and parts of the country they want to work and basically, follow the snowbirds if that’s what they choose to do.
Deb: Absolutely. We have opportunities all across the country, including Hawaii. We have assignments in every single state, so we can pretty much offer the nurse the exact location that they want to go to.
Peter: What are some of the minimum requirements for being a travel nurse?
Deb: Travelers obviously have to have a degree as an RN. They have to have a current licensure in the state that they’re going to be traveling in which is easy-breezy; we’ll help the nurse figure that all out, our staff can help them with that, and they do have to have one year acute care experience. They have to have worked in a hospital in a specialty that they’re going to be placing them in. Again, that’s so that the hospitals can continue to provide that awesome patient care.
Peter: Do you work at all outside of the United States for instance, in Canada?
Deb: At this time, we don’t. We do bring some Canadian nurses into the country but we don’t staff Canadian hospitals at this point in time.

Peter: Okay, so if I have an accreditation from Canada, then I could work with Onward Healthcare.
Deb: Canadian nurses are awesome. We’d love to have some come down here and help us out.
Peter: What is the typical assignment for a travel nurse?

Deb: The typical assignment is 13 weeks so it’s a three-month period. We do have some assignments that could be 26 weeks or six months and some that could be short as four weeks but most of them are 13-week periods of time. Again, that’s going to help ensure that the hospital’s providing good care to their patients. It takes a week or two for the nurses to get up and running and then they have that 12 weeks to sort of service the patients and do a good job for the hospital.

Peter: I know that you have a program that’s called the Rapid Response Program and I’m assuming that’s when a hospital, all of sudden gets an emergency need for someone, can you explain that to us?

Deb: Sure, that’s a great opportunity for nurses. It’s nurses that can start an assignment in anywhere from one to two-week periods so they’re quick starts. Generally, the nurses make about 30% more in the hourly rate and you know again, they’re going to be needing to report to the hospital in anywhere from a one- to two-week period of time, so it has to be that quick turnaround time but again in reward for that, the hospital is going to get the nurse that they want and the nurse gets paid 30% more.

Peter: If I get placed at a hospital and I really like the assignment, is there a possibility to extend it?

Deb: A lot of our nurses do go ahead and extend. If you are on the assignment for three months and you like the assignment and the hospital likes you, you can go ahead and extend at that facility. We have some nurses that have been in facilities up to three years. So, it’s almost like a permanent job but yet, you get the benefits of traveling. If for whatever reason you aren’t happy with the facility or just want a change of climate, you know we can go ahead and get you a new assignment at a different facility but the option to stay at the facility on multiple assignments is there for the nurses if they’re interested.
Peter: I really like this idea of Hawaii as a travel nurse. What are some of the geographies that you intend to have most of your placements with?
Deb: We’ve got a lot of assignments in Florida in the winter months which a lot of the nurses like. The nurses like it because they’re generally in areas close to the oceans. That’s means that their apartments are walking distance hopefully to the beaches and have pools, etc. We’ve got assignments in the winter months, a lot of assignments in ski slope areas of Vermont, Maine, Colorado, Nevada; a lot of skiing up there too in Reno. In the summer months, we had a lot of California assignments. Like I said earlier in the conversation, we have assignments across the country so generally speaking, if you have a choice of location, we’re going to be able to accommodate that.
Peter: If I am interested in becoming part of the Onward Healthcare Nursing Program, do I have to sign a long term contract with you?

Deb: Absolutely not. Basically, it’s you just sign up for one contract whether that be 13 weeks or 6 weeks, so the commitment to the company is only one assignment at a time. Having said that, our job and we do track this because we want to make sure that our nurses are as happy as possible and we do want to make sure that they’re renewing with the company and staying with the company and we do a really great job of that. Nurses don’t like to jump companies.

Peter: Sera, let’s get you involved in this conversation. Tell us why someone would want to choose travel nursing over working in a full-time permanent position?
Sera: Well, there are great opportunities as being a traveler. First of all, you get to go to many different parts of the country and experience different types of hospitals from small community hospitals to large teaching hospitals. You also get paid more for being a traveler and there are better opportunities for you to beef up your resume to add hospitals to it so in the future you’ll have more opportunities.

Also as being a traveler, you don’t get involved in any of the hospital politics. So therefore you walk in there, you do your shifts, they cannot mandate you to stay, you don’t have to do staff meetings, all that crazy stressful stuff that the rest of us have to do, walk in there, do your shifts, get out and it’s easy-breezy. So, as a young nurse, it would be very attractive because you would be able to go skiing in the winter, go to New York for the summer, go anywhere you want to so, get to meet a lot of new people and have new experiences that they may not be able to have later on in life. It’s also attractive to people who have retired. I’ve got a bunch of nurses that have RVs and they just go from assignment to assignment making their way across the US and doing and seeing all those things that they haven’t been able to see so far in life.

Peter: That seems like a really great way of taking advantage of this program. How about for people who want to stay put?

Sera: For people who want to stay put, we actually do have local offices that will help them in the areas that they currently live plus as a traveler, I know traditionally you may think, I need to travel cross country, that is not the case. You can be a traveler and still stay close to home, maybe travel to an hour to a hospital and still be able to be considered a traveler.
There’s also another option which is some of the hospitals will accommodate nurses by letting them stack their shifts together so they can go off, do the assignment, work 3 days a week and then come home for a week in between and that’s how they make that work as well.

Peter: So tell me a little bit about how this works, Sera from the standpoint, you place me in a job in a hospital, do I pay you a referral fee or how does this work?
Sera: You don’t have to pay us anything. It is actually taken care of from the hospital’s side because the hospital is the one who has the need and is looking for the nurses and has the shortage and so you as a nurse have no financial requirement to meet at all.

Peter: Once you have accepted an assignment, how do you really have before you have to start that particular assignment?

Sera: It varies completely. There are some hospitals that have need right away. There are some of the rapid responses that we touched on before that want a nurse in the hospital within a week. There are other hospitals that don’t anyone until January or three months out so the nurse is really going to work with their recruiter to figure out what their requirements are, what they need, and what assignment is going to suit them best. So, there is a lot of flexibility.

Peter: How about housing and the things like that, where am I going to live when I get to this? Is that something that you take care of as well?

Sera: The amazing thing about being a traveler is that, the travel company takes care of all the little details for you. You’re going to work with your recruiter, you’re going to find a job that fits what you’re looking for and then what’s going to happen is you are then going to show up to the assignment where we have set up housing for you, your utilities are set up, it is furnished, it is going to be in a aerated area with the most amenities possible. So, our company is going to take care of your housing, your insurance, and all the nitty-gritty details to make your transition very smooth.

Peter: Well, Sera I think we pretty much wrapped up our first segment here on Travel Nursing Insider, why don’t you tell us about one location that you know about where there are just a lot of jobs happening right now?
Sera: I would say the best location to focus on right now would be Florida. The snowbirds are starting to come down from the north. It’s getting colder up here and so Florida hospitals are going through a transition right now where their census is going up and they need lots and lots of help. Florida would be my hot job and my recommendation for this time.
Peter: Thank you so much and be sure to tune in for our next segment of Travel Nursing Insider. We’ll have both Deb and Sera back with us and we’re going to be talking about some of the benefits of being a travel nurse and also how you get started in the travel nursing profession.

Thank you for tuning in to Travel Nursing Insider. For more information on the exciting world of travel nursing, you should visit Onward Healthcare on the web at onwardhealthcare.com or call 1-800-278-0332 to speak to a travel nursing recruiter.

You should also follow Onward Healthcare on Twitter at Twitter.com/onwardhealth, fan them on Facebook at Facebook.com/travelnursing, and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. Just do a keyword search for Travel Nursing Insider.

Coming Soon: Travel Nursing Insider

RecruitingPods.com is proud to announce that we’ll soon be airing a new show.

Travel Nursing Insider: Move your travel nursing career Onward and Upward!

Travel Nursing Insider offers the latest insight and advice from experts within the travel nursing industry. Travel Nursing Insider is brought to you by Onward Healthcare, a leading nationwide provider of travel nurse jobs for registered nurses.