TNAA-Travel Nurse Across America provided this article.

Travel nursing offers an abundance of perks, such as getting to explore new places, building your professional network, and utilizing your nursing skills in a variety of facilities and communities. But there’s another perk many travel nurses may not be aware of: referral bonuses.

Many, but not all, travel nurse agencies offer referral bonuses to thank their nurses for recommending their services to others. Read on to learn more about referral bonuses and how nurses can benefit from referral programs.

Types of Travel Nurse Referral Bonuses

Travel nurse referral bonuses come in various amounts and vary from agency to agency. Understanding the different types of bonuses can help you choose the one that aligns with your preferences and goals.

Here are some common referral bonus structures:

Flat Rate:

These types of referral bonuses offer a flat rate across all specialties and are often limited to your first referral, which is a flat rate across all specialties.

Tiered Structure:

Tiered structure referral bonuses will offer varying amounts depending on the specialty you are submitting a referral for. For example, referring a PICU nurse may earn you a higher referral bonus than referring a MedSurg nurse.

Capped Referrals:

Some bonus structures set a limit to the amount you can earn through referral bonuses or the amount of referrals you can submit to them.

Unlimited:

As opposed to capped referrals, some agencies do not limit you to a set number of referrals or cap the amount you can earn in referral bonuses.

Recurring Bonuses

Some travel agencies, like TNAA, offer recurring bonuses for referrals, meaning you will earn additional rewards when your referral continues to take assignments with your travel agency. Depending on the agency, these can be in addition to initial bonuses.

Gift Cards and Other Incentives:

In addition to other monetary bonuses, some agencies offer gift cards or other incentives for referring your travel nurse friends. Referral bonuses are often paid once your colleague has accepted their assignment or completed a certain amount of their assignment, but some agencies offer additional incentives to referring nurses that will be paid to the referrer even if an assignment does not work out for their referral.

Other Benefits to Referral Bonuses

Beyond the obvious financial gains, referral bonuses offer additional benefits. Referrals strengthen the sense of community among travel nurses, create networking opportunities, and contribute to a positive working environment. Plus, you’re actively playing a role in a fellow nurse’s decision to embark on a travel adventure, helping build the travel nurse industry.

And if you love your travel nurse agency, there really is no better way to say thank you than to refer your colleagues to travel with them.

Check with Your Recruiter About Your Agency’s Referral Bonus Program

Interested in earning referral bonuses? The first step is to have a conversation with your recruiter. They can provide insights into the specific referral programs offered by the agency and guide you on how to refer your colleagues or friends. It’s a win-win situation – you help your connections discover exciting opportunities, and you get rewarded for it!

Taking advantage of referral programs can enhance your journey, financially and otherwise, and create a ripple effect of positivity within the travel nursing community. So, don’t hesitate – contact your recruiter to talk about referral bonuses today!

The Gypsy Nurse job board is a great place to search for your next travel nurse assignment. We have you covered with our housing page if housing is an issue. You can search for what you are looking for.

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

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“The referral is a key piece of efforts to source new candidates for open positions. Thus the referral bonus comes from the marketing budget, not the RN’s pay package. A nurse’s pay shouldn’t suffer because they want to help the company they work for.” Rich Smith, Vice President & Co-founder at Atlas MedStaff

As a traveler, you probably already know that most staffing agencies offer some sort of referral bonus. These bonuses can range from $250 to over $1000 per referral. Although I don’t recommend this as an ‘alternate source of income’ and highly discourage a traveler from recommending a company simply for the referral bonus, it’s important to know that these bonuses are available and, in many cases, underutilized.

Where does the Referral Bonus come from?

The Gypsy Nurse recently polled multiple staffing agencies to determine where these monies come from. In most cases, the funds are directly taken from the marketing and advertising budgets.

“Our marketing and advertising departments are budgeted together, and that is where it (referral bonus) comes from. We don’t budget any referral bonuses or benefits to come out of the bill rate, with the exception of any vendor management fees. We give out approximately $60,000 in referral bonuses a year.” Gregg Buck, Vice President of Recruiting The Right Solutions Healthcare Staffing

In cases where there isn’t funding in the marketing and advertising budgets, these costs are being pulled from ‘general funds.’

“Referrals are paid out of the company’s general funds. We do not associate any referral cost to any service line because we want all service lines to encourage referrals. Simply put, referrals are a big lifeline for us, and we want everyone on our team to understand the value of the referrals, not their cost.” C. Mike Emery, RN Chief Executive Officer, Expedient Medstaff

Why aren’t travelers taking advantage of these Bonuses?

There is a general misconception among travelers that these bonuses come out of the bill rates and will ultimately lower the traveler’s pay. In most cases, this is not true.

“Referral bonuses with PPR are paid outside each bill rate to benefit our travelers who refer nurses to us. We truly appreciate our nurses for talking to others about the benefits of traveling with PPR.” Stacy Rogers Pavish Senior Travel RN Recruiter at PPR TMG

It is important to note that this is a sampling of staffing agencies, and although the Gypsy Nurse cannot ascertain that this is true in all cases, it appears to be the ‘norm’ in the industry. If you are considering utilizing a referral and are leary due to concerns about where the bonus comes from…ASK! If a company has nothing to hide, it will quickly inform you where these funds originate.

How Much are Referral Bonuses?

The referral bonus amount varies greatly from one company to another and can also vary according to the specialty of the traveler being referred. It’s also important to note that you don’t necessarily have to be employed by an agency to receive a referral bonus. Have a company that you worked for in the past that you loved? If you have a friend who is interested in travel nursing or know of a facility that employs travel nurses, give a referral. Know someone looking for a specific location and a company that staffs there? Share the information! Do you see a posting for a specific specialty and know a traveler that will fit the bill? Let your friend know and ask for the referral.

Here are some examples:

Specialty	Referral Bonus
Registered Nurse (Labor & Delivery, OR, CVOR, PICU)	$1000
Registered Nurse (all other specialties)	$500
Physical Therapist	$1000
Occupational Therapist	$1000
Speech Language Pathologist	$1000
Physical Therapist Assistant	$500
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant	$500

Why do Staffing Agencies want referrals?

If you were staffing, who would you rather work for/with? An unknown or a friend of a great traveler? Referrals are important for staffing agencies. While discussing the referral issue with a staffing agency representative, he told me, “it comes out of the Companies Bottom Line clearly….but so do leads that we buy!! We like to say that referrals are the best leads because our nurse knows what we are looking for as representation of our company…and thus they tend to find like-minded nurses….best lead ever…someone that is known by one of the people working with you already!!”

Where do the budgeted funds go if unused for referrals?

This is a simple, straight answer…..right back to the company’s Profit!

Do you have a friend that referred you to your next staffing agency? Have a job you’ve been looking for, and someone pointed you to the perfect company? Make sure to give their name as a referral! Let’s start putting some of those marketing dollars to work by claiming the referral fees that the staffing companies already budget.

If you utilize the Gypsy Nurse resources and don’t have someone specifically to give a referral to, please consider giving the Gypsy Nurse as your referral source.

referral

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Types of Travel Nurse Referral Bonuses