Why should you do a travel nurse contract evaluation?
If you have been following the Travel Nurse Guide steps, you have already begun this process of contract evaluation. Evaluating your Travel Nurse contracting process is an important step to ensure that each contract will be better planned, more organized, and a better fit each time.
It may take several contracts before you feel like you have a good handle on what makes you happy as a travel nurse. Every contract will have a new set of ups and downs. Just make sure that the positives for you are still outweighing the negatives.
Travel Nurse Contract Evaluation- The Details
Three main parts affect your experience as a travel nurse:
- The Hospital
- The Agency
- Personal
HOSPITAL
(Evaluating the facility will assist you in determining what types of facilities provide a good fit for you.)
- Was the hospital/facility ‘comfortable’ for you?
- If you were in a large teaching facility, did you enjoy the atmosphere?
- Were you overwhelmed? Small community hospital; was it too small? Did you feel at home’?
- Were you happy in this type of environment if you worked in a clinic or outpatient setting?
- Did you work as a ‘float’? Did you like this? (Realize that as a travel nurse, you WILL float, but there is a difference between being “first float” and floating most of your shifts.)
- What did you like and dislike about the hospital?
- Don’t forget to add a hospital review to help other travelers!
When analyzing the hospital, we look at your comfort level with the type of hospital/facility you worked at, not the individual hospital issues, problems, policies, etc.
AGENCY
- Was your recruiter easy to contact?
- Did the agency respond to calls, emails when needed?
- Were the benefits as discussed?
- Was the contract correct? Did it include everything discussed?
- Was pay correct and on time?
- Did you wish that the recruiter had contacted you more? Less?
- Was there anything that stood out about the agency that you loved? Hated?
- Did the company stand behind you in a tough situation?
- Were any issues handled professionally and expediently?
- Did the company-provided benefits meet your needs?
- Did the company provide adequate housing?
- Were you allowed to make up missed shifts?
- Would you recommend the company to another traveler?
- Would you work for this company again?
- Don’t forget to add an agency review to help other travelers!
PERSONAL
- How would you rate your ‘happiness’ during the contract?
- Did the contract meet your financial needs?
- Did you make new friends?
- Were you able to enjoy the ‘travel’ aspect of the contract?
- Was the location too far away from family & friends?
- Was the local environment a good fit? Too hot? Too Cold?
- What issues did you have during the contract?
- Did you experience loneliness?
- Did you have difficulty transitioning to new processes? New Facility? New staff?
- Are you able/willing to work through these issues?
Travel Nurse Contract Evaluation Part II
ANALYSIS
FACILITY – By answering the questions above, you should be able to determine if you enjoyed the type of facility. In time, you will be able to fine-tune your likes/dislikes.
AGENCY – We always suggest working with more than one company at a time. If you had a negative experience with the company or the company didn’t meet some of your needs, determine if this particular company will remain on your list of preferred companies or not. For example, if the company doesn’t provide affordable health insurance, and this is important, you may want to mark them off the list and look for a different company.
PERSONAL – Here is the most difficult part. Travel nursing is NOT for everyone. Don’t stress if you don’t feel that travel nursing is a good ‘fit’ for you. Find a staff job and be proud that you gave yourself a new experience and explored a new career option within nursing. Perhaps you enjoyed it, but it just isn’t a good financial choice for you right now. YOUR Happiness is the NUMBER 1 priority. By answering the questions above, hopefully, you will determine if Travel Nursing is right for you.
Travel Nurse Contract Evaluation- Next Steps
If, at the end of all of this reflection, you decide you want to continue your career as a travel nurse, now is the time to plan accordingly. If you didn’t feel like you had a good fit, don’t worry. It may take several contracts to find the right mix of company, location, type of hospital, and personal needs. Some travel nurses work in dozens of places and yet still know when they find “the one” in terms of location, money, people, and unit.
It’s important that you go through a travel nurse contract evaluation after every assignment. Preferences and need change as you grow and get more comfortable with the lifestyle of a traveler.
Now, Wash, Rinse, Repeat…. Some of these steps will go very quickly for you the second, third, fourth….time around, and some will take some additional, more serious consideration. Some of the steps you will be able to skip over entirely depending on your personal evaluation responses. Take a look at each of them and make changes where necessary.
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