2 answers
harley
Student
Rochester, Minnesota
5
Questions
Asked
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What is the best company to work with as a travel nurse?
I'm in 10th grade in a nursing program, and I'm interested in being a travel nurse. I would like to know more information and see if it is a good option for me!
Additionally, what are the pros and cons of the company and what are things that should be considered when choosing your company?
2 answers
Michelle M.
Actress
3284
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Harley !
I'm not a nurse, but as an Advisor, I think you need to become better informed and that would be best to ask your teacher or guidance counselor questions about nursing.
I remember decades ago when I was in High School, my high school offered Nursing for which the students would acquire their LPN - Licensed Practical Nurse. It is to my understanding that high school nursing programs today do not lead to a Registered Nurse (R.N.) license, rather are more like preparation for college, so you will need to attend a college Nursing Program for an Associates or a Bachelors Degree to become a Registered Nurse. High School nursing programs today do not provide you with a standard Nursing credential. Double check this with your teachers and do not rely on information about it that is on the internet. You need to know the information for your state and your circumstances.
Once you obtain your Associates or Bachelors Degree in Nursing, you will need to work some years before applying for travel nurse work. The agencies you sign up with want Nurses with lots of experience and a variety of experience. But in Minnesota State, in general, they ask for two years work experience or more in a hospital or other facility working in a nursing specialty.
It's important to know if Minnesota participates in the Nursing Compact Licensure, and if you must obtain a state-specific license to practice, which can take 6 to 8+ weeks to process. This would be something you can look into towards the end of your college Nursing Program as guidelines change. Right now, you need to focus on your high school classes and maintaining high grades. Take one step at a time.
The way it works with travel nurse agencies is that you apply, are interviewed and they choose you, not you choose them. It will be best to apply to as many as possible to increase your possibility of acceptance and work. There's really no "best" agency, they all will be worthwhile to apply to. You will have to interview with them and they make the decision to hire you on or not.
I'm not sure why you need to know the pros and cons of any travel nurse company when you haven't begun your academics for your R.N. yet. You will learn all about nursing through your Nursing Program in college and the agencies you apply to will have established reputations and nothing to worry about. By the time you're ready to apply to them, there may be new ones that don't exist yet or current ones that close, so it's best to wait for all of this your last year of college. As well, all questions you have can very easily be answered by your teachers based on which degree you plan to get and your state.
Being a travel nurse is not a glamorous vacation opportunity, either. The agencies will send you to providers that need you. That may mean around the corner from where you already live or overseas. You will have to be flexible, versatile and focus on the work. Some agencies provide housing when placed and some do not. For accurate and detailed information about the travel nurse agencies in Rochester, Minnesota you will need to contact them directly to ask your questions. Some of them are Voca Health, MSSI , BaronHR, IMS One World, Genie Healthcare and LRS Healthcare. Contact them to see where they send their nurses for assignments as it just may be local placement in Rochester.
So remember that for this career, you will get the best guidance from your teachers and your professors in college. I hope this was good for some general things to consider and I wish you all the best !
I'm not a nurse, but as an Advisor, I think you need to become better informed and that would be best to ask your teacher or guidance counselor questions about nursing.
I remember decades ago when I was in High School, my high school offered Nursing for which the students would acquire their LPN - Licensed Practical Nurse. It is to my understanding that high school nursing programs today do not lead to a Registered Nurse (R.N.) license, rather are more like preparation for college, so you will need to attend a college Nursing Program for an Associates or a Bachelors Degree to become a Registered Nurse. High School nursing programs today do not provide you with a standard Nursing credential. Double check this with your teachers and do not rely on information about it that is on the internet. You need to know the information for your state and your circumstances.
Once you obtain your Associates or Bachelors Degree in Nursing, you will need to work some years before applying for travel nurse work. The agencies you sign up with want Nurses with lots of experience and a variety of experience. But in Minnesota State, in general, they ask for two years work experience or more in a hospital or other facility working in a nursing specialty.
It's important to know if Minnesota participates in the Nursing Compact Licensure, and if you must obtain a state-specific license to practice, which can take 6 to 8+ weeks to process. This would be something you can look into towards the end of your college Nursing Program as guidelines change. Right now, you need to focus on your high school classes and maintaining high grades. Take one step at a time.
The way it works with travel nurse agencies is that you apply, are interviewed and they choose you, not you choose them. It will be best to apply to as many as possible to increase your possibility of acceptance and work. There's really no "best" agency, they all will be worthwhile to apply to. You will have to interview with them and they make the decision to hire you on or not.
I'm not sure why you need to know the pros and cons of any travel nurse company when you haven't begun your academics for your R.N. yet. You will learn all about nursing through your Nursing Program in college and the agencies you apply to will have established reputations and nothing to worry about. By the time you're ready to apply to them, there may be new ones that don't exist yet or current ones that close, so it's best to wait for all of this your last year of college. As well, all questions you have can very easily be answered by your teachers based on which degree you plan to get and your state.
Being a travel nurse is not a glamorous vacation opportunity, either. The agencies will send you to providers that need you. That may mean around the corner from where you already live or overseas. You will have to be flexible, versatile and focus on the work. Some agencies provide housing when placed and some do not. For accurate and detailed information about the travel nurse agencies in Rochester, Minnesota you will need to contact them directly to ask your questions. Some of them are Voca Health, MSSI , BaronHR, IMS One World, Genie Healthcare and LRS Healthcare. Contact them to see where they send their nurses for assignments as it just may be local placement in Rochester.
So remember that for this career, you will get the best guidance from your teachers and your professors in college. I hope this was good for some general things to consider and I wish you all the best !
Sarah I
Registered Nurse
3
Answers
Omaha, Nebraska
Updated
Sarah’s Answer
Hi Harley!
I was a travel ER Nurse for about 4 years. I worked with 2 different companies during that time, so I can't speak for others beyond those. The ones I worked for were Fusion and Aya. Both were good to me - sometimes one company would have an assignment in a location that I was looking to travel to, sometimes the other would, or sometimes both had offers for the location. I'd say the majority of travel nurses have historically worked with more than one company for this very reason.
When choosing a company to travel with - some things to consider are whether or not they have benefits. Both of the companies I worked for did - but not all do. And private health insurance is quite expensive. Another thing to consider is how long they've been in business. After COVID, travel nurses were in high demand and because of that, a lot of new travel nursing companies began popping up. As the years have passed after COVID, there isn't an insanely high demand for travel nurses anymore...it's back to the same old demand there used to be - and it's forced some of those newer companies to shut down. I've heard a few unfortunate stories of nurses being actively on assignment and their company just shut down. Some were able to find a new agency to work with while staying at the hospital they were at, but some weren't. So I'd look for a company that's been around for a while - a good company (and a good recruiter) will make sure you're choosing good assignments.
If possible, vet your recruiter. Your recruiter is just as important as the company you work for - because they're the one who'll be finding you assignments based on your preferences, checking in on you throughout your assignment, helping you if there's any issues along the way, etc. My recruiter at Fusion was phenomenal - there was an assignment in an area that I specifically wanted to travel to location-wise. But my recruiter spoke to the safety of the area and voiced concerns over it. I ended up heeding his advice and choosing a different city. It's things like that that make the recruiter just as important as the company.
Some things to think about with travel nursing:
-You'll need 2-3 years of experience in the specialty you're wanting to travel with. For example: I worked my first year out of nursing school in an ICU. And then have worked in ER's ever since. If I wanted to do travel nursing and tried to apply for a travel assignment as an ICU nurse - I wouldn't qualify. I don't have enough experience in the specialty of ICU to work as a traveler in an ICU. The reason is - as a travel nurse, you get minimal orientation to the unit and are then on your own. My very first travel assignment, I had 6 hours of training in the ER I was going to be in, and then I was on my own. That's why they require the experience. Hospitals that are bringing in travel nurses are doing so because they're in need of immediate staffing - and they need people to jump in right away without needing weeks of training to get the work done.
-It requires you to be comfortable with asking questions and talking to lots of strangers. Unless you have a travel buddy (a fellow RN that you know), you won't know anyone. As an introvert myself - this was something that I had to learn to get over quickly because you have to ask questions, talk to, and learn to work with complete strangers. It ended up being fantastic for me - because it got me out of my "shell" and helped me learn to not be so shy around coworkers.
-There are Facebook groups of travel nurses that I found to be super helpful throughout my traveling (and that I'm still part of today). The nurses on those pages talk a lot about the ins and outs of traveling, share excellent hospital experiences, and there's even groups where people post housing / rental options for travelers. The Gypsy Nurse is one group, and ER Travel Nurses is another that I'm part of. Oftentimes there will be recruiters in these groups that post available assignments, too. It's a great network.
And most of all:
Travel nursing was a blast. I had the time of my life. I got to go to parts of the country I had never been, drive through states I'd never seen before, and live in places all over the country...all of which gave me experiences I would've never had otherwise. It was incredible - I grew so much - not only as a nurse, but as a person. I learned to be fiercely independent and to get out and enjoy everything life has to offer.
Best wishes!
I was a travel ER Nurse for about 4 years. I worked with 2 different companies during that time, so I can't speak for others beyond those. The ones I worked for were Fusion and Aya. Both were good to me - sometimes one company would have an assignment in a location that I was looking to travel to, sometimes the other would, or sometimes both had offers for the location. I'd say the majority of travel nurses have historically worked with more than one company for this very reason.
When choosing a company to travel with - some things to consider are whether or not they have benefits. Both of the companies I worked for did - but not all do. And private health insurance is quite expensive. Another thing to consider is how long they've been in business. After COVID, travel nurses were in high demand and because of that, a lot of new travel nursing companies began popping up. As the years have passed after COVID, there isn't an insanely high demand for travel nurses anymore...it's back to the same old demand there used to be - and it's forced some of those newer companies to shut down. I've heard a few unfortunate stories of nurses being actively on assignment and their company just shut down. Some were able to find a new agency to work with while staying at the hospital they were at, but some weren't. So I'd look for a company that's been around for a while - a good company (and a good recruiter) will make sure you're choosing good assignments.
If possible, vet your recruiter. Your recruiter is just as important as the company you work for - because they're the one who'll be finding you assignments based on your preferences, checking in on you throughout your assignment, helping you if there's any issues along the way, etc. My recruiter at Fusion was phenomenal - there was an assignment in an area that I specifically wanted to travel to location-wise. But my recruiter spoke to the safety of the area and voiced concerns over it. I ended up heeding his advice and choosing a different city. It's things like that that make the recruiter just as important as the company.
Some things to think about with travel nursing:
-You'll need 2-3 years of experience in the specialty you're wanting to travel with. For example: I worked my first year out of nursing school in an ICU. And then have worked in ER's ever since. If I wanted to do travel nursing and tried to apply for a travel assignment as an ICU nurse - I wouldn't qualify. I don't have enough experience in the specialty of ICU to work as a traveler in an ICU. The reason is - as a travel nurse, you get minimal orientation to the unit and are then on your own. My very first travel assignment, I had 6 hours of training in the ER I was going to be in, and then I was on my own. That's why they require the experience. Hospitals that are bringing in travel nurses are doing so because they're in need of immediate staffing - and they need people to jump in right away without needing weeks of training to get the work done.
-It requires you to be comfortable with asking questions and talking to lots of strangers. Unless you have a travel buddy (a fellow RN that you know), you won't know anyone. As an introvert myself - this was something that I had to learn to get over quickly because you have to ask questions, talk to, and learn to work with complete strangers. It ended up being fantastic for me - because it got me out of my "shell" and helped me learn to not be so shy around coworkers.
-There are Facebook groups of travel nurses that I found to be super helpful throughout my traveling (and that I'm still part of today). The nurses on those pages talk a lot about the ins and outs of traveling, share excellent hospital experiences, and there's even groups where people post housing / rental options for travelers. The Gypsy Nurse is one group, and ER Travel Nurses is another that I'm part of. Oftentimes there will be recruiters in these groups that post available assignments, too. It's a great network.
And most of all:
Travel nursing was a blast. I had the time of my life. I got to go to parts of the country I had never been, drive through states I'd never seen before, and live in places all over the country...all of which gave me experiences I would've never had otherwise. It was incredible - I grew so much - not only as a nurse, but as a person. I learned to be fiercely independent and to get out and enjoy everything life has to offer.
Best wishes!
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