Your Travel Nursing Schedule: Know How it Works

You started traveling, in part, because of the flexible schedule. But what does that really mean?

Every travel nursing job involves a legal agreement. This agreement typically specifies the work schedule terms such as shift, shift length, assignment duration, and includes any time-off that has been mutually agreed upon by you and the healthcare facility. As a traveler, your work schedule may be viewed through a special lens, one that differentiates you from the permanent staff. What do we mean by that?

Yes, traveling means you have the flexibility to decide what shifts you'll accept, where to work, when you'd like to start, and when to take a break. Your break might allow you an extended visit with family or even a trip around the world. That's flexibility that few permanent positions offer.

In most cases, healthcare employers hire travelers because their permanent staff is already stretched to the limit. You may be supporting a nursing team during a busy season, or filling in when a bout of the flu has knocked out a good portion of the staff, or even providing backup when a training session causes much of the permanent staff to be away from their usual stations. You are unlikely to have the flexibility to take days off or switch shifts that you would have had if you were on staff. They need you to be there.

What's the upside to being so needed and relied upon? Among other perks, travelers often have the opportunity to earn overtime. Not only are you earning elevated travel pay to start with, but your overtime pay will be even higher. Overtime pay and terms will be stipulated in your Agreement. Although it seldom happens, be sure to ask your Recruiter what happens if you volunteer to give up a shift - even if the Nurse Manager says you are not needed. Depending upon the terms of your Agreement, it may mean this shift will not be included in your hours worked.

It's important that you let your Recruiter know as much as you can in advance of committing to an assignment. The starting date and ending date of the assignment are firm. If you need to take a specific day off to attend a scheduled event, this needs to be negotiated on your behalf before you sign the Agreement. It is especially important to consider whether you want to have a specific traditional holiday period, such as the long Thanksgiving weekend, off from work if you are assigned to a hospital, as the permanent nursing staff may be granted priority by the hospital for that time away. Therefore, the hospital may be even more dependent upon travel nurses’ availability during customary holiday periods than at other times during the year.

It is part of traveling: there is a possibility that an Agreement may be canceled by the facility –- either because the facility's needs unexpectedly change, or for performance reasons. As a traveler, you have been thoroughly screened as a fit for the assignment and your references verified, so situations like this are unlikely to occur. Even if you are having a less-than-blissful time at an assignment, it's important that you stick it out. It's just a few weeks, and the fact that you persevered will go a long way toward securing your next (and better!) assignment. Many travelers enjoy their assignments so much that they renew multiple times at the same facility, or take a break and come back. It's the best of both worlds: flexibility and familiar faces!

One result of the Covid-19 pandemic is that a hybrid approach toward nurse onboarding and orientation programming -- a mix of teleconferencing and in-person training-- is becoming more common in hospitals. This means that your first day on the job may be in a teleconference rather than on-site. One major reason the adherence to the start date is so crucial is that the hospital's onboarding of a travel nurse may be included in its company-wide orientation programming. The date of the facility’s monthly orientation program is often standardized to the first or 15th of each month.

Your Recruiter will check in with you about halfway through your assignment, just to give you that "where to next" nudge. In that way, your Recruiter can be on the lookout for a new travel nurse assignment aligned with your needs and preferences. If you have a next destination in mind or a dream clinical setting, be sure to share your wish list with your Recruiter. We have thousands of assignments from coast to coast, and they're updating around the clock. The sooner we get started, the better!