Whether you’re a recurring travel nurse or trying it for the first time, each new assignment can come with excitement and uncertainty. In travel nursing, there’s always the “what do I do if my travel nursing assignment isn’t what I expected it to be?!”
Not all travel nursing jobs are going to match your exact expectations. Whether that be your housing, work environment, or schedule, understanding how to respond to these situations can help you make the most out of your assignment.
Keep reading for insights and tips on evaluating your travel nursing assignment to see if it’s truly the assignment that is not meeting your expectations, or something else!
The Reality of Travel Nursing Jobs
Although the typical travel nursing assignment lasts 13 weeks, choosing between short or long-term assignments can be a heavy risk for nurses who don’t know exactly what to expect.
The truth is, travel nurses wake up on the first day of a new assignment having no idea what they are truly going to walk into.
Now, even though there is a lot of risk being a travel nurse, there are also a lot of great perks! Many RNs, CNAs, and LPNs explore the travel industry because travel nurses often earn more than permanent staff nurses. They have the opportunity to experience new hospitals in various locations every few months.
Licensing
Travel nurses are one of the many amazing jobs in the healthcare industry. One difference to consider is licensing for assignments, which can differ from regular nurses in many ways.
Some assignments require travel nurses to have an active nursing license in each state. Now, this is not the case for all jobs. Many assignments only require at least one individual license.
Along with those two types, having a compact license allows practice in multiple states with only one license! Cool right? Depending on your license type, you may be eligible for a variety of different jobs.
Benefits
As mentioned, travel nursing can come with a wide variety of perks and benefits such as housing, bonuses, and health insurance. Travel nurses can often receive housing and meal stipends, which can alleviate some of the financial burdens you may find when traveling.
Eligibility for benefits and jobs can depend on various factors, but benefits such as health insurance can start on day one of your assignment! As for eligibility, most travel nursing positions require at least one year of experience.
Being a travel nurse can offer greater lifestyle flexibility compared to traditional nursing as well. This type of employment can allow you to explore places you may not have gone otherwise, make new connections, and grow your skills in many areas.
Being a travel nurse is an amazing healthcare career that can give you the freedom and adventures that you may not find elsewhere. Competitive pay, new cities, traveling the world, and learning specialties can mean the world to an RN.
Identify What’s Not Meeting Expectations
It’s pretty clear that travel nursing can open up many new opportunities for you. But what if those opportunities you were promised or expecting are not what you may have expected?
If you begin feeling this way about your travel assignment, step one is to identify what is not meeting your expectations. Is it the hospital? Is it your co-workers? Are your shift schedules different than what you were promised? Are you in a different medical facility?
Identifying the issues that are causing you to feel uncertain is crucial in determining if you are experiencing a contract issue or an adjustment issue.
Give Adjustment Time
Another question to ask yourself is how long you have been at your new assignment. Is it the first few weeks or are you well underway?
The first few weeks at an assignment can be overwhelming. Maybe you are learning a new charting system, meeting new co-workers, or even adapting to a new state away from home. Building relationships and confidence at a new assignment can take time, and that’s totally normal.
You shouldn’t expect things to be smooth sailing right away. And, just because things may be hectic the first few weeks doesn’t mean it’s a bad assignment. If you are struggling, look to gain support from your coworkers, partners, team members, and even family.
Considering these points, it’s important to wait to get settled at your assignment before panicking.
Document Major Issues And Concerns
One important thing you should have learned in school is that documentation is very important in the healthcare industry. If you’re in the emergency room, a clinic, or assisting with a patient, you know that everything must be documented.
Apply this same concept to your experiences at your assignment. Document the good days and the bad days. Keeping a journal, diary, or form of documentation to reflect on can help you determine if your assignment is having consistent issues or if you just had a bad shift.
Documenting issues such as unexpected schedule changes, housing problems, or even unsafe situations can help you bring your concerns to management. Choosing to keep track of your concerns can help make your life easier when trying to explain the things that are raising red flags.
Talk To Your Recruiter
Most travel nurses are employed by third-party staffing agencies rather than the healthcare facility itself. This means that they get their own personal travel nurse recruiter that can help handle any issues that come their way.
Whether you’re a registered nurse, LPN, or CNA, a recruiter can help match your profile to the best available assignments. Recruiters have access to lots of information that gives them the ability to recruit and match nurses to assignments.
Recruiters can help verify an assignment you may be interested in with your credentials. License type is very important when searching for a new assignment since nursing credentials and licensing requirements vary by state.
Whether you have a compact license or other specified certifications, your recruiter plays an important role in finding the best-suited jobs for your qualifications.
Why They Matter
Recruiters are worth more than just a hiring resource. They can act as your personal “manager”, so to speak, and can help you resolve any issues you may encounter on your assignment. In simple terms, your recruiter is your biggest advocate!
Your recruiters want you to succeed, so forming a strong professional relationship with them can help you later on down the road. Don’t be afraid to speak to your recruiter about your concerns. They can give you guidance and advice on how to approach your management, along with solutions.
Early communication with your recruiter is critical to positive assignment outcomes. Speaking up when your expectations are not met in early stages can help you avoid burnout later in your career.
Communicate With Unit Manager
Before jumping straight to the big dogs, some problems can be resolved at the local level — such as with your unit manager. If you’re having trouble with expectations and they are not what you expected, try speaking with your unit manager to have them clarified.
Sometimes an extra conversation can help resolve confusion or feelings of frustration. Look to speak with your unit manager about concerns with scheduling or training. Your unit manager does not just act as an educator, but they should also be a resource for you to use.
A key rule to follow when approaching your unit manager is to have respect and ask questions instead of making assumptions. This shows that you can have uncomfortable conversations while keeping your professionalism as a priority.
Inconveniences vs. Contract Violations
As we mentioned under documentation, if choosing to approach your manager or director claiming you have a major concern, it’s important to understand the difference between a major concern and something that creates an inconvenience for you.
Inconveniences
Inconveniences are things that are minor troubles or annoyances that could be bothersome. Examples of inconveniences you may find as a travel nurse could be changes to break routines, busy shifts, new coworkers, or changes to shift times.
These things may not necessarily break a contract agreement, but they may cause annoyances to your daily routine. Although these inconveniences may not require you to talk to management, its important to note them when choosing future assignments.
Contract Violation
Having a contract issue is when something within your contract is broken or changed without conversation. This mainly occurs when something is explained or written in your contract one way, but delivered or assigned a different way.
Examples of contract violations could include being assigned to a completely different unit, pay discrepancies, unsafe working conditions, or being assigned to a different specialty than contracted.
It’s important to understand your contract fully so you can acknowledge if any of these violations occur during your assignment. These contract violations are strong examples of when you should escalate the situation to your unit manager or recruiter.
Evaluate Your Pay Rate
One of the biggest concerns or expectations that may not be met with travel nursing jobs is the pay rate. Pay rates for travel nursing assignments can vary by specialty, location, and demand.
Depending on location and assignment specialty, some travel nurses can earn up to $4,600 per week! Now, not every travel nurse is going to earn that much. Because each assignment is different, it may be hard to have standard pay expectations for all jobs.
The best way to go about pay rates for assignments is to discuss all of your needs with your recruiter so they can help match you with the best job. If you get to an assignment and your pay does not reflect what was discussed in the contract, reach out to your recruiter as soon as possible.
Stay Professional
No matter what happens throughout your assignment, you should always remain professional through it all — even if your expectations are not being met.
Even if you are unhappy, pushing through, remaining professional, and avoiding gossip can help you in the long run. How you react to situations in an assignment can be monitored and could affect your reputation. A negative reputation could make it more difficult for you to find future assignments.
Always remember to continue providing quality care to patients even if your assignment is not what you expected. If worse comes to worst and you must leave your assignment, be sure to give your employer proper notice that you will be leaving.
Learn From The Experience
If you’re a travel nurse, you know that each assignment teaches you something. Learning how to work the night shift, navigate challenging co-worker relationships, or adjust to a new time zone are all examples of lessons you may learn from a given assignment!
No matter what is thrown at you during your assignment, use it as a learning experience. Use your experiences to improve the choices you make for your future assignments. After each assignment, as yourself what you enjoyed and what you did not enjoy about the experience.
Questions such as “What schedule or facility works best for my lifestyle?” or “What are my non-negotiables when it comes to contracts and assignments?” help you understand yourself better as a nurse and identify the environments where you thrive.
Putting It All Together: Travel Jobs Require Understanding
If you come across a travel nursing job that may not be exactly what you’d hoped for, the experience, growth, and knowledge you walk away with could help lead you to your dream assignment. Not every travel nurse assignment will be a perfect fit, and that’s okay.
The key to surviving an assignment that does not fit your expectations is to respond thoughtfully and intentionally rather than emotionally. Through documenting, communication, and professionalism, you can handle any situation you are faced with.
With this information, hopefully you feel more prepared and confident to tackle any travel assignment that comes your way. Remember, every assignment you receive helps you better understand what you want to look for in your next travel nursing assignment!
