need help, wanting to travel soon

I am a telemetry nurse of 21/2 years wanting to start traveling in mid to late Nov, but I still have so many unanswered questions. I have applied with Aureus Medical and they are wanting me to get started but they don't have any locations I'm interested in at this time. I have been looking at other agencies and Onward Healthcare has several locations I'm interested in, but I'm not sure if they are a good company. I looked them up on highwayhyperdermics and I was concerned about their ratings. Does anyone have any information about this company?
I've heard many people say to sign up with several agencies to have more options, but I'm not sure how that works. Do I just fill out the application to their agency, do the checklist, & talk to a recruiter? How far in the process do I go before I decide who to take a position from? Aureus wants to speak with my current employer right now, but they don't have anywhere I want to go. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

April this is my recommendation. Search out and find a nursing recruiter on this site( look for one that seems like the "go getter" and honest). Ask them questions and you may find that the  recruiter your  looking for here is the better fit. By the way any company is going to push hard to get all your information and start submitting you right away if you don't set  rules up front with them.Start by letting them know what  setting your interested in and what area of the country...but very minimal information until you feel absolutely certain that's the fit for you. I'm rambling but the best piece of advise is this.. search recruiters on this site...if your not sure about an answer just ask other traveler or recruiters on this site. Healthcare Travel Book keeps traveler and recruiter honest....count on it ! let me know if you need any help.

Hi, April,

My name is Jenna and I work for Core Medical Group (http://www.coremedicalgroup.com) as a travel recruiter. At a quick glance I have about 60 tele positions available all across the country right now! If you're interested in learning more about travel please feel free to contact me and I can let you know more about the process here at Core. A lot of it depends on where you're thinking of traveling!

When you're putting your feelers out there it's good to get as much information as you can about the company you're going through as well as what their processes are.  Jobs are posted everywhere every day. It's helpful to you and your recruiter to be as vested in the process as you can be (paperwork, etc) that way when a position comes along you can jump on it right away without having to do the paperwork shuffle!

Chat soon,
Jenna

Hey April. Company selection is key when taking an assignment, but you must also have a good recruiter within that company. For instance, there is a certain travel company that is rather large and with them, many travelers report feeling like a number rather than a name. I would never advise calling in cold and joining up with them, but I have given several people my recruiter at that company (who is a recruitment manager and works with only a handful of travelers) and I myself would not hesitate to travel with them again as long as it was through my recruiter.

If you'd like, send me an email at david@travelnursesbible.com and I'll give you some of the recruiters I work with at some of the best companies in the industry. I also advise nurses to sign up with multiple companies and yes, it is as simple as filling out their paperwork and jumping through their hoops. However, if you are going to utilyze multiple companies, you will want to make sure ALL your paperwork is in line should you find an assignment with a quick start date. But after recenetly working a strike, if that company can get all my paperwork up to snuff and get the California Board to renew my license in under a week, I'd say just about anything can be done if you have a company motivated to get you to an assignment location.

At the beginning of the year, I called all the companies with which I am on file, and which I still recommend to travelers, and either spoke with my personal recruiter, or asked to speak to the recruitment managers. I asked for their recommendations for the best recruiters to which I could refer new travelers because not every recruiter has the patience to take the time needed to answer all the questions that new travelers can have. So I now have a list of great recruiters to which I refer nurses when they contact me and ask what companies are best. If you'd like some help, feel free to email me.

Since you are also new to travel nursing, I'll mention my book, Travel Nurse's Bible, which is sort of a how-to book on becoming a travel nurse. It walks you through the process from application to assignment to extensions. If you'd like to check out all the info contained in the book, you can check it out at http://Travelnursesbible.com

Hope this helps and again, feel free to email me for more info on companies and recruiters.

David
http://travelnursesbible.com
david@travelnursesbible.com



  

I have traveled with Aureus (my first three assignments) and they are a great company as long as they are making money off of you.  But if something goes wrong, this company will NOT stand behind you.  I missed one day of work related to illness, and not only did I miss out on my pay for 12 hours, but they charged me for their part, so they got their pay, eventhough I didn't get mine.  Anything that they can screw you out of, they will.  

I have not had any experiences with Onward Healthcare, but on the other hand, I haven't heard any bad things about them.

Hi April,

From speaking with other travelers, it seems like it may be your best bet to be "on file" with about 3 companies.  It is definitely easier to manage when you are only speaking with a handful of recruiters vs. 20 or more that are out there.  Because this will be your first travel assignment, you will likely have to consider going to a location that you may have not considered before, just to simply get that first assignment under your belt.  I promise that once you do that, your subsequent job searches will be much easier moving forward.  
I'd love to keep you posted on what we have available at Clinical One. :)

Good luck!

~ Amanda
800-919-9100, ext. 6495