A few weeks ago I decided to look into traveling, so I sent out applications to serveral companies, Intellistaff, faststaff, Theracare, etc.... Intellistaff was cordial at first, then the recruiter resigned, haven't heard from them till yesterday and they were lukewarm, Faststaff replied once then never called back, then of course there was Thera staff. Told me I had a job in San Diego, no problem. Called my DoN though I asked them not to, so DoN wants me to give her a letter of intent so they "can fill your spot". The next day I get a call from Theracare telling me, oops, that fell thru, let me try something else.
Bottom line is I've been messed around with by these folks for two weeks now with no results.
Am/was shooting for southern california on the first of November, now I'm not sure exactly where I'll be looking for work.
The question is then, are all travle companies like this? Empty promises and urging you to take action only to find out they were talking thru their hats?
Hello, I dop not want to bad mouth other staffing firms, but if u need an assignment in SO. CA we have plenty. We will not call your DoN b4 we have you accepted, if ever. I can promise you that we will not speak with you and then forget you. We are a smaller company and pride ourselves on being in constant contact with all of our nurses. We currently have 211 open positions in CA, for information on assignments please contact,
Steve Schlegel
Trustaff, Inc.
877-880-0346 toll free www.trustaff.com
steve@trustaff.com
Check your email, we can talk, but you will understand that I am somewhat hesitant about your company from having read the negative comments posted here.
Hi Deb,
First I want to say that I am sorry you are having such a bad experience. Many travelers especially new ones are led down the wrong road.
The worst experience a new Traveler could have is to have an agency call the DON or NM for a ref when the new T hasn't even decided if they are even going to travel yet. That is why my company Preferred Health Care in Ft. Lauderdale , Florida does this very discreetly. If you do not want us to contact any of your supervisors or managers we don't . The way we work around this is to get you the Traveler to obtain an evaluation from Human Resources that you yourself can fax to us. That is all a company needs as far as a reference. I have obtained many refs this way and placed many new Travelers as a result.
Travel Nursing is a new and exciting experience. It can also be very scary. The way I deal with my new travelers as a recruiter is to take them by the hand leading them down the whole application, interview, placement process step by step answereing any and all questions along the way.
Please feel free to e-mail me or call me at my office and I will explain all of the benefits as well as the process of becoming a travel nurse to you any time you wish.
My company has been in business for over 20 years. We also have contracts with 90% of the hospitals all over the country. Most importantly, you will have a recruiter like me who believes in taking my travelers especially new travelers by the hand and leading them through this exciting process so that they will have nothing but success. This includes sending your files out to at least 4 hospitals so you always have an option if one falls through like you obviously have just experienced.
Please feel free to e-mail me or call me at the numbers below. Whatever you decide, I wish you good luck in your travels.
Marci Herman
Preferred Healthcare Staffing Recruiter
888-819-5306
marci.herman@preferredhealthcare.com
I'm not a recruiter. I've a been traveling three years. Let me give you some brief advice. Most travel company's are the same. Bad recruiters! and full of empty promises. You must hold a firm line with recruiters. There like sharks with blood in the water. Their ethics leave much to be desired. If you want to make good money the opportunity is there. Just beware of the bull****. One other peace of advice put a lawyer on retainer. If they pull any tricks one call from an attorney sends heads rolling believe me. It's not very expensive and worth it. American Mobile can be a pain in the butt sometimes but do have the most assignments on the west coast. Also a smaller but well managed company Nursing Innovation is Very Good. Talk with Lee Booth he's the owner don't let him push you off on a recruiter. Deal with Lee only!
I too have decided to try travel nursing but I am having alot harder time than I ever imagined. I have been flat turned down by 2 travel companies, aka American Mobile and ClinicalOne. Aureus has given me nothing but empty promises. Several companies have had trouble contacting previous "supervisors" for references. I have no idea what to tell these people, but half the places I have worked the supervisors, DON's, administrators and nursing staff have all changed hands several times. They will not accept a peer for your reference. Most every place I have worked, I have been the Charge Nurse and had no "person" that was "over me". I was over everyone else. Most places I worked did not have supervisors and other hospitals have policies where they will only give out the dates you worked there. What am I supposed to do?????????? I am getting so fed up and tired of filling out lengthy applications and check off skills sheets! I have 10+ yrs exp, mainly in ICU Rehab and LTAC and am looking to travel in July of 2005 - the way things are looking I might as well just move around on my on!! Any suggestions out there anywhere????
Dates is all you need. Most of the time you can get it from human resources. If your peers are charge nurses or supervisors that have witnessed your work, then they can fill out your reference letters. You could even have a doctor sign off on the reference letter. Even someone that comes and does shift change with you. If references are stopping you from getting a travel job, then that's a problem with the company criteria. Try the following above and see if that helps you out. I've worked with lots of nurses that had problems with getting references for their direct supervisors due to wanting to travel. We just worked around that and call human resources and the hospital was happy to except the reference.
Good luck in getting a travel job in July. If you have any other questions, please do email me mrisard@atnurses.com
Michele Risard, Advance Travel Nurses, Inc. Recruiter
I just had another RN on another site tell me that RN Network is great.
I'm going to check them out.
No way would I work with American Mobile.
Medical Express is a total joke. Would you believe I called them (they sent me a card in the mail), and I couldn't even TALK to a recruiter without doing a LENGTHY, drawn-out application (first-time call, mind you) on the phone with some flunky BEFORE I could even talk to a recruiter!
Needless to say I didn't waste my precious time!
Hello there! My name is Peggy and I have been in this industry for a long, long time. I'm sorry to hear about your experience, I know it can be so frustrating. I'm here to help. I'm currently offereing an $8,000.00 completion bonus for an L&D 13 week assignment in CA. Also, if you are interested in something else, I can help as well. Please contact me as soon as you can at 800-660-9544 ext.141 or Pmizener@comforce.com, and we will disuss any questions or concerns you may have. Look forward to hearing from you very soon!
I am also sorry to hear that you have had so many problems and empty promises! I know what you are talking about as I used to work for a company that was like that! As soon as I found out I left and I now work for COMFORCE. COMFORCE works very hard for the nurse and do our best to get them exactly what they want! We also only work with the top hospitals so you are never put in an unsafe environment!
I would love to answer any other questions you may have so please feel free to call me or shoot me an email!
If you want a good travel company than you need to look into Nursing Innovations! We can get you out on an assignment quickly and painlessly!!! We have the ability to tailor the assignment to meet your needs.
Our recruiters are also nurses and know exactly what your needs will be. They are always there for you. Currently we have some wonderful opportunities and great pay rates. Please call and ask to speak with one of our travel recruiters and we will be glad to get you what you need and deserve!
Jennifer Judge www.nursesrock.com
Nursing Innovations
1-888-357-3532
(or reply to post)
Try Emerald Health Services. They are a great company to work for in CA. I have done an assignment with them and am planning to do another. They work only in CA. They are friendly and very attentive to my needs. Their # is 800-917-5055. My recruiter is Amir. He is great. Give them a call if you are still planning to go to CA. Think you would be pleased.
Do you know how to tell when your recruiter is lying? His lips are moving! It's the same all over, Recruiters are salesmen, no more no less. They get you to sign on and sell you as cheap as they can and blow smoke about the pay cut. I must say the WORST company I have dealt with in 5 years of traveling is Absolute Nursing. Details at www.absolutenursingsux.com
Sorry about your experience so far with agencies! I know it can be very frustrating for a new traveler. I was a recruiter for one of the "Big Guys" for several years, and I can tell you there are problems in just about every company. Some agencies have more issues than others, but the recruiters generally mean well. The larger companies tend to have a VERY HIGH TURNOVER rate with recruiters, so getting to speak with the same person twice is a real treat!
I am now with a smaller company, that offers amazing contracts without the traveler having to sacrifice other benefits! We are also very proactive in finding travelers the assignments THEY WANT. Most travelers are very specific about where they want to go, and the "Big Guys" have allot of orders to fill. What happens is, travelers get pushed in to taking jobs that they really don't care for. Since we do things differently, we have a very high traveler satisfaction rate! Our company has also won numerous awards for diversity, business ethics & community service!
I would be happy to discuss your plans with you, and provide any assistance you may need! Please feel free to contact me with any questions!
Take care!
Cyndee Miller
Senior Medical Recuiter
ClientSolv Healthcare
cyndee@clientsolv.com
888-500-7658 ext 32
a good place to find a travel company is this website you are on now. look in the reviews of travel companies and you will read recommendations. i have been jerked around by coremd and intelistaf big time and not at all surprised to find poor reviews by my peers on ultimatenurse.com for these two companies. two of the highest rated companies on the site are rnnetwork 100% and HMS 86%. this means alot to me cuz the reviews are by people that have worked for these companies and what others have said about coremed and intelistaf are exactly the same problems i encountered. so there is truth in what is being said. good luck.
I am on my first assignment as a traveler. I am in NC. I signed this contract with O Grady Peyton. My recuiter is Deb. She has been great and I have had no surprises or problems with checks etc. as many of you have complained. Hope I don't run into these problems. Good luck finding something.
Some companies are not what they may appear to be,the first 1 or 2 assignments may be great but make sure you have everything promised in writing. make sure you research the companies before you travel,if you have a good company,stay with them as long as you can.
I have travelled for 2 -13 weeks assignment in 2003, with cross-country, my recruiter was wonderful,' Kate L', she is no more with this company,however all my checks were on time and I had very good apartments; the onlybad things was, the salary could have been better, and, where I went for my first assignment- I will never return and will discourage anyone if I can. Never go to doctors in corpus Christi if you can help it for you will be on your own; I counted the weeks,days, and hours.Most nurses acted as if they knew it all and they were better than you;they cursed like sailors and smoked like chimneys; it was awful.
The good thing is it is only for 13 weeks,at the end you can move on.
I am ready to travel again and signed up with a new company called S+J, you all can check it out if you want good benefits. I'll keep you all posted.
First, I would suggest, educate yourself on the pros and cons of traveling nursing.Second,network with other travelers. You have started here.I have traveled with several companies and have had great experiences.I compare travel nursing to being a novice nurse, you learn and grow as you go. Good Luck.
Hello Travel world. I have been in the Travel "Business" for 6 years now.I have been looking for a forum like this ,however I am a RRT and was wondering if my comments on here about Traveling and Traveling compaines, pros& Cons are ok to post here. I have been with several of the companies that I have seen posted and would like to post my success with some of them , and failures with others. I also know of other RTT Travlers that would like to have some input. Any replies to this would be great.! Thanks! Geroge
Thanks for the welcome. Right now my wife and I are packing up for our next contract.With a new company called "Nighting-gale" .Will let you all know how it goes with them.Have had a couple issues already but wont devulge any at this point. We are headed to South Beach Florida at Cedars hospital for a 3 month contract. Right now I am leaving Univeristy of Maryland, Shock Trauma where I have been for 20 months. Awsome hospital and awsome co-workers. My Wife and I have been traveling since 2001 and enjoy it very much. When we get set up in Florida ,I will be putting in my input on the things I have learned as far as "picking" the right Travel Company. One thing I do know, a company that sees the years of experince one has as a travler is sometimes an advantage.However in some cases , poorly run companies dont like it as they know "you know the ropes" and cant "cover up in the grey areas" . Will keep in touch as soon as we get settled! Thanks! George
