Client: Next Move Inc.
When looking for the best travel nursing agencies, you want to think along the lines of what is right for YOU.
Yes, you can Google ‘Who are the best travel nurse agencies?’ and you’ll get a mixed bag of results:
Disgruntled RNs leaving bad review. But do you really know the full story?
A “Top Ten” list of agencies. But were they sponsored by the agencies they’re recommending? Or written by an agency?
Travel Nurse forums where some RNs will love XYZ agency and other RNs will think that XYZ agency is run by the devil’s spawn.
Can you trust the internet?
Kinda like would you trust a clinical trial on the effectiveness of disposable baby diapers if the study was done by Huggies? Or trust a bad review of the Huggie’s Company, if it were written by an employee that was fired for embezzlement? Answer? Definitely…NO.
So…what do you do? What can you trust? The bottom line – it’s going to take a little digging on your own. The best place to start is with what is important to you.
Make a list of what’s important to you in locating the best travel nursing agencies. Some of those “must have” items could be:
Must be honest and transparent
Won’t pressure me to take a job
Staff in a geographic area I’m interested in working
Pay me top dollar for every assignment
Then start your own research – and see which agencies will meet your “must-haves.” Don’t trust everything you read and every answer you get – but when you break it down by what you’re looking for specifically – you’ll get better answers.
For example: You could just ask a travel nurse group on Facebook: Who are the best travel nurse agencies? Or – you could ask: Which travel nurse agencies pay the most? Are the most transparent? Don’t pressure you to take a job? This way – you’ll get specific answers as to what agencies will meet your list of “must haves.”
Why do we mention any of this – well – let’s circle back to that very first point we made: the best travel nurse agency, in reality – may not be the most popular. But it will be the travel nurse agency that meets YOUR needs.
Do you care about money & only money?
Well, most likely, that’s why you got into travel nursing in the first place: ‘dem dollar bills y’all! So some things to keep in mind:
Many of the $10,000 a week contracts that are available, are for 5, 12-hour shifts per week (60 hours a week). So if you’re ONLY about the money and willing to put your head down for that fat paycheck – you’ll want to choose an agency that staffs major metropolitan areas in placed like New York & Texas. One such agency is Emerald Health Services, which actually has some pretty good Google reviews.
If you’re like, 60-hours a week, F-that, then you’ll want to get ok with contracts that pay in the $7,000 a week range. These contracts will vary from three to four 12-hour shifts a week (or 36-48 hours) and are also located in some of the bigger metropolitan areas like California, New York & Massachusetts.
Some agencies that staff these areas include Nomad & American Mobile. (For these two agencies, do a little digging, the initial results we found on Google, didn’t show super high ratings from other travel nurses. But if you ask the right questions (like we recommended above) then it may turn out these are the best travel nurse agencies for you.
Do you care about money, but NEED a little life balance?
If you’re like, yes, I want to make BIG money, but I really don’t want to have to travel too far from home, then look for a travel nurse agency that specializes in the areas in which you want to work.
Open Google Maps – type in the state or city you want to work in – and then do a search for ‘Travel Nurse Agency’. Google will populate the map with all the agencies in that area – and chances are – if they’re physically located in that location – they have a stronghold on that market.
Can we toot our own horn now?
We are located in Kansas City, Missouri, have over 400 amazing reviews and specialize in job placements in the following states:
Alabama
Arkansas
Colorado
Illinois
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Mississippi
Missouri
New Mexico
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Not only do we do traditional travel nursing contracts – but we also staff LOCAL RNs in their own hometowns. Our contracts will pay anywhere from $3,000 to a little over $5,000 a week.
You’re saying to yourself right now WTF? That’s almost half of what those bigger agencies are paying. Yes – but let us remind you – that pay is for a location that could very well mean you won’t see your family or friends for 13-weeks, for a shift that could be super hard mentally, in a city that most definitely has a way higher cost of living.
But if you have the stamina and are comfortable being outside of your comfort zone for a short time – we say, take advantage of these rates while they’re still out there. Who doesn’t want $7-$10,000 a week?!!
If, however, you got out of staff nursing for a more relaxed life, and more time with your friends and family, and you didn’t leave for JUST the money – then choose an agency close to home – that way – you can travel home between shifts (read about Block-Scheduling here) and spend 4 out of 7 days a week with your family WHILE on contract.
Again – we circle back to what is right for YOU.
Finding the Best Travel Nursing Agencies
Pick 2-3 agencies that seem pretty cool and let them know you’re interested. Then adjust your rating of them based on how long they took to get back to you, and what your interaction with them felt like.
Signs They’re a Good Agency:
The call felt like they were very open and transparent with their information.
You didn’t feel any pressure to make any decision.
They asked you personal questions like: What would your ideal assignment look like? Are you ok with being away from your family for long periods of time?
You felt like they answered questions before you even had them.
It felt like you were their most important call of the day.
Signs They’re a Not-So-Good Agency:
They made you feel pressured about getting started – with something along the lines of: ‘These jobs are going to go fast.’
They sort of but not really answered your questions – but they did do a lot of talking.
They didn’t dig deep when they asked questions. Of course they’re going to ask for your specialty, state of license, years of experience. But did they dig deeper?
Did the call feel rushed? Like they had somewhere better to be?
Can You Trust Us?
Last but not least – if you’re reading this – you’re well aware we are a travel nurse agency – so can you trust what we say? That’s really up to you – but what we can say – is we definitely tell it like it is, don’t make false promises, go above and beyond as advocates for our RNs. We do everything humanly possible to find them the highest paying travel nurse assignments, best suited to their needs.
The straight truth is – we do not staff every state in the U.S. As a travel nurse agency based out of Kansas City, Missouri, we focus on placing nurses in healthcare institutions throughout the Midwest & Southern states because that’s where we’ve (so far) developed direct relationships & exclusive contracts.
So – if you’re only down for making $10K a week and only interested in hugely popular locations like California, Hawaii, Florida, or New York – we can’t help you. But if you’re looking for assignments in Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and all the surrounding states – we’re your man (or woman).
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Next Move Inc NURSE FIRST. NURSE POWERED.
(816) 601 -3800 Info@NextMoveInc.com
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