Ryan Sendow

Hey everyone. Welcome to the truth about travel nursing podcast. My name is Kyle Schmidt and I’m your host. This is episode 40 and we have another amazing guest with us today. We are joined today by Ryan Sendow. Ryan is an experienced travel nurse who specializes in psych. He’s currently taking some time off to focus on completing a Nurse Practitioner Program. He’s also the owner or operator of two very intriguing social media accounts that you will definitely want to follow. One is on Instagram and the other is on snapchat. They are both referred to as “Travel Nurse Takeover”. I can’t wait for you to hear about these unique and inspiring social media accounts and find out how you can benefit from them and even contribute to them which is what makes them really so awesome. Show Intro But first I want to get a little housecleaning out of the way. As you know, this is episode 40 of the podcast. I want to make sure that you’re aware that the first 38 episodes of the podcast are what are commonly referred to as evergreen content. That’s a fancy way of saying that they aren’t based on current events; that they’ll most likely always be relevant and useful. The reason is that the first 38 episodes deal almost exclusively with the business of being a travel health care professional. Things like how to find housing how to evaluate pay packages. Tips for finding companies extra time pay rates and much more. So I highly recommend starting at episode 1 and listening from oldest to newest. Trust me there’s tons of great information to help you get the most out of your travel health care career. Second, I want to invite you to connect with me and with BluePipes on social media. You can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/kylebluepipes, that’s Facebook.com/kylebluepipes. Send me a friend request I promise to accept it. Of course, you can connect with BluePipes on Facebook at facebook.com/bluepipesinc. That’s facebook.com/bluepipesinc. And on Instagram @bluepipesinc. It’s really one of the best ways to get all of our new content and you know hear about everything that’s going on in our world. OK, so Ryan, thank you again so much for joining us. Take us back to the beginning and let us know how you got started in travel nursing. How Ryan Got Started in Travel Nursing [Ryan] Yeah. Hey guys. Hi listeners. Thank you Kyle for having me on the show. I appreciate it. As far as getting started in travel nursing, I just knew when I was a nursing school that I wanted to do some traveling. I grew up in Michigan for 26 years and when I was 24 years old I wanted to travel and I was ready to get out. I didn’t do much traveling growing up. I came from a poor family. So we didn’t do much traveling so I just knew that I wanted to get out and explore the country a little bit more. And that’s kind of how I started. I didn’t know any travel nurses at the time. Everyone at my nursing school, no one really knew about travel nursing, and the more I looked into it, it was really intriguing to me. So it really helped me motivate myself in nursing school to know that there will be an opportunity to travel. That my job would afford me to explore the country a bit more and get paid a little bit more. Obviously it was a positive as well. So there was a lot of different factors and I was really excited when I started out in nursing with the intention to become a travel nurse. [Kyle] That’s great. That’s great. So you mentioned that you were in that you grew up in Michigan did you. What part of Michigan did you grow up in. [Ryan] I grew up in the metro Detroit area. [Kyle] Ok. OK. So that’s a big it’s a big city. [Ryan] Yeah yeah I I love it here. Actually it was when I was growing out to be. To be honest I was like Man I can’t I can’t wait to get out of Michigan. But after traveling I actually appreciate Michigan a lot more. And that’s what’s kind of cool about traveling nurses is that I think you start having appreciative appreciation to where you came and where you. Topics Discussed Include:  Where Ryan has traveled, including Phoenix, Arizona, Modesto, California, Seattle, Washington and Hawaii The benefits of travel nursing in Central, California. Is it difficult for PSYCH RNs to find travel nursing jobs? Working with multiple travel nursing companies. How Travel Nurse Takeover started How Travel Nurse Takeover is used How Travel Nurse Takeover is inspiring and connecting its community  Links: Travel Nurse Takeover on Instagram Travel Nurse Takeover on Facebook The post Travel Nurse Takeover with Ryan Sendow, RN appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

<p>Hey everyone. Welcome to the truth about travel nursing podcast. My name is Kyle Schmidt and I’m your host. This is episode 40 and we have another amazing guest with us today. We are joined today by Ryan Sendow. Ryan is an experienced travel nurse who specializes in psych. He’s currently taking some time off to focus on completing a Nurse Practitioner Program. He’s also the owner or operator of two very intriguing social media accounts that you will definitely want to follow. One is on Instagram and the other is on snapchat. They are both referred to as “Travel Nurse Takeover”. I can’t wait for you to hear about these unique and inspiring social media accounts and find out how you can benefit from them and even contribute to them which is what makes them really so awesome.</p> <h2>Show Intro</h2> <p>But first I want to get a little housecleaning out of the way. As you know, this is episode 40 of the podcast. I want to make sure that you’re aware that the first 38 episodes of the podcast are what are commonly referred to as evergreen content. That’s a fancy way of saying that they aren’t based on current events; that they’ll most likely always be relevant and useful.</p> <p>The reason is that the first 38 episodes deal almost exclusively with the business of being a travel health care professional. Things like how to find housing how to evaluate pay packages. Tips for finding companies extra time pay rates and much more. So I highly recommend starting at episode 1 and listening from oldest to newest. Trust me there’s tons of great information to help you get the most out of your travel health care career.</p> <p>Second, I want to invite you to connect with me and with BluePipes on social media. You can find me on Facebook at <a href="http://Facebook.com/kylebluepipes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook.com/kylebluepipes</a>, that’s <a href="http://Facebook.com/kylebluepipes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook.com/kylebluepipes</a>. Send me a friend request I promise to accept it. Of course, you can connect with BluePipes on Facebook at <a href="http://facebook.com/bluepipesinc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">facebook.com/bluepipesinc</a>. That’s <a href="http://facebook.com/bluepipesinc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">facebook.com/bluepipesinc</a>. And on Instagram @bluepipesinc. It’s really one of the best ways to get all of our new content and you know hear about everything that’s going on in our world.</p> <p>OK, so Ryan, thank you again so much for joining us. Take us back to the beginning and let us know how you got started in travel nursing.</p> <h2>How Ryan Got Started in Travel Nursing</h2> <p>[Ryan] Yeah. Hey guys. Hi listeners. Thank you Kyle for having me on the show. I appreciate it. As far as getting started in travel nursing, I just knew when I was a nursing school that I wanted to do some traveling. I grew up in Michigan for 26 years and when I was 24 years old I wanted to travel and I was ready to get out. I didn’t do much traveling growing up. I came from a poor family. So we didn’t do much traveling so I just knew that I wanted to get out and explore the country a little bit more. And that’s kind of how I started. I didn’t know any travel nurses at the time. Everyone at my nursing school, no one really knew about travel nursing, and the more I looked into it, it was really intriguing to me.</p> <p>So it really helped me motivate myself in nursing school to know that there will be an opportunity to travel. That my job would afford me to explore the country a bit more and get paid a little bit more. Obviously it was a positive as well. So there was a lot of different factors and I was really excited when I started out in nursing with the intention to become a travel nurse.</p> <p>[Kyle] That’s great. That’s great. So you mentioned that you were in that you grew up in Michigan did you. What part of Michigan did you grow up in.</p> <p>[Ryan] I grew up in the metro Detroit area.</p> <p>[Kyle] Ok. OK. So that’s a big it’s a big city.</p> <p>[Ryan] Yeah yeah I I love it here. Actually it was when I was growing out to be. To be honest I was like Man I can’t I can’t wait to get out of Michigan. But after traveling I actually appreciate Michigan a lot more. And that’s what’s kind of cool about traveling nurses is that I think you start having appreciative appreciation to where you came and where you.</p> <h2>Topics Discussed Include:</h2> <ol> <li>Where Ryan has traveled, including Phoenix, Arizona, Modesto, California, Seattle, Washington and Hawaii</li> <li>The benefits of travel nursing in Central, California.</li> <li>Is it difficult for PSYCH RNs to find travel nursing jobs?</li> <li>Working with multiple travel nursing companies.</li> <li>How Travel Nurse Takeover started</li> <li>How Travel Nurse Takeover is used</li> <li>How Travel Nurse Takeover is inspiring and connecting its community</li> </ol> <h2>Links:</h2> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/travelnursetakeover/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nurse Takeover on Instagram</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/travelnursetakeover/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nurse Takeover on Facebook</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nurse-takeover-with-ryan-sendow-rn/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nurse Takeover with Ryan Sendow, RN</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog</a>.</p>

Travel Nurse Takeover with Ryan Sendow, RN

Hey everyone welcome to the truth about travel nursing podcast. My name is Kyle Schmidt. I’m your host and this is Episode 39 of the podcast. This is a very special episode because we have our very first guest. That’s right. Up until now it’s been just me bloviating into this microphone by myself so I’m certain you’re as excited as I am to have a fresh new voice to help us branch out. Introducing Alex McCoy of Fit Travel Life And we have a very amazing first guest. We’re joined by Alex McCoy. Alex is a pediatric travel nurse. She runs a website called FitTravelLife.net. That’s FitTravelLife.net. It’s a website where she shares her personal passion for food fitness and travel. One of the website’s goals is to help you stay fit and healthy while you’re on the road which, as I’m sure you know, is actually a really difficult thing to do. Again that’s FitTravelLife.net. She is also the admin of the Fit Travel Life Facebook group. This is a Facebook group for healthcare travelers to connect, support and encourage each other on their health and fitness journey. So, you can find the Facebook group at Facebook.com/groups/fittravellife. Alex, thank you so much for joining us and welcome to the show. How did you get started in travel nursing? Take us back to the beginning. Find your next travel healthcare job on BluePipes! How Alex Got Started In Travel Nursing Hey Kyle! Thanks so much for having me. I’m super excited to be your very first guest and excited to be on the podcast. So I started traveling a little over two and a half years ago. Initially I was close to home. My husband was finishing grad school and it was more for financial reasons than anything else at the time. And then once he graduated in May of 2017, he’s a physical therapist, we were able to travel together. I do pediatric travel or pediatric Med Surg. We’ve been to Phoenix, Wisconsin, Seattle, Georgia and then I’ve traveled quite a bit around the state of Missouri where I’m from as well. So it’s been a really great experience. We’re very lucky that both of us get to travel together that we both have careers that can work together in that way. It’s just been a lot of fun. I really, really enjoy it and I enjoy learning about the different facilities and how different places do things. I feel like as a nurse I’ve really grown as a traveler so it’s been great. Topics Discussed Include:  Gaining more experience as a travel nurse than a staff nurse Did travel nursing pay better? Difficulty finding travel nursing jobs as a couple and how to manage it How Fit Travel Life started How the Fit Travel Life Facebook group thrives Eating healthy on road-trips and during the assignment Packing your cookware when travel nursing Tips for finding gyms and other places to exercise as a travel nurse Tips for staying motivated and where to find support and encouragement while travel nursing.  Links:  Fit Travel Life Website Fit Travel Life Facebook Group    The post How Travel Nurses Can Eat Right and Exercise on the Road appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

<p>Hey everyone welcome to the truth about travel nursing podcast. My name is Kyle Schmidt. I’m your host and this is Episode 39 of the podcast. This is a very special episode because we have our very first guest. That’s right. Up until now it’s been just me bloviating into this microphone by myself so I’m certain you’re as excited as I am to have a fresh new voice to help us branch out.</p> <h2>Introducing Alex McCoy of Fit Travel Life</h2> <p>And we have a very amazing first guest. We’re joined by Alex McCoy. Alex is a pediatric travel nurse. She runs a website called <a href="http://FitTravelLife.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FitTravelLife.net</a>. That’s <a href="http://FitTravelLife.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FitTravelLife.net</a>. It’s a website where she shares her personal passion for food fitness and travel. One of the website’s goals is to help you stay fit and healthy while you’re on the road which, as I’m sure you know, is actually a really difficult thing to do. Again that’s <a href="http://FitTravelLife.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FitTravelLife.net</a>. She is also the admin of the Fit Travel Life Facebook group. This is a Facebook group for healthcare travelers to connect, support and encourage each other on their health and fitness journey. So, you can find the Facebook group at <a href="http://Facebook.com/groups/fittravellife" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook.com/groups/fittravellife</a>. Alex, thank you so much for joining us and welcome to the show. How did you get started in travel nursing? Take us back to the beginning.</p> <p><a href="https://www.bluepipes.com/jobs/joblist" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Find your next travel healthcare job on BluePipes!</a></p> <h2>How Alex Got Started In Travel Nursing</h2> <p>Hey Kyle! Thanks so much for having me. I’m super excited to be your very first guest and excited to be on the podcast. So I started traveling a little over two and a half years ago. Initially I was close to home. My husband was finishing grad school and it was more for financial reasons than anything else at the time. And then once he graduated in May of 2017, he’s a physical therapist, we were able to travel together. I do pediatric travel or pediatric Med Surg. We’ve been to Phoenix, Wisconsin, Seattle, Georgia and then I’ve traveled quite a bit around the state of Missouri where I’m from as well. So it’s been a really great experience. We’re very lucky that both of us get to travel together that we both have careers that can work together in that way. It’s just been a lot of fun. I really, really enjoy it and I enjoy learning about the different facilities and how different places do things. I feel like as a nurse I’ve really grown as a traveler so it’s been great.</p> <h2>Topics Discussed Include:</h2> <ol> <li>Gaining more experience as a travel nurse than a staff nurse</li> <li>Did <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/how-much-do-travel-nurses-make/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">travel nursing pay better</a>?</li> <li>Difficulty finding travel nursing jobs as a couple and how to manage it</li> <li>How Fit Travel Life started</li> <li>How the Fit Travel Life Facebook group thrives</li> <li>Eating healthy on road-trips and during the assignment</li> <li>Packing your cookware when travel nursing</li> <li>Tips for finding gyms and other places to exercise as a travel nurse</li> <li>Tips for staying motivated and where to find support and encouragement while travel nursing.</li> </ol> <h2>Links:</h2> <ol> <li><a href="http://fittravellife.net" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Fit Travel Life Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/FitTravelLife/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Fit Travel Life Facebook Group</a></li> </ol> <p> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nurses-eat-right-exercise/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Travel Nurses Can Eat Right and Exercise on the Road</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog</a>.</p>

How Travel Nurses Can Eat Right and Exercise on the Road

Hey everyone, welcome to the truth about travel nursing podcast. Thank you so much for joining us for episode 38 of the podcast. In this episode, we’re going to take a look at the state of the travel nursing job market in 2017. We’re looking at this topic because there is a lot of talk out there that the job market for travel healthcare professionals is slack. That means there are fewer jobs…or the ratio of candidates to jobs is higher now than it was last year.   Travel Nurses Are Reporting a Slowdown in Jobs Just yesterday, I saw a post on social media from a recruiter that said, “ER job posted 2 hours ago and filled in less than that! That’s how things are working right now.” Many travel nurses chimed in to express their frustration with finding jobs. And, as always, there is no shortage of speculation as to what’s going on.   So, in this episode, we’re going to discuss the travel nursing job market and take a look at the possible causes of the newfound slackness in the market. For those that aren’t aware, when the job market is hot and there are more jobs than candidates, we call that a tight labor market. When there are few jobs to candidates we call that slack labor market.   I’ll let you know in advance, for clarity, that my personal belief is that there are a number of factors contributing to the slowness. Some of the factors may be weighing more heavily on the market than others, but I don’t believe that there is any one thing that’s causing the slowness.   Now, this episode is going to be a little different. That’s because I already wrote an entire blog post about this topic back in July of 2017. However, articles like that don’t get very many views. People aren’t searching Google for “travel nursing job market”. If you di, our articles would come up, but people just don’t search for that stuff. And social media is fleeting. So unless something goes viral, an article might get a few hundred views on social media.   So, I’m going to share that article laced with some additional commentary on this podcast. Trust me, this is going to be very interesting. I promise that you’ll discover a lot of helpful information in this episode.  TRS Healthcare at the Travelers Conference But, before I begin I want to share a great opportunity with you if you are attending the traveler’s conference in Las Vegas this year. The conference is actually just a few days away from the launch of this episode. And if you not familiar, The Travelers Conference as it’s called is held annually in Las Vegas. It’s a great way to meet fellow travelers and network with agencies and recruiters. And trust me, you will learn a lot if you attend. There are tons of helpful classes and presentations. It really is an amazing event. I highly recommend it. You can learn more at travelersconference.com, that’s travelersconference.com.  Anyway, at this year’s event, TRS Healthcare is hosting an after-party on day one of the conference, which is Monday, September 18. The party starts at 7pm at the RockHouse located in The Venetian. They’re going to be buying drinks and auctioning off a Cruise for 2.   All you have to do is stop by their booth, which is number 219, to pick up your invitation. You must have an invitation to get drinks and be entered in the drawing to win the cruise for 2. Now, think about this. There are only going to be a couple of hundred people in this drawing…so you’re chances of winning are much higher than they are for typical drawings like this. I mean, typically a cruise for 2 would have thousands of entrants.   Plus, I think you’re going to love TRS Healthcare. This company was founded by an RN who really is an inspiration. I mean, their Marketing Director wrote an article discussing her story for our blog and I was seriously choked up and inspired. No joke, seriously. If you want to read that article, go to blog.bluepipes.com/trs.   Trust me, these are great folks at TRS Healthcare. In fact, they are routinely ranked as one of the top 20 companies on the main travel nursing rating websites. They’re honest and straightforward. And they definitely take care of their employees. So be sure to check them out the traveler’s conference. That’s TRS Healthcare at booth 219.  Article Review Okay, so let’s dive into this article on the travel nursing job market. I’m pretty much just going to read it and interject here and there with some additional commentary where pertinent. Here we go:   You can read the full article here. Continuation of Trends in Travel Nursing Job Market Okay, so that’s the end of the article. Again, just to reiterate, both AMN and Cross Country have had their quarterly earnings conference calls since the publication of the article we discussed. And both reported experiencing similar trends. That is, job orders are down, the number of MSP contracts is increasing, their fill rates are up, and prices are up. That said, both companies expressed their belief that the decline in job orders is not a long-term concern.  Should Travel Nurses Work with Large Companies? Now, after we published the article, we received a number of inquiries asking us if we thought it was best for travel nurses to simply work with these large companies. The idea being that if these companies are shielded from downturns, then won’t the travelers who work with them be shielded from downturns?  I think it’s a little bit more complicated than that. First, that strategy has limitations, right? If everyone did that, then there would be no advantage at some point. Essentially, those companies would end up with a glut of travelers and not be able to staff them all.   Second, as we at BluePipes always recommend, you have to work with multiple companies no matter what you do IF you want to get maximum exposure to the job market. Even the big companies don’t have access to all the jobs. In fact, they typically don’t play nice with one another. So AMN is staffing orders for Cross Country and vice versa.  Moreover, there are many companies in the MSP game. While AMN and Cross Country are among the largest, there are a number of other companies out there doing the same thing.   Finally, you have to consider whether or not you want to deal with the differences in service and pay that you’ll experience when you work with the larger companies. As I’ve said before, I am personally inclined to believe that the larger companies are providing great service. How would they be where they are if they provided horrible service? But, and this is a big but, they are routinely rated poorly across almost every rating platform. And you routinely see travelers complaining about poor service and lower pay from them on social media. That’s hard to argue with.  Working with Multiple Companies is the Best Option for Travel Nurses At the end of the day, operating successfully in a market like this requires you to be nimble, flexible and ready to go. That’s one of the main reasons we created BluePipes…to help you manage your career more effectively and efficiently. The platform helps you manage your career documentation and communicate with agencies and recruiters without compromising your contact information to the entire industry. I mean, if you’re looking for a job, just go to BluePipes and update your job availability settings. You’ll have 10 to 20 recruiters contacting you through our platform within a matter of days. And they’ll conduct your job search for you so you don’t waste a bunch of time.   Okay, so, It’ll be very interesting to see how things play out over the next 6 to 12 months, and we’ll keep you posted via our blog and podcast, so be sure to check back with us.   Also, be sure to check out TRS Healthcare. If you’re headed to the travelers conference, stop by booth 219 and get your invitation to their after-party. And get entered into that drawing to win a cruise for 2. If you’re not going to the conference and then visit them at trshealthcare.com, that’s trshealthcare.com  Okay, that’s it for this episode. You can check out the show notes at blog.bluepipes.com/episode38, that’s blog.bluepipes.com/episode38. We’ll link to the article we discussed and some helpful resources there. So until next time, have a safe and prosperous travel healthcare adventure.  Links: Why TRS Healthcare Supports The Travelers Conference The post TTATN 038: The 2017 Travel Nursing Job Market appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

<p>Hey everyone, welcome to the truth about travel nursing podcast. Thank you so much for joining us for episode 38 of the podcast. In this episode, we’re going to take a look at the state of the travel nursing job market in 2017. We’re looking at this topic because there is a lot of talk out there that the job market for travel healthcare professionals is slack. That means there are fewer jobs…or the ratio of candidates to jobs is higher now than it was last year.  </p> <h2>Travel Nurses Are Reporting a Slowdown in Jobs</h2> <p>Just yesterday, I saw a post on social media from a recruiter that said, “ER job posted 2 hours ago and filled in less than that! That’s how things are working right now.” Many travel nurses chimed in to express their frustration with finding jobs. And, as always, there is no shortage of speculation as to what’s going on.  </p> <p>So, in this episode, we’re going to discuss the travel nursing job market and take a look at the possible causes of the newfound slackness in the market. For those that aren’t aware, when the job market is hot and there are more jobs than candidates, we call that a tight labor market. When there are few jobs to candidates we call that slack labor market.  </p> <p>I’ll let you know in advance, for clarity, that my personal belief is that there are a number of factors contributing to the slowness. Some of the factors may be weighing more heavily on the market than others, but I don’t believe that there is any one thing that’s causing the slowness.  </p> <p>Now, this episode is going to be a little different. That’s because I already wrote an entire blog post about this topic back in July of 2017. However, articles like that don’t get very many views. People aren’t searching Google for “travel nursing job market”. If you di, our articles would come up, but people just don’t search for that stuff. And social media is fleeting. So unless something goes viral, an article might get a few hundred views on social media.  </p> <p>So, I’m going to share that article laced with some additional commentary on this podcast. Trust me, this is going to be very interesting. I promise that you’ll discover a lot of helpful information in this episode. </p> <h2>TRS Healthcare at the Travelers Conference</h2> <p>But, before I begin I want to share a great opportunity with you if you are attending the traveler’s conference in Las Vegas this year. The conference is actually just a few days away from the launch of this episode. And if you not familiar, The Travelers Conference as it’s called is held annually in Las Vegas. It’s a great way to meet fellow travelers and network with agencies and recruiters. And trust me, you will learn a lot if you attend. There are tons of helpful classes and presentations. It really is an amazing event. I highly recommend it. You can learn more at <a href="http://travelersconference.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">travelersconference.com</a>, that’s <a href="http://travelersconference.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">travelersconference.com</a>. </p> <p>Anyway, at this year’s event, TRS Healthcare is hosting an after-party on day one of the conference, which is Monday, September 18. The party starts at 7pm at the RockHouse located in The Venetian. They’re going to be buying drinks and auctioning off a Cruise for 2.  </p> <p>All you have to do is stop by their booth, which is number 219, to pick up your invitation. You must have an invitation to get drinks and be entered in the drawing to win the cruise for 2. Now, think about this. There are only going to be a couple of hundred people in this drawing…so you’re chances of winning are much higher than they are for typical drawings like this. I mean, typically a cruise for 2 would have thousands of entrants.  </p> <p>Plus, I think you’re going to love TRS Healthcare. This company was founded by an RN who really is an inspiration. I mean, their Marketing Director wrote an article discussing her story for our blog and I was seriously choked up and inspired. No joke, seriously. If you want to read that article, go to <a href="http://blog.bluepipes.com/trs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">blog.bluepipes.com/trs</a>.  </p> <p>Trust me, these are great folks at TRS Healthcare. In fact, they are routinely ranked as one of the top 20 companies on the main travel nursing rating websites. They’re honest and straightforward. And they definitely take care of their employees. So be sure to check them out the traveler’s conference. That’s TRS Healthcare at booth 219. </p> <h2>Article Review</h2> <p>Okay, so let’s dive into this article on the travel nursing job market. I’m pretty much just going to read it and interject here and there with some additional commentary where pertinent. Here we go: </p> <p> <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-job-market-2017/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">You can read the full article here.</a></p> <h2>Continuation of Trends in Travel Nursing Job Market</h2> <p>Okay, so that’s the end of the article. Again, just to reiterate, both AMN and Cross Country have had their quarterly earnings conference calls since the publication of the article we discussed. And both reported experiencing similar trends. That is, job orders are down, the number of MSP contracts is increasing, their fill rates are up, and prices are up. That said, both companies expressed their belief that the decline in job orders is not a long-term concern. </p> <h2>Should Travel Nurses Work with Large Companies?</h2> <p>Now, after we published the article, we received a number of inquiries asking us if we thought it was best for travel nurses to simply work with these large companies. The idea being that if these companies are shielded from downturns, then won’t the travelers who work with them be shielded from downturns? </p> <p>I think it’s a little bit more complicated than that. First, that strategy has limitations, right? If everyone did that, then there would be no advantage at some point. Essentially, those companies would end up with a glut of travelers and not be able to staff them all.  </p> <p>Second, as we at BluePipes always recommend, you have to work with multiple companies no matter what you do IF you want to get maximum exposure to the job market. Even the big companies don’t have access to all the jobs. In fact, they typically don’t play nice with one another. So AMN is staffing orders for Cross Country and vice versa. </p> <p>Moreover, there are many companies in the MSP game. While AMN and Cross Country are among the largest, there are a number of other companies out there doing the same thing.  </p> <p>Finally, you have to consider whether or not you want to deal with the differences in service and pay that you’ll experience when you work with the larger companies. As I’ve said before, I am personally inclined to believe that the larger companies are providing great service. How would they be where they are if they provided horrible service? But, and this is a big but, they are routinely rated poorly across almost every rating platform. And you routinely see travelers complaining about poor service and lower pay from them on social media. That’s hard to argue with. </p> <h2>Working with Multiple Companies is the Best Option for Travel Nurses</h2> <p>At the end of the day, operating successfully in a market like this requires you to be nimble, flexible and ready to go. That’s one of the main reasons we created BluePipes…to help you manage your career more effectively and efficiently. The platform helps you manage your career documentation and communicate with agencies and recruiters without compromising your contact information to the entire industry. I mean, if you’re looking for a job, just go to BluePipes and update your job availability settings. You’ll have 10 to 20 recruiters contacting you through our platform within a matter of days. And they’ll conduct your job search for you so you don’t waste a bunch of time.  </p> <p>Okay, so, It’ll be very interesting to see how things play out over the next 6 to 12 months, and we’ll keep you posted via our blog and podcast, so be sure to check back with us.  </p> <p>Also, be sure to check out TRS Healthcare. If you’re headed to the travelers conference, stop by booth 219 and get your invitation to their after-party. And get entered into that drawing to win a cruise for 2. If you’re not going to the conference and then visit them at <a href="http://trshealthcare.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">trshealthcare.com</a>, that’s <a href="http://trshealthcare.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">trshealthcare.com</a> </p> <p>Okay, that’s it for this episode. You can check out the show notes at <a href="http://blog.bluepipes.com/episode38" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">blog.bluepipes.com/episode38</a>, that’s <a href="http://blog.bluepipes.com/episode38" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">blog.bluepipes.com/episode38</a>. We’ll link to the article we discussed and some helpful resources there. So until next time, have a safe and prosperous travel healthcare adventure. </p> <p><strong>Links:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/trs-healthcare-travelers-conference/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Why TRS Healthcare Supports The Travelers Conference</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/ttatn-038-2017-travel-nursing-job-market/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TTATN 038: The 2017 Travel Nursing Job Market</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog</a>.</p>

TTATN 038: The 2017 Travel Nursing Job Market

TTATN 37: Travel Nursing Guaranteed Hours

TTATN 036: How To Avoid And Resolve Travel Nursing Paycheck Errors

TTATN 035: What Is The Annual Salary Of A Travel Nurse?

TTATN 034: What Travel Nurses Ought To Know About GSA Tables

TTATN 033: The Top 11 Myths and Fibs in Travel Nursing

TTATN 032: How To Write An Amazing Travel Nursing Resume

TTATN 031: Travel Nursing Agency Applicant Tracking Systems

The Truth About Travel Nursing Podcast provides honest, straightforward information about all things related to travel healthcare including: travel nursing pay, jobs, contract negotiation, travel nursing companies and recruiters, travel nurse housing options, paperwork management and much more. Our goal is to help travel nurses and healthcare professional see through the marketing messages and slick sales talk so they can get to their desired destinations at the best possible compensation.

We need MORE EPISODES!!! 🙏🏻👩🏻‍⚕️👨🏼‍⚕️🏥🗣

MORE! Please!!!

Important info for any healthcare professional taking travel assignments

Excellent information for travel healthcare providers

The Truth About Travel Nursing Podcast

In this episode of the Truth About Travel Nursing Podcast, we discuss the best way to evaluate and compare travel nursing pay packages. In fact, we argue that this is the only way to properly compare and evaluate travel nursing pay.Here are the show notes along with links to the resources cited in the podcast and some other helpful links on the subject. First, let’s discuss why travel nursing pay packages are so complex.  They are different than permanent packages. Marketing gimmicks: To understand the gimmicks, we have to understand the basics of how the agency calculates pay packages. First Gimmick: NOTHING is FREE! Free means without cost or payment. How can it be free if they offer a Stipend or “free” housing? Some recruiters really think they give free things, but they have an understanding of “Free” that doesn’t quite cut it for travelers. Second Gimmick: Net pay vs. gross pay. Travel nursing pay packages get quoted in different ways. Hourly, weekly, monthly, total contract.  How to evaluate a Travel Nursing Pay Package  Must look at the pay package like a Pie Chart. But they quote in different denominations. Common denominator is time. So we want to break everything down to hourly figures. You can ask your recruiters to always do this for you in writing. However, you should always be able to do this yourself. Start with the time variables for the contract. Break everything down to the hour.  Ultimately, you’ll be able to add everything up to get the blended rate  What is a blended rate? Many travelers don’t like them. But they are the only way to compare. Even PanTravelers.org uses them. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to focus on one figure. Once a recruiter has that figured out, then they have a leg up in negotiations.  Standard Contract Example, 3 12 hour shifts, 36 hours per week, 13 weeks, 468 Quote  Taxable Base Rate: $20/hour  Lodging Stipend (instead of company provided lodging): $2800/month Meals and Incidental Expense Stipend: $350/week Travel Stipend: $700 License Reimbursement of $250 for new state license: $250  Break it down to the hour Hourly rate: $20 M&amp;IE Stipend: ($350)/36 = $9.72 Travel Stipend: ($700)/468 = $1.50 License Reimbursement :  ($250)/468 = $.53 Lodging Stipend: ($2800)(3 months)/468 hours = $17.95 Blended Rate: $23.33 + $17.95 + $9.72 + $1.50 + $.53 = $53.03 Be sure to figure in your expenses when comparing  Different places have different costs of living Different assignments have different costs associated with them  Always try to compare different agencies when possible Helpful Links: PanTravelers.org: This is a advocacy group for travel healthcare professionals. They have a compensation calculator that breaks everything down to the hour. They do this because it is the best way to evaluate pay. BluePipes Blog Pay Category: This is where you will find all of our blog posts on travel healthcare pay packages. Read them all and you will know more than your recruiter! Travel Nursing Pay Video: For those of you like me, that learn better by watching, here is a video that illustrates how to break down a pay package. Travel Nursing Pay Comparison Series: This is a link to the first of a 3 part series on how to break down travel nursing pay packages. The post TTATN 003: The Best Way to Evaluate and Compare Travel Nursing Pay Packages appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

<p>In this episode of the Truth About Travel Nursing Podcast, we discuss the best way to evaluate and compare travel nursing pay packages. In fact, we argue that this is the only way to properly compare and evaluate travel nursing pay.Here are the show notes along with links to the resources cited in the podcast and some other helpful links on the subject.</p> <h2><strong>First, let’s discuss why travel nursing pay packages are so complex</strong>.</h2> <ul> <li>They are different than permanent packages.</li> <li>Marketing gimmicks: To understand the gimmicks, we have to understand the basics of how the agency calculates pay packages. First Gimmick: NOTHING is FREE! Free means without cost or payment. How can it be free if they offer a Stipend or “free” housing? Some recruiters really think they give free things, but they have an understanding of “Free” that doesn’t quite cut it for travelers. Second Gimmick: Net pay vs. gross pay.</li> <li>Travel nursing pay packages get quoted in different ways. Hourly, weekly, monthly, total contract.</li> </ul> <h2><strong>How to evaluate a Travel Nursing Pay Package</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Must look at the pay package like a Pie Chart.</li> <li>But they quote in different denominations.</li> <li>Common denominator is time.</li> <li>So we want to break everything down to hourly figures.</li> <li>You can ask your recruiters to always do this for you in writing.</li> <li>However, you should always be able to do this yourself.</li> <li>Start with the time variables for the contract.</li> <li>Break everything down to the hour.</li> </ul> <h2><strong>Ultimately, you’ll be able to add everything up to get the blended rate</strong></h2> <ul> <li>What is a blended rate?</li> <li>Many travelers don’t like them.</li> <li>But they are the only way to compare. Even <a href="http://PanTravelers.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PanTravelers.org</a> uses them.</li> <li>One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to focus on one figure. Once a recruiter has that figured out, then they have a leg up in negotiations.</li> </ul> <h2>Standard Contract Example, 3 12 hour shifts, 36 hours per week, 13 weeks, 468</h2> <h3>Quote</h3> <ol> <li>Taxable Base Rate: $20/hour</li> <li> Lodging Stipend (instead of company provided lodging): $2800/month</li> <li>Meals and Incidental Expense Stipend: $350/week</li> <li>Travel Stipend: $700</li> <li>License Reimbursement of $250 for new state license: $250</li> </ol> <h3>Break it down to the hour</h3> <p>Hourly rate: $20</p> <p>M&amp;IE Stipend: ($350)/36 = $9.72</p> <p>Travel Stipend: ($700)/468 = $1.50</p> <p>License Reimbursement :  ($250)/468 = $.53</p> <p>Lodging Stipend: ($2800)(3 months)/468 hours = $17.95</p> <p>Blended Rate: $23.33 + $17.95 + $9.72 + $1.50 + $.53 = $53.03</p> <h2><strong>Be sure to figure in your expenses when comparing</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Different places have different costs of living</li> <li>Different assignments have different costs associated with them</li> </ul> <h2>Always try to compare different agencies when possible</h2> <p>Helpful Links:</p> <p><a href="http://pantravelers.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PanTravelers.org</a>: This is a advocacy group for travel healthcare professionals. They have a compensation calculator that breaks everything down to the hour. They do this because it is the best way to evaluate pay.</p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/category/travel-nursing/salary-pay/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog Pay Category</a>: This is where you will find all of our blog posts on travel healthcare pay packages. Read them all and you will know more than your recruiter!</p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-compensation-video/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nursing Pay Video</a>: For those of you like me, that learn better by watching, here is a video that illustrates how to break down a pay package.</p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-pay-package-comparison-strategy-part-1/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nursing Pay Comparison Series</a>: This is a link to the first of a 3 part series on how to break down travel nursing pay packages.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/ttatn-003-compare-travel-nursing-pay-packages/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TTATN 003: The Best Way to Evaluate and Compare Travel Nursing Pay Packages</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog</a>.</p>

TTATN 003: The Best Way to Evaluate and Compare Travel Nursing Pay Packages

TTATN 018: Travel Nursing Tax Free Money

In Episode 4 of The Truth About Travel Nursing Podcast, we cover 2 very important aspects of travel nursing pay packages. The first is “wage recharacterization” which is an IRS term dealing with tax-free reimbursements. We discuss the impact that this has on travel nursing pay packages. The second pertains to negotiating travel nursing overtime pay rates. More specifically, travel nursing “extra-time” pay rates. The reason that we’re covering pay with the first few episodes of the podcast is because these issues will frequently come up in discussions of other topics. So knowing the terminology and understanding the issues at play is fundamental to our understanding of travel healthcare in general. Wage Recharacterization and Travel Nursing Pay:  Wage recharacterization is related to tax-free reimbursements like housing and M&amp;IE. As you know, agencies offer tax-free reimbursements. The idea is that an employer isn’t supposed to recharacterize a wage as a tax-free reimbursement. There are several actions that the IRS has pointed out as “indicators” of wage recharacterization. First, offering really low wages. The wage should be in-line with what the professional can expect to make in that job. So $10 an hour isn’t okay for an RN. Agencies may not be malicious in doing this. There are 2 advantages. 1) sell you on higher net pay. 2) avoid costs. Second, offering a choice between wages OR a lower wage and higher tax-free money. Third, offering to have a reimbursement taxed when it is offered to everyone else tax-free. This is why many agencies refuse to pay all taxable. Fourth, different wages at the same facility with proportional differences in tax-free money. Fifth, treating the tax free reimbursements as hourly wages. This is why many agencies will not quote tax free pay in hourly amounts. They have a legit reason for not doing this. They are not being shady. This is also why you’ll find many travel contracts with penalties for missed shifts.  Travel Nursing Pay: Contracted Time vs. Overtime vs. Extra Time  What is contracted time? What is overtime as it pertains to travel nursing pay? What is extra time?  Why is it important to differentiate contracted time from extra time? Why is it important to differentiate overtime from extra time?  Not all overtime is extra time and not all extra time is overtime.  Negotiating an extra-time rate as a travel nurse:  Some agencies will and some won’t. What you should do when they don’t. What you should do when they do. (Be sure to clarify what is meant if they call it “overtime”)  Useful Links: 7 Things To Know About Travel Nursing Pay and Wage Recharacterization Flexible VS. Rigid Travel Nursing Pay Video on Negotiating Travel Nursing Overtime Pay How to Negotiate and Overtime Rate or “Extra-Time” Rate What to Know About Overtime Bill Rates Travel Nursing Penalties for Missed and Cancelled Shifts 4 Ways That Time Impacts Travel Nursing Pay Travel Nursing Agencies That Negotiate Good Overtime / Extra-Time Rates Valley Healthcare Systems Atlas MedStaff Medical Staffing Solutions, Inc FlexCare Medical Staffing If your agency pays travelers a rate that is higher than 1.5 times the taxable base rate for the extra-hours they work, please let us know and we’ll add you to the list. The post TTATN 004 : Wage Recharacterization and Negotiating Travel Nursing Overtime Pay appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

<p>In Episode 4 of The Truth About Travel Nursing Podcast, we cover 2 very important aspects of travel nursing pay packages. The first is “wage recharacterization” which is an IRS term dealing with tax-free reimbursements. We discuss the impact that this has on travel nursing pay packages. The second pertains to negotiating travel nursing overtime pay rates. More specifically, travel nursing “extra-time” pay rates.</p> <p>The reason that we’re covering pay with the first few episodes of the podcast is because these issues will frequently come up in discussions of other topics. So knowing the terminology and understanding the issues at play is fundamental to our understanding of travel healthcare in general.</p> <h2>Wage Recharacterization and Travel Nursing Pay:</h2> <ol> <li>Wage recharacterization is related to tax-free reimbursements like housing and M&amp;IE. As you know, agencies offer tax-free reimbursements.</li> <li>The idea is that an employer isn’t supposed to recharacterize a wage as a tax-free reimbursement.</li> <li>There are several actions that the IRS has pointed out as “indicators” of wage recharacterization.</li> <li>First, offering really low wages. The wage should be in-line with what the professional can expect to make in that job. So $10 an hour isn’t okay for an RN. Agencies may not be malicious in doing this. There are 2 advantages. 1) sell you on higher net pay. 2) avoid costs.</li> <li>Second, offering a choice between wages OR a lower wage and higher tax-free money.</li> <li>Third, offering to have a reimbursement taxed when it is offered to everyone else tax-free. This is why many agencies refuse to pay all taxable.</li> <li>Fourth, different wages at the same facility with proportional differences in tax-free money.</li> <li>Fifth, treating the tax free reimbursements as hourly wages. This is why many agencies will not quote tax free pay in hourly amounts. They have a legit reason for not doing this. They are not being shady. This is also why you’ll find many travel contracts with penalties for missed shifts.</li> </ol> <h2>Travel Nursing Pay: Contracted Time vs. Overtime vs. Extra Time</h2> <ol> <li>What is contracted time?</li> <li>What is overtime as it pertains to travel nursing pay?</li> <li>What is extra time?</li> </ol> <p>Why is it important to differentiate contracted time from extra time?</p> <p>Why is it important to differentiate overtime from extra time?</p> <ol> <li>Not all overtime is extra time and not all extra time is overtime.</li> </ol> <p>Negotiating an extra-time rate as a travel nurse:</p> <ol> <li>Some agencies will and some won’t.</li> <li>What you should do when they don’t.</li> <li>What you should do when they do. (Be sure to clarify what is meant if they call it “overtime”)</li> </ol> <h2>Useful Links:</h2> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-pay-what-is-wage-recharacterization/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">7 Things To Know About Travel Nursing Pay and Wage Recharacterization</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-pay-flexible-vs-rigid/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Flexible VS. Rigid Travel Nursing Pay</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/negotiate-travel-nursing-overtime-pay-video/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Video on Negotiating Travel Nursing Overtime Pay</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-pay-negotiating-overtime-rate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How to Negotiate and Overtime Rate or “Extra-Time” Rate</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-pay-overtime-bill-rates/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What to Know About Overtime Bill Rates</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-salary-penalties-missed-shifts-cancelled-shifts/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nursing Penalties for Missed and Cancelled Shifts</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/time-impacts-travel-nursing-pay/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">4 Ways That Time Impacts Travel Nursing Pay</a></p> <h2>Travel Nursing Agencies That Negotiate Good Overtime / Extra-Time Rates</h2> <p><a href="http://www.vhcsystems.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Valley Healthcare Systems</a></p> <p><a href="http://atlasmedstaff.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Atlas MedStaff</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.medicalstaffingsolutionsinc.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Medical Staffing Solutions, Inc</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.flexcarestaff.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FlexCare Medical Staffing</a></p> <p>If your agency pays travelers a rate that is higher than 1.5 times the taxable base rate for the extra-hours they work, please let us know and we’ll add you to the list.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/ttatn-004-wage-recharacterization-and-negotiating-travel-nursing-overtime-pay/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TTATN 004 : Wage Recharacterization and Negotiating Travel Nursing Overtime Pay</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog</a>.</p>

TTATN 004 : Wage Recharacterization and Negotiating Travel Nursing Overtime Pay

TTATN 026: Expectations for Travel Nursing Assignments and Tips for Success

TTATN 019: Travel Nursing In California

In this episode we talk about travel nursing companies. Specifically, we discuss the relationships that agencies have with hospitals, how the size of agencies can be used to generally differentiate them from one another, and the basics of your relationship with agencies. The Relationships Travel Nursing Companies Have With Hospitals:  The first thing to know is that agencies must have contracts to work with hospitals. The contracts include things like the bill rates, the overtime rules, the holidays, billing rules, employee conduct and a host of other rules and policies that determine the rules of doing business between the parties. One of the important things for travelers to note is that no one agency has contracts with every hospital. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find one agency that has contracts with every hospital in a given metropolitan area.  Direct Relations Between Hospital and Travel Nursing Company The traditional relationship was the direct relationship.  This type of relationship still exists but it’s just becoming increasingly less common. In this type of relationship, the agency has a contract directly with the hospital. Agency has direct line of communication with the hospital Sometimes hospitals work with very few agencies, sometimes hundreds sometimes hospitals are vendor neutral and sometimes they are not. Problems with direct relationships. a) potential for cronyism b) inefficient: there is no system in place. Things are done by email, phone, and fax. Job orders are a mess, tracking things is difficult.  Vendor Management Services and Travel Nursing That’s where vendor management services come into play. They are becoming increasingly popular. They are a way for hospitals to work with multiple agencies more efficiently. There are two main types: Vendor Management Systems, and Managed Service Providers Vendor management systems  Software applications, manage job orders, and communication between agency and hospital, tracks candidates through the process. Supposed to be vendor neutral, but some of them are owned by large staffing agencies. Example Medefis They charge a percentage of the bill rate, but all agencies are charged the same fee. There is typically not a direct line of communication between the hospital and agency. Communication is conducted through the system. Often, the vendor management system has representatives for when physical communication is needed.  Managed Service Providers  Managed Service Providers are healthcare staffing agencies that manage all the staffing needs of a hospital. When you hear that an agency has an “exclusive contract” this is almost always what’s being referred to. The large agency gets an exclusive contract and then uses “sub-vendors” to help staff the positions. Obviously, this is not vendor neutral. The MSP gets first crack at the job orders and they have an interest in staffing their people first. The MSP will only release orders when they are unable to staff them with their own candidates. MSPs charge Sub vendors a fee to work with them. Typically 2-3% of the bill rate, so the MSP makes money no matter what. They want travelers working with them because it’s not just about this one contract. It’s about retaining travelers for future contracts. At the same time, they have an incentive to get the orders filled because they need to keep the hospital happy and because there is often a fill rate requirement included in the contract. When times are tough, this has a huge impact. When times are tight, not so much.  Should Travel Nurses Work Only With Large Managed Service Providers? This is where we get into the differences between Large Medium and Small companies. Large Travel Nursing Companies:  They have more job orders. They cover larger geographical areas However, the service aspect tends to get bashed People say they pay less, but that’s not always true They have more layers of service It can take longer to resolve issues They tend to be more ridged with contracts and pay packages They rarely offer any incentive for working extra time HH AMN Gets a rating of 12 on 31 reviews. On TNC they get a 46.8 on 106 reviews. That said, medical solutions is the third largest travel nursing company and they get pretty good rankings.  Medium Sized Companies:  They have a good number of orders They tend to be a bit more geographically challenged These companies tend to be the ones that rank the highest for the service they provide. FlexCare, Valley Healthcare Systems, Trinity, Travel Nurse Across America, Atlas MedStaff  Small Companies  These are like boutiques Typically focus on one area only, or they have sparse options across the country They generate about $1 to $3 million per year in revenue Each full time equivalent is 112,000 in revenue. So 10 to 30 travelers per year.  Your Relationship with Travel Nursing Companies:  How many companies should you work with? The simple answer is that you should work with as many agencies as possible. Remember you want maximum exposure to the job market You also want to generate competition for your services. Would you apply to just one perm job? But working with multiple agencies can cause problems. First, overlap: Hi! My wife is a travel nurse. She read online that it isn’t good to have your name submitted by two different companies for the same position. In the episode (or maybe the last one), you discussed getting proposals from multiple companies in order to compare rates. Just looking for some clarification. Different hospitals handle this in different ways. Agencies want to be able to submit you immediately for open jobs. They want to stay ahead of the competition. This is good for you to. So you can do advanced reconnaissance and shop around for the best rate. You can let agencies know who can submit you. Second, it seems adversarial to have people competing for you. Remember, this is a business relationship, not a friendship Friendship is Soft Negotiating and is the weakest possible negotiating stance you can have. Third, it causes paperwork and communication issues. Ways that you can manage paperwork and communication.  Links: American Mobile Ratings and Reviews on TNC American Mobile Ratings and Reviews on Highway Hypodermics Largest Staffing Companies from Staffing Industry Analysts Getting To Yes a book about Negotiating How To Negotiate The Best Travel Nursing Pay Packages free eBook from BluePipes Travel Nursing Companies That Will Accept BluePipes Documents The post TTATN 005 : Travel Nursing Company Relationships and Differentiating By Size appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

<p>In this episode we talk about travel nursing companies. Specifically, we discuss the relationships that agencies have with hospitals, how the size of agencies can be used to generally differentiate them from one another, and the basics of your relationship with agencies.</p> <h2>The Relationships Travel Nursing Companies Have With Hospitals:</h2> <ul> <li>The first thing to know is that agencies must have contracts to work with hospitals. The contracts include things like the bill rates, the overtime rules, the holidays, billing rules, employee conduct and a host of other rules and policies that determine the rules of doing business between the parties.</li> <li>One of the important things for travelers to note is that no one agency has contracts with every hospital. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find one agency that has contracts with every hospital in a given metropolitan area.</li> </ul> <h3>Direct Relations Between Hospital and Travel Nursing Company</h3> <p>The traditional relationship was the direct relationship.</p> <ul> <li>This type of relationship still exists but it’s just becoming increasingly less common.</li> <li>In this type of relationship, the agency has a contract directly with the hospital.</li> <li>Agency has direct line of communication with the hospital</li> <li>Sometimes hospitals work with very few agencies, sometimes hundreds</li> <li>sometimes hospitals are vendor neutral and sometimes they are not.</li> <li>Problems with direct relationships. a) potential for cronyism b) inefficient: there is no system in place. Things are done by email, phone, and fax. Job orders are a mess, tracking things is difficult.</li> </ul> <h3>Vendor Management Services and Travel Nursing</h3> <p>That’s where vendor management services come into play. They are becoming increasingly popular. They are a way for hospitals to work with multiple agencies more efficiently. There are two main types: Vendor Management Systems, and Managed Service Providers</p> <h4>Vendor management systems</h4> <ul> <li>Software applications, manage job orders, and communication between agency and hospital, tracks candidates through the process.</li> <li>Supposed to be vendor neutral, but some of them are owned by large staffing agencies. Example Medefis</li> <li>They charge a percentage of the bill rate, but all agencies are charged the same fee.</li> <li>There is typically not a direct line of communication between the hospital and agency. Communication is conducted through the system. Often, the vendor management system has representatives for when physical communication is needed.</li> </ul> <h4>Managed Service Providers</h4> <ul> <li>Managed Service Providers are healthcare staffing agencies that manage all the staffing needs of a hospital. When you hear that an agency has an “exclusive contract” this is almost always what’s being referred to.</li> <li>The large agency gets an exclusive contract and then uses “sub-vendors” to help staff the positions.</li> <li>Obviously, this is not vendor neutral.</li> <li>The MSP gets first crack at the job orders and they have an interest in staffing their people first.</li> <li>The MSP will only release orders when they are unable to staff them with their own candidates.</li> <li>MSPs charge Sub vendors a fee to work with them. Typically 2-3% of the bill rate, so the MSP makes money no matter what.</li> <li>They want travelers working with them because it’s not just about this one contract. It’s about retaining travelers for future contracts.</li> <li>At the same time, they have an incentive to get the orders filled because they need to keep the hospital happy and because there is often a fill rate requirement included in the contract.</li> <li>When times are tough, this has a huge impact.</li> <li>When times are tight, not so much.</li> </ul> <h2>Should Travel Nurses Work Only With Large Managed Service Providers?</h2> <p>This is where we get into the differences between Large Medium and Small companies.</p> <h3>Large Travel Nursing Companies:</h3> <ul> <li>They have more job orders.</li> <li>They cover larger geographical areas</li> <li>However, the service aspect tends to get bashed</li> <li>People say they pay less, but that’s not always true</li> <li>They have more layers of service</li> <li>It can take longer to resolve issues</li> <li>They tend to be more ridged with contracts and pay packages</li> <li>They rarely offer any incentive for working extra time</li> <li>HH AMN Gets a rating of 12 on 31 reviews. On TNC they get a 46.8 on 106 reviews.</li> <li>That said, medical solutions is the third largest travel nursing company and they get pretty good rankings.</li> </ul> <h3>Medium Sized Companies:</h3> <ul> <li>They have a good number of orders</li> <li>They tend to be a bit more geographically challenged</li> <li>These companies tend to be the ones that rank the highest for the service they provide. FlexCare, Valley Healthcare Systems, Trinity, Travel Nurse Across America, Atlas MedStaff</li> </ul> <h3>Small Companies</h3> <ul> <li>These are like boutiques</li> <li>Typically focus on one area only, or they have sparse options across the country</li> <li>They generate about $1 to $3 million per year in revenue</li> <li>Each full time equivalent is 112,000 in revenue. So 10 to 30 travelers per year.</li> </ul> <h2>Your Relationship with Travel Nursing Companies:</h2> <ul> <li>How many companies should you work with?</li> <li>The simple answer is that you should work with as many agencies as possible.</li> <li>Remember you want maximum exposure to the job market</li> <li>You also want to generate competition for your services. Would you apply to just one perm job?</li> <li>But working with multiple agencies can cause problems.</li> <li>First, overlap: Hi! My wife is a travel nurse. She read online that it isn’t good to have your name submitted by two different companies for the same position. In the episode (or maybe the last one), you discussed getting proposals from multiple companies in order to compare rates. Just looking for some clarification.</li> <li>Different hospitals handle this in different ways.</li> <li>Agencies want to be able to submit you immediately for open jobs.</li> <li>They want to stay ahead of the competition.</li> <li>This is good for you to.</li> <li>So you can do advanced reconnaissance and shop around for the best rate.</li> <li>You can let agencies know who can submit you.</li> <li>Second, it seems adversarial to have people competing for you.</li> <li>Remember, this is a business relationship, not a friendship</li> <li>Friendship is Soft Negotiating and is the weakest possible negotiating stance you can have.</li> <li>Third, it causes paperwork and communication issues.</li> <li>Ways that you can manage paperwork and communication.</li> </ul> <h2>Links:</h2> <p><a href="http://www.travelnursingcentral.com/members_only/rank_detail.php?id=41&amp;type=Agency" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Mobile Ratings and Reviews</a> on TNC</p> <p><a href="http://highwayhypodermics.com/wp/travel-company-information/travel-company-evaluations/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Mobile Ratings and Reviews</a> on Highway Hypodermics</p> <p><a href="http://www.staffingindustry.com/Research-Publications/Publications/Healthcare-Staffing-Report/Sept.-18-2014/Healthcare-staffing-firms-feature-prominently-on-2014-lists" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Largest Staffing Companies</a> from Staffing Industry Analysts</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0143118757/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1426008091&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=getting+to+yes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Getting To Yes</a> a book about Negotiating</p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/negotiate" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How To Negotiate The Best Travel Nursing Pay Packages</a> free eBook from BluePipes</p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/verified-travel-nursing-companies/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nursing Companies That Will Accept BluePipes Documents</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/ttatn-005-travel-nursing-company-relationships-size/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TTATN 005 : Travel Nursing Company Relationships and Differentiating By Size</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog</a>.</p>

TTATN 005 : Travel Nursing Company Relationships and Differentiating By Size

TTATN 023: What Travel Nurses Ought To Know About Travel Nursing Job Postings

In this episode, we’re going to discuss travel nurse housing. This will be the first time we discuss housing on the podcast, so we’ll cover some of the basic things that you should know about travel nurse housing and then we’ll discuss some of the factors to consider when making the decision to take company provided housing or secure your own housing and take the company stipend. Before we begin, it’s important to note that we will be discussing some tax related information in this episode. So, I have to provide the caveat that I am not a tax advisor and the information provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only. You would need to speak with a registered tax advisor, preferably one who has experience with travel healthcare professionals, in order to obtain advice for your unique circumstances. Travel Nurse Housing Basics Okay, with that in mind, let’s start with the basics about travel nurse housing.  Technically, travel healthcare professionals are supposed to be traveling away from their home in order to work temporary assignments. As such, you need housing arrangements. Also, there’s a strong chance that you’ll be moving from location to location, so every move will require new housing accommodations. Of course, this can be a big deterrent for many people, so the travel healthcare industry got into the habit of offering company provided housing very early on. In most cases, I you don’t take company provided housing, you’ll receive money in kind which is intended to cover the cost of housing. Now, here’s where we get into the tax issues a bit. You see, housing is one of those benefits that is often offered “tax-free.” In order to qualify for tax-free reimbursements or benefits, you have to have a legitimate tax-home. Now, the discussion about a tax home is a subject for a future episode. For now, we’ll link to a series of articles on tax-home issues in the show notes if you’re interested. In any case, this is why the vast majority of agencies will have their travel nurses sign a “permanent tax residence form”. By signing this form, the traveler attests that they have a permanent tax-home and therefore qualify to receive the tax free benefits. Now, if you don’t have a permanent tax-home, then all the tax-free items become taxable. Housing is a little unique in this regard. If you take company provided housing, and the company knows that you don’t have a tax home, then they should technically be treating the housing as income that they’re paying to you by adding the value of the housing to your W2 so it can be taxed appropriately. If they don’t, then you should request that they do so. Otherwise, you’ll need to anticipate a large tax bill at the end of the year when you do your taxes assuming you follow the letter of the tax laws and declare the housing on your taxes. It’s similar for the housing stipend that they provide. If you don’t have a tax home, then they should be treating it as taxable income. Now, it’s important to note that when companies pay taxable income, they’re responsible to pay the employer portion of the payroll taxes. This constitutes an additional expense for the company so they may reduce the overall value of the compensation package to account for that expense. This is one reason that many companies won’t work with travelers unless they have a tax home.  Travel Nursing Company Provided Housing Basics Okay, so with all that in mind, let’s move on to discuss the issues pertaining to company provided housing.  As mentioned previously, most companies in the business will offer company provided housing. The first thing we need to remember is that the term “company provided housing” is ambiguous. In other words, different companies have different approaches to company housing. So to one company, company housing could be an extended stay or some cheapo hotel room, or worst of all, a totally dumpy apartment that’s great for them because it was cheap. To other companies, company housing could be a top-of-the-line apartment in the best area of town. And to other companies, company provided housing could mean anything the traveler wants it to mean. In this situation, the company will give the traveler options. More expensive options result in less pay and less expensive option result in greater pay. Because of these different approaches, there are a whole host of things for us to consider when dealing with company provided housing. First, some agencies use housing as a marketing gimmick when advertising their pay rates. Here’s what they do…they offer a seemingly great pay package, that includes company provided housing. But the company provided housing they’re offering is an Extended Stay or a very low end apartment. Then, when you call to discuss, maybe you ask how much the housing stipend is and they provide some relatively low number, like $1,000 to $1,500 per month. When you add everything up, the pay package no longer looks as awesome as it did originally. Of course, this same company may then tell you that they can get you better housing, but it will cut into the pay package. Why do they do this? Because so many travelers ask if pay quotes include company provided housing. As we’ve discussed before, this isn’t the best approach to evaluating the pay package. We should always be asking for the financial figures of what’s being offered. So always be sure to inquire about the value of the company provided housing. Again, the best way to do this is by asking for the value of the housing stipend. Now, there is a caveat to this that does confuse things a little, but it has to be pointed out. Over the years I’ve become convinced that some agencies are able to secure housing for less than others for one reason or another. For example, an agency that is staffing at a hospital in it’s home base or local market may have some great deals on housing by virtue of connections that they have in the local community. Or, the very large agencies may be able to negotiate discounts on housing with major apartment complexes and furnishing providers because these agencies are placing so many travelers with the apartment operator around the country. Or, some agencies are just better at working deals and negotiating than others. So with that in mind, it’s also a good idea to ask about the housing that they’re offering for the assignment. Try to get the name of the complex or view some images so that you can get an idea of what to expect. The bottom line is that this is one way that agencies can provide additional value compared to their competitors. The next thing to consider regarding company provided housing is the amenities that will be provided. Take furnishings for example. When we use the word “Furnished” to describe the housing, it could mean a number of different things. It may or may not include linens and towels, silverware, cleaning supplies, or a television. The apartment may or may not include a washer and dryer in the unit. So It’s important to find out exactly what the agency means when they the housing is furnished. Here again, if an agency doesn’t include an amenity that you want with their housing package, then you could ask them to include it. It could potentially be something that you negotiate for as an extra or the agency may lower the compensation package to cover the cost. Finally, you also need to inquire about utility payments for the housing. Different agencies handle utilities in different ways. Some agencies set everything up and pay for everything. Every last cost is included. Other agencies require the traveler to set the utilities up in their own name and then the agency provides a capped monthly stipend to cover the cost. For example, they might provide $150 per month to cover the cost of utilities. These agencies do this because they’ve probably had problems in the past where utility bills were run up so high that it really ate into their bottom line. So they believe that putting the utilities in the traveler’s name encourages them to be a little more frugal.  Advantages and Disadvantages of Taking Company Cousing So with all of this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of taking company housing.  One advantage is that there should be less hassle involved with taking company housing as opposed to finding your own. For all intents and purposes, you could just sit back and let them do all the work. As mentioned above, you could potentially benefit from the agency’s ability to negotiate great deals for great housing options. Another big advantage is that you have limited risk because the agency is the leasing party. So if anything goes wrong, like your assignment gets cancelled, then you’re not on the hook with the landlord. As far as the disadvantages go, you may lose some control over the selection process. Some agencies will send you a host of options, other agencies don’t really give you choices and instead put you wherever they want or are able. Finally, many travelers argue that taking company provided housing is less lucrative than taking stipend. And that’s what we’re going to talk about next.  Finding Your Own Travel Nurse Housing If you don’t take the company’s housing, then you’ll need to secure your own. And one of the main reasons that travelers give for going that route is that is more lucrative. There are two reasons for this.  For the first one, we need to wade back into the tax issues. As mentioned previously, as long as the traveler qualifies to receive the tax free money, the agency can provide the traveler with tax free reimbursements for lodging and meals and incidental expenditures while their working away from their tax home. There are several ways to do this, but the way that’s most commonly used in the travel healthcare industry is to use the federal government’s Per Diem Rates as the guideline. These are daily rates that companies can reimburse their employees who are working away from their tax home for lodging and Meals and Incidentals without requiring receipts. Now, why is this important? To explain that, I’m going to start by reading a quote from a tax advisor that was in the May 2011 healthcare traveler magazine newsletter. It goes like this: The standard practice for reimbursing travel expenses is a tedious time-consuming task of collecting receipts and submitting these documents to a staff member who cuts a reimbursement check to the employee. Over time, this creates mounds of paperwork and requires additional staff time to manage. The per diem method of reimbursement substitutes actual receipts with a standardized rate. At least annually, the federal government publishes a table of lodging and meal rates for every location in the world starting with a minimum amount and then specifying certain localities where the costs are higher. The per diem rules allow an employer to pay up to the amount of these published rates without the exchange of receipts, assuming that the employer has performed reasonable due diligence in screening the employee for a tax home and assuring that the individual has not worked in the same area more than 12 months. If the employee passes these tests the employer can pay a per diem rate to the employee as a reimbursement for lodging and meal expenses regardless of cost borne by the employee. If the employee’s expenses are less, nothing is reported. This may sound like a strange loophole, but the rationale is that the costs of keeping receipts far exceed the forfeited tax revenue. So to put that in simple terms, if the agency reimburses you more for housing than you actually spend on housing, then you do not need to declare the difference on your taxes which means that you save yourself the cost of paying taxes on that money. Now this is true as long as the agency pays you less than amount allowed by the federal government’s per diem table. Let’s look at an example to clarify. Let’s say the per diem rate for lodging in the city you’re going to take a travel assignment is $100 per day. That’s approximately $3000 per month. Now let’s say the agency offers to pay you a $2200 lodging stipend. Again, that’s less than the $3000 they’re allowed under the government’s per diem rates. Now let’s say you find housing for $1500 on your own. There’s a difference of $700 between what the agency is providing and what you’re paying. So you would avoid paying taxes on that $700, which could save you $100 to $200 per month depending on your tax bracket. Now, it’s important to point out that the government’s per diem rates are the MAXIMUM that are allowed. They are not required. So most of the time, you’re going to find that agencies pay less than the maximum and there are two reasons for that. First, agencies are constrained by the bill rate. Remember, the compensation package for every travel nursing job is based on the hourly rate that the agency is able to charge for the traveler’s time at the facility. So, in many locations, the maximum amount allowed by the government is too for the agency to be able to pay and still have money left over for the rest of the pay package. Second, the rates published by the government are daily rates. They don’t account for the cost savings that are realized by long term stays. So there is some concern on the part of agencies about giving out tax free money that the agency is fully aware will not be needed to secure adequate accommodations. This could potentially get them in hot water the IRS. Okay, now let’s take a look at the second way that securing your own housing can be financially beneficial. As mentioned above, different agencies provide different types of housing. Whatever, the situation, if you are able to find housing for less than the agency, then you are going to pocket the difference. You may be wondering how that would be possible. I mean, if you’re able to find cheaper housing why wouldn’t the agency be able to find cheaper housing? Well, some agencies aren’t that flexible with their housing options; they provide what they provide, no questions asked. Others may not be willing to sign off on housing situations that will work just for you. For example, you may find a room for rent in someone’s home that you’re really comfortable with, but a lot of agencies aren’t going to get into an agreement like that for one reason or another. At this point, we’ve pretty much covered the potential advantages of securing your own housing. Essentially, you get flexibility and you also get the opportunity to save money. However, there are also some disadvantages. First, if you sign any type of lease, you’re putting yourself at risk in case something happens like the contract gets cancelled, or you have to return home for some reason. Now, in many cases, landlords are willing to work with you on stuff like this, but some aren’t. So, just remember, it’s your name on the lease. Second, you could face some steep startup costs. Deposits, first and last month’s rent, cost of furnishing, all these things can add up quickly. Third, it could be time consuming…sometimes, your agency will assist you in finding something, and sometimes you’re on your own. Finally, your options may be limited. The really nice apartment complexes could be cost prohibitive to the point that you have to rule them out entirely.  Additional Considerations For Travel Nurse Housing Now, there are 2 final things I want to say on this for now that pertain to considerations you should make when deciding whether to take company housing or get your own. First, if you want a posh, nice apartment in an apartment complex, then there is a good chance that you’re better off letting the agency secure that for you. Chances are that you won’t realize much of a financial gain and it just won’t be worth the hassle. Now, that’s not always the case. There are certainly circumstances where you can get a great deal. Second, there are times when an agency may be willing to give you a higher stipend than if you don’t take their housing. For example, they might offer a stipend for $2700 a month or housing that costs $2000 a month. If you take the housing, then they add the $700 difference between the cost of the housing and the value of the stipend to your hourly rate. So there is a financial consideration. Now, for all intents and purposes, I don’t think it’s good for agencies to be doing this, because it probably constitutes a form of wage recharacterization. They’re not supposed to move money from stipends to hourly rates, but some do it nonetheless and you’ll just need to decide what the best option for you is in that circumstance. Wow, we went through a lot of information there. We’ll have everything, including links to useful resources, posted in the show notes. I actually have someone transcribing this, so the shown notes will be very detailed. Again, when it comes to tax information, I am not a tax advisor so this recording is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions or concerns about this topic, or if we got something wrong, please let us know by posting in the comments on the show notes page. That URL is blog.bluepipes.com/episode13. We plan on covering some more stuff about travel nursing housing in future episodes as well. If you are enjoying this podcast, then we would greatly appreciate your support in the form of a rating in whichever platform you’re using to listen whether it be itunes or stitcher. It really does go along way toward helping us get the word out and get more listeners so we can keep the show going. Thanks for listening and until next episode have a safe and prosperous travel healthcare adventure. Links: Travel Nursing Pay – Qualifying for Tax-Free Stipends and Tax Deductions: Part 1 Travel Nursing Pay – Qualifying for Tax-Free Stipends and Tax Deductions: Part 2: Maintaining Temporary Status Travel Nursing Pay – Qualifying for Tax-Free Stipends: Part 3: The 3 Factor Threshold Test Travel Nursing Pay – Qualifying for Tax-Free Stipends: Part 4: The 3 Factor Threshold Test No Need To Declare Additional Tax Free Money – Article The post TTATN 013: How To Decide Between Company Travel Nurse Housing and Getting Your Own appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

TTATN 013: How To Decide Between Company Travel Nurse Housing and Getting Your Own

In this episode, we’re going to discuss 7 pitfalls to avoid when discussing and evaluating travel nursing pay packages. These are issues that can either cause confusion, open you up for sales gimmicks, cause frustration, or weaken your negotiating power. So let’s get right to it because we have a lot to cover. Pitfall # 1: Asking “What’s the rate?” When Discussing Travel Nursing Pay  Remember, there are many variables in a travel nursing pay package, so this is an ambiguous question. Ambiguous question equals ambiguous answer. It will cause frustration for both you and the recruiter. Instead, ask highly detailed questions.  Pitfall #2: Focusing on the Base Rate  It’s common to hear travelers say things like “I don’t work for $20 per hour!!” That’s right, you don’t and there is no travel contract that pays that low. There are tons of other variables. If you do receive a rate that’s $20 per hour with everything included except for housing, then yes, it’s way too low. The bigger problem is that wise recruiters can use a fixation on the base rate to negotiate a favorable deal for themselves.  Pitfall #3: Not Considering The Number of Contracted Hours  More contracted hours means more total revenue. Remember, the best way to evaluate pay packages is break everything down to an hourly value. And more hours makes things worth less per hour all else being equal. For example, a $250 weekly stipend is worth $6.94 on a 36 hour contract but only $5.20 on a 48 hour contract. If the bill rate is the same for both contracts, the agency is making more money if everything else is equal. So you’d want to make sure that some other pay variable was increased. And because all the fixed costs are spread over more billable hours, you should actually expect a slightly higher pay rate when working contracts with more hours.  Pitfall #4: Neglecting To Factor In Your Startup Costs For The Contract!  Each assignment has potentially different startup costs involved with it. These can include: License and Certification costs, Housing costs if you secure your own housing, medical record costs, travel costs, and potential storage costs.  Pitfall #5: Arbitrary Tax Percentages When Calculating Travel Nursing Net Pay  Net pay figures are estimates when recruiters put them out there. Tax liabilities vary from person to person and state to state. These differences can throw estimates off by as much as $100 per week. Rather than rely on some arbitrary figure, use a paycheck calculator like the one at paycheck city. We’ll link in the show notes. It lets you enter the state and your w4 details so you can get a more accurate estimate.  The next two pitfalls are typically made after you have a contract…you’re already on the job. Pitfall #6: Making Inaccurate Comparisons With Other Travel Nurses, PRN and Seasonal  Comparing travel pay to the pay of people who work directly with the facility…like seasonal workers or PRN. Seasonal workers typically make more; the middle man is cut out. This is common in states like Florida and Arizona where seasonal census spike are routine. PRN nurses certainly make more in California. The hiring process is different. It’s very difficult to get on. Shifts are not guaranteed and they don’t get any benefits. Pay rates for PRN in California can be higher than the bill rates for travel nursing, so the pay gap is humongous. Not comparing apples to apples with other travelers. The common pitfall involves benefits and travel stipends. There may be VMS fees as well. Or one agency may have higher bill rates than the other.  Pitfall #7: Making Incorrect Estimates Because You Found Out The Bill Rate  This one is a bit difficult to explain, so let’s look at an example. A travel nurse has a pay package that worth a total of $45 per hour, then they find out that the bill rate is $65 per hour. They automatically assume that the agency is making $20 per hour which is 31%. This isn’t true though. First: a profit margin is: A financial metric used to assess a firm’s financial health by revealing the proportion of money left over from revenues after accounting for the cost of goods sold. Gross profit margin serves as the source for paying additional expenses and future savings. I hate to say this, but the “goods being sold” here are travelers. So all costs that are attributed to them must be accounted for in a profit margin. Let’s use a standard 20% margin. On a $65 bill rate that $13. The remaining $7 in this case is going to pay for a host of costs attributable to the traveler: liability coverage, the employer’s portion of FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Act Tax, medicare and social security) on the taxable income, non-billable orientation, compliance and credentialing costs, etc…  Links Potential Start Up Cost For a Travel Nursing Job Avoid These Mistakes When Evaluating Travel Nursing Pay Travel Nursing Pay Evaluation Video Hourly Paycheck Calculator From Paycheck City The post TTATN 007: 7 Pitfalls To Avoid When Evaluating Travel Nursing Pay appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

<p>In this episode, we’re going to discuss 7 pitfalls to avoid when discussing and evaluating travel nursing pay packages. These are issues that can either cause confusion, open you up for sales gimmicks, cause frustration, or weaken your negotiating power. So let’s get right to it because we have a lot to cover.</p> <h2>Pitfall # 1: Asking “What’s the rate?” When Discussing Travel Nursing Pay</h2> <ul> <li>Remember, there are many variables in a travel nursing pay package, so this is an ambiguous question. Ambiguous question equals ambiguous answer.</li> <li>It will cause frustration for both you and the recruiter.</li> <li>Instead, ask highly detailed questions.</li> </ul> <h2>Pitfall #2: Focusing on the Base Rate</h2> <ul> <li>It’s common to hear travelers say things like “I don’t work for $20 per hour!!”</li> <li>That’s right, you don’t and there is no travel contract that pays that low. There are tons of other variables.</li> <li>If you do receive a rate that’s $20 per hour with everything included except for housing, then yes, it’s way too low.</li> <li>The bigger problem is that wise recruiters can use a fixation on the base rate to negotiate a favorable deal for themselves.</li> </ul> <h2>Pitfall #3: Not Considering The Number of Contracted Hours</h2> <ul> <li>More contracted hours means more total revenue.</li> <li>Remember, the best way to evaluate pay packages is break everything down to an hourly value.</li> <li>And more hours makes things worth less per hour all else being equal.</li> <li>For example, a $250 weekly stipend is worth $6.94 on a 36 hour contract but only $5.20 on a 48 hour contract.</li> <li>If the bill rate is the same for both contracts, the agency is making more money if everything else is equal. So you’d want to make sure that some other pay variable was increased.</li> <li>And because all the fixed costs are spread over more billable hours, you should actually expect a slightly higher pay rate when working contracts with more hours.</li> </ul> <h2>Pitfall #4: Neglecting To Factor In Your Startup Costs For The Contract!</h2> <ul> <li>Each assignment has potentially different startup costs involved with it. These can include: License and Certification costs, Housing costs if you secure your own housing, medical record costs, travel costs, and potential storage costs.</li> </ul> <h2>Pitfall #5: Arbitrary Tax Percentages When Calculating Travel Nursing Net Pay</h2> <ul> <li>Net pay figures are estimates when recruiters put them out there.</li> <li>Tax liabilities vary from person to person and state to state.</li> <li>These differences can throw estimates off by as much as $100 per week.</li> <li>Rather than rely on some arbitrary figure, use a paycheck calculator like the one at paycheck city. We’ll link in the show notes. It lets you enter the state and your w4 details so you can get a more accurate estimate.</li> </ul> <p>The next two pitfalls are typically made after you have a contract…you’re already on the job.</p> <h2>Pitfall #6: Making Inaccurate Comparisons With Other Travel Nurses, PRN and Seasonal</h2> <ul> <li>Comparing travel pay to the pay of people who work directly with the facility…like seasonal workers or PRN. Seasonal workers typically make more; the middle man is cut out. This is common in states like Florida and Arizona where seasonal census spike are routine. PRN nurses certainly make more in California. The hiring process is different. It’s very difficult to get on. Shifts are not guaranteed and they don’t get any benefits. Pay rates for PRN in California can be higher than the bill rates for travel nursing, so the pay gap is humongous.</li> <li>Not comparing apples to apples with other travelers. The common pitfall involves benefits and travel stipends. There may be VMS fees as well. Or one agency may have higher bill rates than the other.</li> </ul> <h2>Pitfall #7: Making Incorrect Estimates Because You Found Out The Bill Rate</h2> <ul> <li>This one is a bit difficult to explain, so let’s look at an example. A travel nurse has a pay package that worth a total of $45 per hour, then they find out that the bill rate is $65 per hour. They automatically assume that the agency is making $20 per hour which is 31%. This isn’t true though.</li> <li>First: a profit margin is: A financial metric used to assess a firm’s financial health by revealing the proportion of money left over from revenues after accounting for the cost of goods sold. Gross profit margin serves as the source for paying additional expenses and future savings.</li> <li>I hate to say this, but the “goods being sold” here are travelers. So all costs that are attributed to them must be accounted for in a profit margin.</li> <li>Let’s use a standard 20% margin. On a $65 bill rate that $13. The remaining $7 in this case is going to pay for a host of costs attributable to the traveler: liability coverage, the employer’s portion of FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Act Tax, medicare and social security) on the taxable income, non-billable orientation, compliance and credentialing costs, etc…</li> </ul> <h2>Links</h2> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/potential-start-up-costs-for-travel-nurses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Potential Start Up Cost For a Travel Nursing Job</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/avoid-these-mistakes-when-evaluating-travel-nursing-pay/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Avoid These Mistakes When Evaluating Travel Nursing Pay</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nursing-compensation-video/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nursing Pay Evaluation Video</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.paycheckcity.com/calculator/hourly/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hourly Paycheck Calculator From Paycheck City</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/ttatn-007-7-pitfalls-avoid-evaluating-travel-nursing-pay/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TTATN 007: 7 Pitfalls To Avoid When Evaluating Travel Nursing Pay</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog</a>.</p>

TTATN 007: 7 Pitfalls To Avoid When Evaluating Travel Nursing Pay

TTATN 025: Tips For Travel Nursing Contract Extensions

TTATN 027: High Paying Travel Nursing Jobs and How To Land Them

TTATN 030: How Agencies and Recruiters Find Travel Nurses

In this episode, we’re going to discuss how to find and evaluate travel nursing agencies. New travelers are typically daunted by the number of options and experienced travelers are often overwhelmed by the marketing campaigns…getting calls, emails, and blasted on social media. Our goal in this episode is to help you find the best agencies for your unique circumstances and to do it like an expert with minimum effort that will achieve maximum results. So we’re going to discuss two main themes:  We’re going to take a look at some of the services available to help you find agencies. We’ll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each so you know what to expect. Then, we’re going to discuss how to approach agencies to ensure the best paossible results. This involves defining your circumstances so that you know what to look for which will help you easily and efficiently find the right agencies.  Travel Nursing Blogs, Ratings, Social Media Groups and Lead Generators Like most things, rather than become an expert, we rely on heuristics. We rely on the opinions of others to make an educated decision without spending the time to become an expert. There are 4 main types of services: Blogs, Ratings, Social Media Groups and Message Boards and Lead Generators. As you’ll see, you have to understand that sometimes these things are ways for you to find companies and other times they’re a way for companies to find you. Blogs:  They can be a good source of information. But it’s important to watch out for who owns the blog. Many of the most popular blogs are owned by travel nursing companies. Even when they’re owned by a third party, there can be bias involved.  Rating Services: All the rating services have some problems in common. They have small sample sizes. It’s difficult to control who the rating is coming from. It’s also impossible to know that the rating is based on fact. There are times that travelers misunderstand or harbor unjustified grievances. None of them can address all of your unique circumstances.  Highway Hypodermics: provides ratings and benefits. For ratings, 20 point scale based on 20 questions that are answered yes or no, if you submit bad, you must submit good. For benefits, she does her best to check and make sure the benefits are indeed offered. Travel Nursing Blogs: They have a star rating and thumbs up-thumbs down. Star rating allows written review. Travel Nursing Central: They have a 20 question survey that lets you rank them 1 through 5. You can read the written reviews Other rating services are not industry specific.  Social Media and Message Boards Facebook Groups, Delphi Travel Nursing Forum, AllNurses.com  Some people ask questions like what are your thoughts on Atlas MedStaff? This isn’t really a great way to use these services. You’re most likely not going to get a good response Instead, use the search feature  Lead Generators:  Broadcast Services: travelnursing.org, travelnursesource, rnvip Job Boards: Sell your contact information. They are good to see if an agency works in a particular location. Always check the agency’s job board to make sure. On a side note, watch out for other career related sites like RN.com and others that are owned and operated by staffing companies. They have lead generation built into them.  Develop a Plan for Evaluating Travel Nursing Agencies You will get overwhelmed if you don’t have a plan. It will be very time consuming and you will run the risk of getting frustrated and making a bad decision.  Destinations: Where do you want to travel? It doesn’t matter how amazing an agency is, if they don’t have contracts where you want to go, then they may as well be the worst company out there. Length of contracts: This shouldn’t be a concern, but for some it is. If you want shorter contracts, then you need to make sure the agencies focus on them. The services you require: This is really the “Everything Else” Category. Pay, Medical Benefits, 401K, Do you have pets? Need a rental car? Want tax free money? Maybe you don’t want tax free money? The best thing to do is to make a list of the things that you must have, the things that you’d like but aren’t necessary, and the things you don’t need at all. Now when you talk to agencies, you can guide the discussion with your checklist. If you want to go to Michigan and they don’t have jobs there, then you can quickly pass.  With all of this in mind, you can now approach these services with confidence. Run a cross check on all platforms and to get an idea of what the agency is all about. Then, quickly and confidently make your decision. Links: Highway Hypodermics Travel Nursing Central Travel Nursing Blogs (Medical Solutions) BluePipes Best Travel Nursing Agency Comparison BluePipes Travel Nursing Survey Checklist for Travel Nursing Benefits The post TTATN 006 :Tips for Finding and Evaluating Travel Nursing Companies appeared first on BluePipes Blog.

<p>In this episode, we’re going to discuss how to find and evaluate travel nursing agencies. New travelers are typically daunted by the number of options and experienced travelers are often overwhelmed by the marketing campaigns…getting calls, emails, and blasted on social media. Our goal in this episode is to help you find the best agencies for your unique circumstances and to do it like an expert with minimum effort that will achieve maximum results. So we’re going to discuss two main themes:</p> <ul> <li>We’re going to take a look at some of the services available to help you find agencies. We’ll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each so you know what to expect.</li> <li>Then, we’re going to discuss how to approach agencies to ensure the best paossible results. This involves defining your circumstances so that you know what to look for which will help you easily and efficiently find the right agencies.</li> </ul> <h2>Travel Nursing Blogs, Ratings, Social Media Groups and Lead Generators</h2> <p>Like most things, rather than become an expert, we rely on heuristics. We rely on the opinions of others to make an educated decision without spending the time to become an expert.</p> <p>There are 4 main types of services: Blogs, Ratings, Social Media Groups and Message Boards and Lead Generators. As you’ll see, you have to understand that sometimes these things are ways for you to find companies and other times they’re a way for companies to find you.</p> <h3>Blogs:</h3> <ul> <li>They can be a good source of information. But it’s important to watch out for who owns the blog. Many of the most popular blogs are owned by travel nursing companies.</li> <li>Even when they’re owned by a third party, there can be bias involved.</li> </ul> <h3>Rating Services:</h3> <p>All the rating services have some problems in common. They have small sample sizes. It’s difficult to control who the rating is coming from. It’s also impossible to know that the rating is based on fact. There are times that travelers misunderstand or harbor unjustified grievances. None of them can address all of your unique circumstances.</p> <ul> <li>Highway Hypodermics: provides ratings and benefits. For ratings, 20 point scale based on 20 questions that are answered yes or no, if you submit bad, you must submit good. For benefits, she does her best to check and make sure the benefits are indeed offered.</li> <li>Travel Nursing Blogs: They have a star rating and thumbs up-thumbs down. Star rating allows written review.</li> <li>Travel Nursing Central: They have a 20 question survey that lets you rank them 1 through 5. You can read the written reviews</li> <li>Other rating services are not industry specific.</li> </ul> <h3>Social Media and Message Boards</h3> <p>Facebook Groups, Delphi Travel Nursing Forum, <a href="http://AllNurses.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AllNurses.com</a></p> <ul> <li>Some people ask questions like what are your thoughts on Atlas MedStaff?</li> <li>This isn’t really a great way to use these services. You’re most likely not going to get a good response</li> <li>Instead, use the search feature</li> </ul> <h3>Lead Generators:</h3> <ul> <li>Broadcast Services: <a href="http://travelnursing.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">travelnursing.org</a>, travelnursesource, rnvip</li> <li>Job Boards: Sell your contact information. They are good to see if an agency works in a particular location. Always check the agency’s job board to make sure.</li> <li>On a side note, watch out for other career related sites like <a href="http://RN.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RN.com</a> and others that are owned and operated by staffing companies. They have lead generation built into them.</li> </ul> <h2>Develop a Plan for Evaluating Travel Nursing Agencies</h2> <p>You will get overwhelmed if you don’t have a plan. It will be very time consuming and you will run the risk of getting frustrated and making a bad decision.</p> <ul> <li>Destinations: Where do you want to travel? It doesn’t matter how amazing an agency is, if they don’t have contracts where you want to go, then they may as well be the worst company out there.</li> <li>Length of contracts: This shouldn’t be a concern, but for some it is. If you want shorter contracts, then you need to make sure the agencies focus on them.</li> <li>The services you require: This is really the “Everything Else” Category. Pay, Medical Benefits, 401K, Do you have pets? Need a rental car? Want tax free money? Maybe you don’t want tax free money? The best thing to do is to make a list of the things that you must have, the things that you’d like but aren’t necessary, and the things you don’t need at all.</li> <li>Now when you talk to agencies, you can guide the discussion with your checklist. If you want to go to Michigan and they don’t have jobs there, then you can quickly pass.</li> </ul> <p>With all of this in mind, you can now approach these services with confidence. Run a cross check on all platforms and to get an idea of what the agency is all about. Then, quickly and confidently make your decision.</p> <p>Links:</p> <p><a href="http://highwayhypodermics.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Highway Hypodermics</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.travelnursingcentral.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nursing Central</a></p> <p><a href="http://travelnursingblogs.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Travel Nursing Blogs</a> (Medical Solutions)</p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/best-travel-nursing-companies-2015/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Best Travel Nursing Agency Comparison</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/travel-nurse-survey-sends-message-agencies/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Travel Nursing Survey</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/finding-travel-nursing-agencies-a-time-saving-strategy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Checklist for Travel Nursing Benefits</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com/ttatn-006-tips-for-finding-and-evaluating-travel-nursing-companies/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TTATN 006 :Tips for Finding and Evaluating Travel Nursing Companies</a> appeared first on <a href="https://blog.bluepipes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BluePipes Blog</a>.</p>

TTATN 006 :Tips for Finding and Evaluating Travel Nursing Companies

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