#1 Get Organized
Seriously, get organized. I say this with love but some of you are disorganized when it comes to paperwork. I have worked with nurses who have a file with everything uploaded and ready to go: all immunizations, tests, SS cards, certifications. Everything. Anytime they get something updated they scan or take a picture and put it with the rest. When the recruiter sends them the compliance list for an assignment, they click copy, paste, email, and sit back and smile. Takes one minute. I have also known nurses who have had to scramble like crazy to get me anything; calling old jobs, calling old doctors, piecing together forms, sending stuff fifteen years old. Or they're not sure where their BLS is. If it's your first assignment with me, it's okay. I'll help you find everything. But let's act like a BOSS and make your life easier. An $8 flash drive can save you hundreds of dollars and hours of time.
#2 Don't Take It Personally
So you got the bad shift. You have a little too much asked of you or many other scenarios. I will never ask you to do anything that puts your patients or your license at risk. But understand, you are in a funny career where you are likely one of the most qualified individuals on the floor while being low person on the pole. It's a business. If someone is being difficult, listen, respond, and kill them with kindness (I realize this is an interesting choice of words for hospital workers). If someone is being unreasonable, yes speak to your recruiter. If someone is being difficult, care for your patients, collect that check, and get ready to turn down that extension with a smile, let them know why, and then move on to another area that will LOVE you… You're a traveler, not a tree.
#3 Find the Right Recruiter
It's me! Now you're done. But really, I think sometimes nurses are so focused on money they miss everything else. Imagine you take a job with the recruiter you kind of liked for a little more money and not the recruiter you really liked. Have you ever had this happen, when you arrive your housing isn't ready? Two weeks in you have an issue with the charge RN. Three weeks in the company missed a day of pay for you. Four weeks in you still haven't gotten you reimbursement check. Every conversation you have about something going wrong or being missed or just general questions will go to one spot; that recruiter. Now a good recruiter limits these things, but many are outside our control or can be fixed but not prevented. The difference between someone you trust picking up first call to fix everything ASAP and someone you don't feel you can trust calling you back later the next day feeding you maybes and being wishy washy, what is that worth? Here are my few tips to know how good the recruiter is before you start an assignment with them.
- Do you like them? Our initial reaction and chemistry on the phone says a lot
- How is their follow through? Are their words and actions proving they are trustworthy and upfront? If something doesn't meet your expectations, how sugar coated do they make it or do they shoot straight?
- How knowledgeable are they? A good recruiter should know everything that isn't facility or area specific without having to look it up
I assume most of you will be nursing for at least the next few years. If you choose to take on this exciting adventure they call travel in your career, do it like a BOSS. The United States spent millions making a pen that would work in zero gravity for space. Russia used a pencil. Let's not over complicate this. I'd love to help you reach your potential and become a true BOSS in this industry, no matter where you are or looking in this country.
Provided by:
Bruce Woodall - Recruiter
Agency Site:
