Getting a travel nursing job should be decided well since there will be an adjustment. As a nurse, grabbing the opportunity while the demand is high is a good way to escalate your career and even get specialization if you don’t have one. You can find a travel nursing job near Texas and find a nurse staffing agency that can help you get more job opportunities.
Here are Questions to Ask Before Accepting Your Next Travel Nurse Assignment
1. What are your expectations for travel nurses here in Texas?
Asking yourself this question can help you list down the details of your expectations. Getting familiar with what travel nurses do can also help you determine if you are capable of adjusting to them. Read articles about travel nursing jobs and also blogs since they can give you ideas on what travel nurses do, especially about specific places, so you can have an idea of what you can do and see there.
2. What is your floating policy?
Knowing the floating policy as a travel nurse can help you know how to prepare yourself once you get the travel nursing job and see if you are agreeable with it. In the floating policy, nurses are assigned from one unit to another. Even permanent nurses are assigned as floating nurses depending on the need during that time. So make sure that this arrangement is fine with you before you grab that travel nursing job. A floating policy is made to distribute the right number of nurses to the units they are needed.
3. How do you do your scheduling?
Know how the nurse staffing agency does their scheduling, in that way you will know if there are enough job assignments for each of their nurses. Knowing the scheduling can also help you decide if you will take the job or not. Remember that the schedule for a travel nursing job is different from a regular nursing job.
There will be a time that you can get continuous assignments and there will be a time when you are vacant. However, since your service is needed now you can have more assignments. If you have a particular list of the season and days of the year where you can not work, let your nurse staffing agency know about it so they will not give you an assignment at that time. Learn more about how to get the 4-week travel nurse assignments.
4. What resources are available if I encounter an issue on the job?
Knowing the resources can let you know who to connect to when you have issues at work. Your nurse staffing agency will be your mentor, coach, and backup during your assignments. They will be keeping in touch with you all the time so you can have a support team during your assignment.
The medical team who will handle you during your assignment will also help you in getting familiar with the needs of the patients and the system of the health care facility you will be working in. Knowing if you can get support will make it easier for you to decide if you can work for them as a travel nurse.
5. What Kind of Orientation is Given to Travel Nurses?
Since travel nurses don’t get training since they have to be on board immediately then orientations should be given. Orientations are given immediately to nurses and are usually three to four days. The orientation is given to get travel nurses to be familiar with the healthcare procedures and places as well as their duties during their stay. Shadowing other nurses can also be done to make the orientation more hands-on and nurses can grasp their routine faster so they can be ready in no time.
These questions to ask before accepting your next travel nurse assignment can help you weigh if a travel nursing job is really for you. A travel nursing job can give you an opportunity to expand your career and travel at the same time, but you also have to consider the adjustments you will be making since a travel nursing job and a regular nursing job have a lot of differences, so better be ready.