Finding a Travel Nursing Company – Beware The Broadcast Service!

With literally hundreds if not thousands of travel nursing companies in business, determining which companies you’re going to work with as a travel nurse or travel healthcare professional of any kind can be daunting. In addition, there are so many different ways to find them. In this post we’re going to discuss one of those ways which I like to call the “Broadcast Service.” Read more

Travel Nursing Companies – Their relationships with hospitals matter, Part 2

In our last blog post, we discussed how a travel nursing company’s “Direct Relationship” with a facility works and its potential ramifications for the travel nurse. In this post, we’ll discuss the “Vendor Management Service” relationship and the potential ramifications. Read more

Travel Nursing Companies – Their relationships with hospitals matter, Part 1

It’s useful for travel nurses to be informed about hospital-agency relationships. Remember, a travel nursing company can only work with a hospital if it has a contract to do so. These contracts exist under several different arrangements. Each arrangement results in different outcomes for the hospital, the agency, and the travel nurse. There are essentially two relationship categories, Direct Relationships and Vendor Management Service relationships. Read more

Does the Size of Travel Nursing Companies Matter for the Travel Nurse?

I’ve been in the travel nursing industry since 2006. For as long as I can remember, travel nurses and agency staff alike have highlighted the differences between large travel nursing companies and small travel nursing companies. So, in this article, we’ll define big versus small travel nursing companies and discuss how the size of an agency may or may not affect the services they provide.

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Travel Nursing Company – Hospital Contracts

A travel nursing company must have a contract with a facility in order to send travel nurses to work there. Contract provisions differ from contract to contract. However, it is standard for the contracts to contain a common set of provisions. These provisions include things like the bill rate, solicitation clauses, liability insurance requirements, contract termination rules, shift guarantee and cancellation policies, compliance and record management policies, billing and collection policies, and a host of others. Some of these provisions have a direct impact on the travel nurse.

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The Services Travel Nursing Companies Provide to Healthcare Employers

Travel nursing companies are at the center of the healthcare staffing industry. They act as the “middle men” between the healthcare provider and the travel nurse. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of healthcare staffing agencies that are engaged in travel nursing contracts or PRN in the United States. Unlike “middle men” in many other industries, travel nursing companies provide an invaluable service that cannot be easily removed. There are some hospitals that attempt to cut out the middle man but such examples are few and far between, and typically require a unique set of circumstances. Read more

Types of Supplemental Staffing

Supplemental staffing plays a large role in ensuring that hospitals and other healthcare providers remain adequately staffed at all times. There are essentially 4 main types of supplemental healthcare staffing: PRN, Seasonal, Locum/Travel Contracts, and Local Contracts. The type of supplemental staffing that hospitals and healthcare providers choose to utilize depends on the particular circumstances they’re faced with. Read more