Tips for Travel Nursing Job Offers
Once you complete a the travel nursing job interview, you move into the “offer stage” of the process. This part of the process can be nerve-wracking. There are a lot of uncertainties to contend with. In this article, we’ll take a detailed look at the job-offer phase of the process so travel nurses can approach it with confidence.
When Is A Travel Nursing Job Offer Official?
First, it’s important to understand what makes a travel nursing job offer official. Simply put, a travel nursing job offer is official when the hospital communicates the offer to the travel nursing company. This might seem obvious. However, there are two scenarios that cause confusion for travel nurses at this stage.
Travel Nursing Job Offers During The Phone Interview
First, the interviewer, often the hiring manager, might extend a verbal offer to the travel nurse during the interview. This is actually quite common. On the surface, it certainly seems as though this is an official job offer. Unfortunately, it is not.
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This scenario has several potential pitfalls. For example, another hiring manager may have extended an offer to another travel nurse. Or, the powers that be at the hospital may have determined that there is no longer a need for a travel nurse. Sometimes, nursing managers extend offers just to keep candidates on the hook.
Recruiters Giving The Impression Of An Offer
Second, the travel nursing recruiter might give the impression that an offer is on the table as soon as the interview is complete even though they haven’t heard from the hospital yet. Most often, this is completely unintentional. You see, recruiters must always review the interview and the potential details of an offer with the travel nurse in advance of receiving the actual offer. This way, travel nurses and recruiters stay one step ahead of the game so everything is ready when the hospital sends the offer. Unfortunately, if the recruiter isn’t careful, then the travel nurse can get the impression that the offer was in fact received.
In very rare cases, recruiters will intentionally imply that the hospital sent the offer even though they didn’t. This practice is ill-advised. Recruiters do it to keep the travel nurse on the hook.
With all of this in mind, it’s important that travel nurses always ask recruiters if the hospital sent the offer to the agency. Travel nurses should ask this question point-blank. This way, travel nurses will know exactly where they stand in the process.
How Long Does It Take For A Travel Nursing Job Offer To Come Through?
Once a travel nurse completes an interview, the time it takes for the official job offer to come through varies depending on several factors. The type of relationship between the hospital and the agency is one of the biggest factors influencing the timing of job offers. However, timing varies widely even withing these categories.
Ultimately, it can take as little as a few minutes to as long as several weeks for a travel nursing job offer to come through after the interview is complete. Again, it’s important to remember that we’re talking about how long it takes for a job offer to come through after a job interview. This is much different than the time it takes to get a travel nursing job from start to finish. Please see our article “How Long Does It Take To Get A Travel Nursing Job?” for details on that topic.
Travel Nursing Job Offers Through Direct Relationships
Communication tends to be better when a travel nursing agency has a direct relationship with a hospital. The process includes fewer actors so communication is more fluid. As a result, offers are more likely to come through immediately when the agency and hospital have a direct relationship. However, even with a direct relationship, an offer may need to go through many communication channels or approval channels which can cause delays.
Travel Nursing Job Offers Through Vendor Management Services
Job offer delays are more likely when a Vendor Management Service is involved in the process. The process has more steps. For example, when you interview with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) representative, the MSP must forward your interview report to the hospital. The hope is that the unit manager will review the interview report and make a decision. However, we have no idea what the unit manager’s schedule is like, so it’s difficult to determine how long it may take for them to get around to this task.
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Additionally, circumstances may have changed between the time the hospital released the assignment and the time the unit manager received the interview report. The new circumstances may put the need for the assignment in question. The hospital may not communicate this to the Managed Service Provider. Or, the Managed Service Provider may not communicate it to the agency. There are many similar circumstances that can result in communication breakdowns.
I once had an offer come back 3 weeks after the interview as a result of uncertainty at the hospital regarding the need for the job order. We had no idea what was causing the delay until the offer finally came through. Even when you are able to interview directly with the unit manager, there still seems to be a bigger delay in offers when a Vendor Management Service is involved. There are simply more links in the chain between the traveler and the hospital and therefore more chance of communication breakdowns. That said, it’s possible for offers to come through immediately when a Vendor Management Service is involved.
How Long Do Travel Nurses Have To Respond To A Travel Nursing Job Offer?
Once the hospital sends the offer, they want to hear back as soon as possible. In other words, the hospital is not willing to afford the travel nurse the same luxury to delay. From the hospital’s perspective, they need to get the job filled. If the candidate declines the offer, then the hospital needs to interview other candidates. This all takes time.
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Unfortunately, the hospital is holding the cards in a sense. They can retract the offer if they feel the travel nurse and agency are delaying too long. Hospitals typically expect travel nurses to respond within 48 hours after the hospital has extended the job offer. Some hospitals want to hear back sooner and others are little more flexible. In any case, you can count on your recruiter trying to seal the deal quickly.
With all of this in mind, travel nurses should play by the same rules. This means that travel nurses should continue searching for jobs and interviewing until they have actually accepted a job. Travel nurses should not drop their job search simply because they had an interview.
The Confirmation: The Official Notification Of Acceptance For A Travel Nursing Job Offer
When a travel nurse does accept an offer, the travel nursing company sends what is commonly referred to as a “confirmation” to the hospital. The confirmation is more than just an email or telephone call simply stating that the travel nurse has accepted the job offer. The confirmation is essentially an addendum to the contract between the agency and the hospital. It is an addendum that covers the unique circumstances for this particular travel nursing contract.
The confirmation includes several standard items. For example, confirmations typically include the start date, end date, hospital name, hospital location, the unit, the shift, the healthcare professional’s name, social security number, date of birth, the bill rate, and a space for listing miscellaneous items. The confirmation is signed by a designated representative of the company and sent to the hospital. From there, a designated representative of the hospital signs the confirmation and the hospital returns a copy to the company.
When Does The Confirmation Get Sent To The Hospital?
So, at what point does the recruiter actually send the confirmation to the hospital? In some cases, recruiters will require the travel nurse to sign contract before the recruiter sends a confirmation to the hospital. The recruiter may use this as leverage to get the travel nurse to sign the contract. This is not an underhanded maneuver but rather a sound business practice designed to ensure that recruiters don’t jump the gun and send confirmations for contracts that travel nurses haven’t actually agreed to.
Other times the recruiter will send a confirmation based on the travel nurse’s verbal acceptance of the offer. This is a practice that we do not recommend. Travel nurses should always review the full contract before they agree to accept an offer. You never know what the agency may throw into a contract until you actually review it.
Hold The Hospital Accountable With The Confirmation
In any case, travel nurses should make sure that the confirmation includes any agreements they made with the unit manager during the interview. The confirmation is the document that holds the hospital accountable for the additional agreements. It will be difficult, or impossible, to hold the hospital to account for any special arrangements if they are not included in the confirmation.
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This includes things like approval for requested time off and floating agreements among other things. It is imperative for the travel nurse to discuss these agreements with their recruiter as soon as the interview with the hospital is complete.
Hospitals rarely include these agreements with the offer when they send the offer to the recruiter. In fact, in most cases, the offer from the hospital is a simple email that says something like, “Please offer” and that’s it.
When Opportunities Are Missed
But what happens if you didn’t get to speak with the unit manager, or forgot to address a desired stipulation with them? There are two options. First, you could simply have your recruiter send the confirmation with your desired agreements included. If the hospital agrees, then they will sign the confirmation and return it.
I recommend this option if you are 100% willing to accept the assignment as long as the hospital agrees to your stipulations. However, there is a potential pitfall. The hospital staff might not review the stipulations with the nurse manager. This can cause confusion and trouble down the line.
If you do not want to use this option, then you can pass your requested stipulations on to your recruiter and request that the recruiter await reply before sending the confirmation. This approach provides greater assurance that the hospital will convey the stipulations to the unit manager. However, this option can cause delays.
On a side not, I recommend the second option if you’re trying to buy time for some reason. For example, if you’re hoping to delay your acceptance of an offer more than the customary 48 hours, then this might do the trick. However, this approach can backfire. The hospital may retract the offer if too much time passes.
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As always, we hope you found this information helpful! Please share your experiences with this topic or ask questions by posting them in the comments section below.
Also, if you’re wondering about the travel nursing contract itself, then here are two helpful articles for you to review:
Tips for Travel Nursing Contracts
The Ultimate Travel Nursing Contract Checklist
