The Best Travel Nursing Companies – 2016
Finding the best travel nursing companies to work with is a priority for most travel nurses. To help with this endeavor, websites Travel Nursing Central and Highway Hypodermics release annual lists of the top travel nursing agencies based on ratings received from travel healthcare professionals. In this article, we’ll take a detailed look at the similarities and differences between the lists for 2016.
This article was written in 2016. While it is still very useful, we highly recommend viewing our newer articles below
The Best Travel Nursing Companies 2023
The Best Travel Nursing Companies 2024
Rating and Review Services for Travel Nurses
Travel Nursing Central (TNC) and Highway Hypodermics (HH) are services dedicated to travel healthcare and both provide a bevy of valuable services for travel nurses. Among them is a service that allows travel nurses to submit ratings on staffing agencies.
Please note that Highway Hypodermics shut down their review service in 2024. We want to preserve this article for future use, so we are going to leave the rest of the article as is.
Of course, rating and review services are everywhere these days so you might be wondering why we’re focusing on these two niche services. After all, sites from Yelp to Google provide rating services on a general level. And employment related sites like Glass Door and Indeed provide rating services for employers specifically. However, there are several reasons that the niche services provided by TNC and HH are superior to their general counterparts.
First, these niche websites have more companies reviewed as well as a larger number of reviews overall. For example, American Mobile Healthcare, which is the largest healthcare staffing company in the business, has 58 reviews on Indeed and 36 reviews on Glass Door. Meanwhile, the company has 124 reviews on TNC.
Similarly, both TNC and HH have reviews for companies like Health Carousel Travel Nursing and Travel Nurse Across America. However, as of the writing of this blog post, Glass Door has no reviews for either of these companies. In fact, the general services lack reviews for a large number of travel healthcare companies.
Second, TNC and HH are able to provide a more detailed review system than their general counterparts. Both TNC and HH ask reviewers to rate agencies on a host of unique variables including housing, paycheck accuracy, and assignment selection among others.
Third, TNC and HH take measures to ensure that only travel healthcare professionals submit reviews. By contrast, general services will accept reviews from both travelers and internal company employees. This can damage the usefulness of reviews from a travel nurse’s perspective.
As you can see, both TNC and HH have big advantages over their general counterparts. It’s also worth mentioning that there are many other niche rating and review services dedicated to travel nursing. However, none of them possess the traction or in-depth analysis provided by TNC and HH.
Travel Nursing Central and Highway Hypodermics Rating Systems
Both TNC and HH collect ratings submitted by travelers throughout the year. Each year, both services release their lists of the top rated agencies in January. So, the lists released in January of 2016 reflect reviews received prior to December 31, 2015.
Despite their shared focus on travel healthcare, Travel Nursing Central and Highway Hypodermics have both similarities and differences when it comes to their company rating services.
Travel Nursing Central’s Rating System
TNC accepts reviews only from travel healthcare professionals. They ask reviewers to be currently employed or employed within the last three months by the company being reviewed. TNC urges reviewers to submit positive and negative reviews to ensure they receive a fair balance of reviews.
Travelers will be pleased to know that agency ratings are not affected when agencies purchase advertising on TNC. The easiest way for visitors to verify this is by checking the ratings of the advertised agencies. Some have good ratings, but others do not.
If TNC determines there is evidence of rankings manipulation, they will suspend the offending company or remove them, along with their ratings, from the site. This policy is designed to ensure agencies don’t engage in foul play which includes incentivizing travelers to post positive reviews.
The TNC Review Form asks reviewers to rate agencies on 20 different criteria using a 5 point scale. The criteria include pay rate, paycheck accuracy, housing, job availability and other issues important to travel nurses. The reviewer can also submit comments to provide further details and specifics.
Each of the 20 criteria is worth a maximum of 5 points. Therefore, the maximum score per review is 100. Individual scores are averaged together to achieve the company’s average rating. Visitors to the site can view the average score along with all the comments submitted by reviewers. Visitors can also view the average score for the reviews received in the previous year. This allows visitors to gauge a company’s recent track record.
In order to qualify for consideration on TNC’s list of the top agencies for 2016, the agency must have received at least one rating within the last three months of 2015. The agency must also have a minimum of 20 total ratings with at least 10 ratings submitted in 2015.
TNC utilized four scoring criteria when developing their list for 2016. First, they gave full value for the average rating of all ratings received in the year 2015. Next, they gave 1/3 value for the average rating of all ratings received in previous years. So, these criteria were based on average scores.
By contrast, the next two criteria were designed to factor in the number of reviews an agency received. First, TNC gave up to 1/10 of a point for each review submitted in 2015 depending on the rating. For example, if the agency received a review with a rating of 80 out of 100, then the agency received .08 points for the review. Next, TNC did the same thing with reviews for previous years, but they gave 1/3 the value for the total score.
While this appears quite complicated, the gist is clear. TNC is trying to add more value for recent reviews. This ensures that agencies realize the benefits of improvements they make to their service.
Highway Hypodermics Rating System
Like TNC, HH accepts reviews only from travel healthcare professionals. They will also suspend or remove agencies from the site for engaging in foul play. They go so far as to track IP addresses and validate emails addresses used to submit reviews.
It’s also important to note that agency ratings are not affected by agencies purchasing advertisements on HH. In fact, anyone can review the evaluation and benefits questionnaire scores to validate the rankings. Moreover, visitors can easily check the ratings of advertisers for further verification.
Additionally, HH requires reviewers to submit a positive review on at least one agency in order for any negative reviews to be considered. There tends to be higher motivation for submitting bad reviews, so this policy evens things out.
HH’s rating system combines two separate scores. The first score is an average score based on evaluations submitted by travelers. The second score is based on a benefits questionnaire submitted by the company. For the benefits score, agencies are required to complete a questionnaire indicating the various benefits they offer to their travelers. There are 21 benefits listed in the questionnaire and the agency receives 1 point for each benefit they provide.
Highway Hypodermics realizes that there might be cause to question the validity of the benefits questionnaires given that they are submitted by the agencies themselves. We’re relying on them to be honest actors. But HH doesn’t stop there.
HH solicits feedback from reviewers and anyone working with the companies to validate the voracity of the questionnaires. HH has corrected benefits questionnaire scores in the past and will continue to do so when they find discrepancies. Please be sure to let them know if you have reason to believe that a questionnaire is incorrect as it will help ensure the validity of this valuable resource.
For the evaluation score, HH averages the scores of all the evaluations they have received for each agency. HH’s evaluation form asks reviewers a series of pertinent questions where the possible answers are “yes”, “no” and “n/a”. There are 20 questions for a total of 20 possible points.
Therefore, HH’s rating system has a possible high score of 41, 20 points possible for the evaluations, and 21 points possible for the benefits questionnaire. In order to qualify for consideration on HH’s list of the top agencies for 2016, the agency must have an updated benefits questionnaire, an updated profile on the HH website and a minimum of 20 reviews.
Comparing The Best Travel Nursing Company Lists for 2016
As you can see, there are quite a few differences in how the lists are compiled. There are also differences in how the lists are reported. TNC includes 12 agencies on their annual “Top Travel Nurse Companies” list. They separate the list into three categories, Gold, Silver and Bronze. There are 4 agencies in each category. The agencies in each category are not listed in any order, so we don’t know how the exact rankings came out.
HH takes a more traditional approach. They provide a list of the “Top 10 Travel Companies”. The list is clearly ranked by score. This year’s list included a tie at the ninth spot, so there are actually 11 companies on the top 10 list. HH’s list also displays an additional 14 agencies, so viewers can actually see the top 25 agencies.
Below is a side-by-side comparison of the top agency lists from HH and TNC for 2016. We added HH’s 11th ranked company in order to even out the lists.
| Travel Nursing Central | Highway Hypodermics | ||
| Gold | Medical Staffing Solutions Inc | 1 | Health Providers Choice |
| Gold | Fusion Medical Staffing | 2 | TaleMed |
| Gold | Flexcare Medical Staffing | 3 | PHP (Premier Healthcare Professionals) |
| Gold | TotalMed Staffing | 4 | IPI Travel |
| Silver | Travel Nurse Across America | 5 | OneStaff Medical |
| Silver | Medical Solutions | 6 | TotalMed Staffing |
| Silver | Talemed | 7 | Flexcare Medical Staffing |
| Silver | Emerald Health Services | 8 | Trinity Healthcare Staffing Group |
| Bronze | Tailored Healthcare Staffing | 9 | Tailored Healthcare Staffing |
| Bronze | The Right Solutions | 9 | PRCS |
| Bronze | Axis Medical Staffing | 10 | Atlas MedStaff |
| Bronze | IPI Travel | 11 | PPR Travel Nursing |
*Save Time Working With The Best Travel Nursing Agencies
First, you’ll notice that we highlighted 5 companies with green text. Each of these companies has contacted BluePipes and verified they will accept your BluePipes resume, job application and skills checklists for job submission purposes. This means you can fill out one set of documents to work with at least 5 of the best agencies in the country.
We say “at least ” because these are just the agencies who have contacted us. You’ll be able to send your BluePipes documents to anyone you’d like. Send them to the other agencies on this list, and they may just accept them too! Either way, this will save you tons of time and simplify your travel nursing career.
Joining BluePipes is free and we don’t sell your contact information to third parties. Plus, you’ll find tons of other useful features to take advantage of!
General Observations on The Best Travel Nursing Agency Lists
As you can see, there are several similarities and differences between the lists. There are 5 companies that make it on both lists. Those companies are Tailored Healthcare Staffing, IPI Travel, TotalMed Staffing, Flexcare Medical Staffing and Talemed.
Talemed, TotalMed Staffing and Flexcare Medical Staffing were also on both lists in 2015. You can view the 2015 list comparison here. And you can view the 2014 list comparison here. You’ll see many of the same companies, but also many changes.
It’s great that there are 5 companies on both lists. This bodes well for these 5 companies. But what about the companies that made it to one list but not the other? Let’s take a look at each of them to discover a little more about them.
Companies On TNC’s List But Not On HH’s List
First, let’s review the companies that are on TNC’s list but not on HH’s list.
Medical Staffing Solutions, Inc
Medical Staffing Solutions, Inc has received a Gold Rating from TNC for at least the last 3 years. Over the years, they’ve received 68 reviews on TNC with an average score of 96.1.
On HH, the company has received 13 reviews with an average score of 16.7. Additionally, they receive a score of 17 on their benefits questionnaire. This gives them a total combined score of 33.7 on HH. This score would have been good enough to rank 16th on HH’s list. However, the company does not qualify for consideration as they do not meet the minimum of 20 total reviews.
Fusion Medical Staffing
Fusion Medical Staffing has a whopping 100 reviews on TNC with an average score of 96.1. They received the vast majority of those reviews in 2015 which is quite an accomplishment.
The company also has a whopping 113 reviews on HH with an average score of 17.5. They received a score of 17 on their benefits questionnaire. This gives them a total score of 34.5. As a result, they’re ranked 13th on HH’s list.
Travel Nurse across America
Travel Nurse across America (TNAA) has received a Silver Rating from TNC for the last two years and they received a Gold Rating for 2014. They have a total of 228 reviews with an average score of 88.4.
TNAA has received 30 reviews on HH with an average score of 17. They received 17 points on their benefits questionnaire. Their total score of 34 has them ranked 16th on HH’s list.
Medical Solutions
As the third largest travel nurse staffing company in the business, Medical Solutions is the lone large company to make the cut. That says a lot. They have received 192 reviews on TNC with an average score of 88.2.
On HH, Medical Solutions has received 46 reviews with an average score of 16.5. They received 17 points on their benefits questionnaire for a total of 33.5. That puts them 17th on HH’s list.
Emerald Health Services
Emerald Health Services received a Silver Rating this year and a Bronze Rating in 2014 on TNC. They were absent from the ratings in 2015. They have a total of 89 reviews with an average score of 86.1.
Emerald Health Services has received 39 reviews on HH with an average score of 17. They received 16 points for their benefits questionnaire. This puts them at number 20 on HH’s list.
The Right Solutions
The Right Solutions (TRS) received a Bronze Rating this year on TNC. They received a Silver Rating the previous two years. They have received 160 reviews with an average score of 87.6.
TRS has received 41 reviews on HH with an average score of 17.9. They received 13 points for their benefits questionnaire. That gives them 30.9 total points which puts them at 23 on HH’s list.
Axis Medical Staffing
Axis Medical Staffing received a Bronze Rating this year, but was not ranked the last two years by TNC. The company has 22 reviews with an average score of 83.4.
Axis has yet to receive an evaluation on HH. Additionally, the company has not submitted a company profile on HH. These issues prevented them from being considered for HH’s list. However, they received 18 points on their benefits questionnaire.
Companies On HH’s List But Not On TNC’s List
Now let’s take a look at the companies on HH’s list but not on TNC’s list.
Health Providers Choice
Health Providers Choice (HPC) was absent from HH’s list in 2015 but was ranked 2nd in 2014. They made a glorious return to the list for 2016 as the top ranked agency. They have received 37 evaluations on HH with an average score of 18.6. They also received 21 points for their benefits questionnaire.
HPC has received only 7 reviews on TNC. The average score is 55.6. However, it appears as though it has been quite some time since HPC has been reviewed on TNC. At least 6 of the company’s 7 reviews were submitted before November of 2013.
PHP (Premier Healthcare Professionals)
PHP is HH’s 3rd ranked company for 2016. They were 6th in 2015 and 3rd in 2014.
The company has received only 17 reviews on TNC so they don’t meet the minimum of 20 reviews for consideration on TNC’s annual list. Their average review score is 74.8. However, they received 2 reviews in 2015 with an average score of 83.
OneStaff Medical
OneStaff Medical is HH’s 5th ranked company for 2016. They were 5th in 2015 and 6th in 2014.
OneStaff has received only 3 reviews on TNC so they don’t qualify for consideration on the annual list. They have an average review score of 71.6. OneStaff is a fairly new company so it may take some time for them to build up enough reviews on TNC.
Trinity Healthcare Staffing Group
Trinity Healthcare Staffing Group is ranked 8th on HH’s 2016 list of top agencies. While they didn’t make the top 10 the last two years, they were in the top 20 in both years.
Trinity has received 49 reviews on TNC with an average score of 75.7. The company received a Bronze Rating in 2015 and a Silver Rating in 2014. However, their average score for the reviews they received on TNC in 2015 was 60.3 which certainly brought their average down. Given the relatively low number of reviews, a couple of bad reviews can bring down the average quickly. We have no doubt Trinity will display improvement moving forward.
PRCS
PRCS is tied for 9th on HH’s 2016 list. They were not ranked in 2015, but came in 4th in 2014.
On TNC, PRCS has not received an evaluation yet.
Atlas MedStaff
Atlas MedStaff is ranked 10th on HH’s list for 2016. They were ranked 14th in 2015.
On TNC, Atlas MedStaff has received 20 reviews with a total average score of 86.9. They received 18 reviews in 2015 also with an average score of 86.9. They must have been very close to making the cut. In fact, companies like IPI and Axis, which did make the cut, have lower average scores than Atlas. The scoring formulation must have favored the higher recent scores received by IPI and Axis.
PPR Travel Nursing
PPR is ranked 11th on HH’s 2016 list. They were 9th in 2015 and 10th in 2014.
On TNC, PPR has received 25 reviews with an average score of 65.2. They received 7 reviews in 2015 with an average score of 49.9. The low marks in 2015 most certainly brought the company’s average down quite a bit.
Additional Travel Nursing Companies To Consider Among The Best
BluePipes conducted a survey of travel nurses in 2014 and found 90% of travel nurses do not like filling out applications and skills checklists. We were actually surprised 10% didn’t mind! Additionally, we found 72% of travel nurses would be more likely to work with a new agency if they didn’t have to complete the application and skills checklist just to be submitted for potential assignments.
It’s clear that travel nurses are overwhelmed with paperwork. Therefore, we believe simplifying the initial submission process for new travel nurses is a highly beneficial and desirable service that agencies can provide. As mentioned above, there are 5 agencies on the “Top Agencies Lists” that have verified they will accept your BluePipes application, resume and skills checklists in lieu of completing the agency’s documentation. Those agencies are:
- Atlas MedStaff
- Tailored Healthcare Staffing
- Trinity Healthcare Staffing
- Travel Nurse across America
- The Right Solutions
Again, you can send your BluePipes documents to anyone you want and we know there are many other companies accepting them. There are also many other great companies that have verified they’ll accept the documents in order to simplify your travel nursing career. You can view the entire list of verified companies here. Here is a sample of how some of those companies stand with Travel Nursing Central and Highway Hypodermics:
Valley Healthcare Staffing
Formerly known as Valley Healthcare Systems, Valley was on the Top Agencies Lists for many years running. Their absence this year is an anomaly. They have an average score of 83.7 with 78 reviews on TNC. They are notably absent from HH’s website this year and we’re not certain as to why. They are certainly worthy of your consideration though.
Host Healthcare
Host Healthcare has received a total of 5 reviews on TNC with an average score of 99.6. They have received 8 evaluations on HH with an average score of 17.8 and they received 21 points for on their benefits questionnaire. That’s a total of 38.8 points which would have tied them for number 2 on HH’s list if they had the minimum number of reviews to qualify.
Healthcare Pros
Healthcare Pros has 15 reviews on TNC with an average score of 87.3. They are not listed on HH. They’re high marks on TNC make them worthy of consideration though!
Expedient Medstaff
Expedient Medstaff is a nurse owned and operated healthcare staffing company. They have received 1 review on TNC with a score of 97. They haven’t received any evaluations on HH yet, but they received 20 points on their benefits questionnaire.
Liquid Agents
Liquid Agents has received 25 reviews on TNC with an average score of 74.2. They have received 5 evaluations on HH with an average score of 15.2 and they received 18 points for their benefits questionnaire. That’s 32.2 total points which would have put them inside the top 25 if they qualified for consideration. They could be worth a look!
TravelMed USA
TravelMed USA has received 7 reviews with an average score of 84.6 on TNC. Unfortunately, the company does not have any information HH. However, their high marks on TNC might be enough to warrant your consideration.
Soliant Health
Soliant Health received a Bronze Rating from TNC in 2015. Currently, they have 29 reviews on TNC with an average score of 77.3. They have received 6 evaluations on HH with an average score of 16.3, which is pretty good. They have not completed a benefits questionnaire on HH yet.
HARTRA
HARTRA is a new company that is nurse owned and operated. They received 2 reviews on TNC with an average score of 100. They are not listed on HH yet. They might be worth a shot if you’re interested in a small nurse owned company.
Additional Considerations for Travel Nurses Seeking the Best Companies
Highway Hypodermics and Travel Nursing Central are excellent resources for finding the best travel nursing companies. Each has its own unique features that are well worth exploring. For example, one of the great things about Highway Hypodermics is that you can view the benefits offered by each company. This can help you zero-in more quickly on the agencies that meet your needs.
One of the great things about Travel Nursing Central is that you can read what reviewers had to say about the agencies. This provides additional insight that could be very useful in your decision making process. Additionally, you’ll be able to see how the agencies have fared over the last year to determine if they’re on the right track.
We highly recommend reviewing both sites when searching for your next travel healthcare company. Also, be sure submit reviews with both services so they can continue to provide these excellent resources.
Yes, a few times. Zeid El-Thayer is by far the coolest and most accomodating recruiter ever. He has your back 24/7. Tell him I sent you, gotta love that referal bonus!! Lol. Actually, I got assigned a different recruiter once, I called him and asked if he would work with me again. Once you have the best, you just can’t settle.
As a new grad RN, how many years experience is usually pregerred before switching to travel nursing and which specialties are in highest demand?
Thanks
The standard requirement is 1 year of experience in the specialty you’re applying for. A growing number of hospitals require 2 years of experience.
who is this kristen- i’m planning on traveling and need a good recruiter
hi- i traveled with sunbelt and my recruiter was great- ask for jenifer zeigler
My wife and I are planning on travel nursing. She is an RN. She recently changed from Oncology to working in the ER. Should she get at least a years experience working in the ER for travel nursing or should it be longer? Also we plan on using the apartments set up for travel nursing, we have a small pet, a chihuahua. Is she allowed to go with us? Thank you
Thanks for the inquiry, Jay! The general rule of thumb is to have a minimum of one year of recent experience in the specialty for which you are applying. Many hospitals now require 2 years of experience. Success will depend on how flexible you are in terms of location and other job related variables. Bringing the dog is perfectly acceptable. You may find some agencies that don’t allow it, but the vast majority do. I hope this helps!
I’m looking into travel nursing, what is the skills list? What does it entail?I am nervous about what is expected. I am currently being bullied at the place employed and was hoping to have less stress,and team players,but not experiencing that at present.
Hi Dineen,
Sorry to hear about your experience with workplace bullying. While there’s no guarantee you won’t go through similar situations as a travel nurse, at least you’ll be able to leave at the end of your contract. That said, most travel nurses have great experiences.
A skills checklist is a self assessment tool used by both agencies and permanent employers. You can view a sample skills checklist by following this link. You can join BluePipes to complete and save your own skills checklists. You can send your BluePipes sklls checklists to anyone at your convenience. And it’s all for free. I hope this helps!
I am a psychiatric nurse. Any suggestions as to which travel agency and recruiter to pursue?
Thanks for the inquiry, Claudia. My apologies, but I’m not familiar with any agencies who specialize in Psychiatric assignments. Part of the problem is that agencies will typically tell you they specialize in everything! My experience indicates that there aren’t as many travel assignment for Psych as there are for specialties like ICU. As a result, I’d recommend working with a mix of larger and smaller companies. The larger companies typically have more jobs available, but travelers seem to prefer the service provided by smaller travel nursing companies. Either way, the goal is to maximize your exposure to the job market by working with multiple agencies as different agencies work with different facilities. I hope this helps!
what company is kristen with?
What agency is KRISTEN with?
Does anyone know anything about Sunbelt Travel Co out of Florida? Core Medical is another company that is big in the Midwest.
I’ve noticed that TaleMed is listed on this site as ranked #2 on HH scale. But when I go to their website for 2016, it is listed on the page as #11. Can anyone help me clarify this?
Thanks for the inquiry, Katie. Here is a link to Highway Hypodermics Top 10 List for 2016 where Talemed is listed second. Please let us know if there is another list you’re viewing and we’ll investigate. Thanks again!
any good travel company that specializes in baby boomers as new travelers? or case managers?
I’m not aware of any agencies that specialize in this area, but I’m sure every agency would be happy to work with you!
Do you have contact information for Kristen. I’m considering travel nursing when my daughter graduates next spring and I’ve heard having a great recruiter makes all the difference!
Yes I have and they are WONDERFUL to work with. Kristen is by far, the BEST recruiter I have EVER worked with. And, I’ve been doing this for 12 years. Very responsive and employee oriented, NOT facility oriented. Although, I’m certain they need to be concerned with that aspect of the firm as well.
I do highly recommend call her if you’re interested in travel nursing.
Emanuel
Has anyone ever used AYA Healthcare for travel busing assignments?
I went with HARTRA, a newer agency nurse owned and operated. They have a 5 star rating and I took an assignment to Arizona through them. My recruiter was honest and very personable there. He was always available and stayed in touch with me during the assignment. No pay issues and I didn’t feel like a number. I felt apart of a family. If anyone is interested in smaller agencies to insure you’re treated fairly. I’d encourage anyone to give HARTRA Healthcare Staffing a shot. Great agency!
Considering travel nursing and this was very informative!
We’re glad to hear it was useful! We hope you have a wonderful travel nursing adventure.
very helpful. thank you
We’re glad to hear it was useful! Thanks for letting us know.