Contract Cancelled!

Guess it was bound to happen eventually - my first cut contract. A downside to travel nursing, contracts are made but can easily be broken. If the nurse does the cutting, consequences can vary from facilities black-listing you, to agencies outright dropping you, but when the facility does the cutting… not much seems to happen! The rumour had been spreading for several weeks, with several dates being tossed around. When the offer to resign was made and then accepted, I thought I was in the clear. Not three weeks into said resign, I was told all travelers were indeed to be cut by month’s end, giving me about 3 weeks to come up with my next move. Comes with the territory, but still not an ideal way to close a contract!

I was undecided for quite some time, going back and forth with a few options. Travel contracts are not the greatest at the moment, with few options and even fewer with good pay rates. I’m certainly not in it solely for the money, but for me to justify traveling several hours, especially now knowing cancellations are becoming more common as hospitals try to squeeze travelers back to staff positions, the compensation must be appropriate. Even though my past two assignments were local, and the pay much lower without the stipend, it was still better than staff rates, albeit by a lesser degree.

I’m very transparent when it comes to finances, and while I try not to overshare and make others uncomfortable, I do feel it is useful information whether someone is considering a career move or simply for perspectives’ sake. During the height of the pandemic, I was seeing contracts listed for as much as $5500/week (for 3x12 shifts). Some even 10K+ for those ambitious enough to jump on the emergency needs or the 6x12 shifts! Those rates were of course unsustainable and not meant to last, yet the drop has been crazy to experience. Now, it is a struggle to find something over $2000/week. That may still sound like a significant increase when compared to staff nurse rates, and by no means do I mean to negate my privilege in having that opportunity, but when considering the lifestyle and expectations of being a travel nurse, the cons are beginning to outweigh the pros, at least presently…

Considering the pros/cons again: a travel nurse does not receive much of an orientation, typically 1-2 days before they are expected to operate as an independent nurse. After several years experience, I’d say that’s reasonable, (nursing is nursing after all!) though also not ideal when being thrown into a new facility and/or documentation system. Travel nurses also are expected to be flexible both with scheduling, floating to other units, and as I did in the past two locations, being charge and/or orienting new nurses. A responsibility I was reluctant to accept as a traveler, yet after being there several months, it was manageable. Depending on how far away the contract is, travel expenses are incurred as well, for me typically being hotels between shifts. Add all this to the fact we do not receive great benefits, (minimal/no PTO, either private or constantly changing insurance, and no retirement investments) and have to be prepared to change assignments every 3 months (if not cancelled sooner), and that 2K/week becomes a lot less appealing.

First world problems, I know, yet all important things I have been considering the past few weeks. I received a few offers, and even with the stipend the best I could find was about $2200/week. Factor in the deductions mentioned above, a 2-3 hour commute and a patient population and documentation system I am not particularly keen on, and here I am now prepared to accept a staff role again. Well sort of. One answer hospitals have had to the excess spending on travel nurses seems to have been reinvesting their resources into their own internal travel programs, combining the benefits of staff positions with the flexibility and freedom that comes from travel nursing. A semi-creative solution to an ongoing issue, I am skeptical that it will be a permanent one, but in the meantime will be jumping on that bandwagon!

I have appreciated being a more local traveler the past 2 years as is, being able to return home daily, being familiar enough with the work environment to function solo day one (or two), yet also being able to mix it up to stave off burn out. Between that and no longer having to assignment shop every few months or risk having periods of unemployment between (as I am now), I am looking forward to this opportunity. I will now remain within a singular hospital system, changing between the hospitals within a one-hour commute every six weeks, with full benefits for a pre-deduction rate that comes out to just below $2200/week. While not a perfect solution, it will be an interesting way to continue pursuing that ideal work-life balance that can be so hard to achieve as a healthcare provider.