Still Looking For A Summer Travel Job Now? Stay Flexible, Industry Experts Say
With Memorial Day weekend behind us, summer is unofficially here, and some travel RNs who’ve banked their earnings are looking forward to fun in the sun. For others, their next step is getting ready to start their new contracts in early June. But what about the not-so-early birds; the travel nurses who, for various reasons, haven’t locked in a new assignment but still want to work during the summer? They aren’t alone—but that’s not a good thing for those hoping to land a dream summer job. New travel nursing job opportunities haven’t dried up completely, but market demand is stabilizing, meaning hospitals are posting new positions with less frequency compared to the first half of 2018, according to market data gathered by HCT Today. The slow trickle of new jobs has travel agencies fighting tooth-and-nail to get their nurses into hospitals, which, in turn, has caused a surge in the number of viable candidates hospitals can choose from. “We have some clients that will no longer take a (candidate) submittal with a single day off on it,” said Jennifer Pomietlo, a director of client advisory at LiquidAgents Healthcare. “Why? Because they are getting more than 40 candidate profiles for every job.” Travel nurses have several ways they can stay competitive during this high-volume period, according to feedback from staffing agency recruiters and sales staff. Keep preferences flexible and profiles sharp Two months ago, getting a recruiter to negotiate with a hospital for more approved time off or shorter contract length might have been an easier task. Now, nurses have to get in line with dozens of other candidates, some of which have no scheduling conflicts or contract stipulations. “Hospitals are also looking for more specific years of experience based on specialty,” Pomietlo said. “Instead of a nurse saying they have six years of RN experience, hospitals want to know if they have two or more recent years of experience in ER if that’s what they are being submitted for.” Nurses should work with their recruiter and agency to put their best foot forward–in other words, that means avoiding compliance delays, providing a clean resume with the right information, and prepping for the interview. Don’t wait when you see an opportunity If you find a job board posting that looks promising, contact your recruiter immediately and let them know you are interested, especially if the job was posted within the last 24 hours. You may have the best resume in the world, but you also might as well be invisible to hospital staff if your profile is behind more than 30 other nurses who managed to submit their information first. This may not apply to all specialties, but for more common specialties like medical surgical/telemetry, speed is important. If possible, try somewhere new Everyone wants to find a fun vacation state to work in this summer, but waiting for the perfect high-paying Florida contract may not be your best bet if you need a job now. Instead, look for states where travelers aren’t applying and see what opportunities are available. Your chances to find high paying jobs can be much higher in less popular summer travel states like Nevada or Arizona. If you’re having trouble finding good jobs in these states, talk with your recruiter. An experienced recruiter can help you track down a great opportunity that you may have missed.
Market Data – Top States for January 2018
This list is created by analyzing the number of travel nurses applying for jobs in these individual states and Washington D.C. It is an indicator of traveler interest in these states and is not necessarily and indicator of job volume. Application data comes from the StaffDNA jobs database. Florida California Texas North Carolina Tennessee South Carolina Georgia New York Virginia Michigan Ohio Illinois Oregon Pennsylvania Alabama Arizona New Jersey Louisiana Mississippi Missouri Indiana Arkansas Nevada West Virginia Kentucky Oklahoma Colorado Washington Wisconsin Hawaii New Mexico Connecticut Massachusetts Maryland Kansas Minnesota Utah Idaho Maine Rhode Island Alaska Iowa New Hampshire South Dakota Wyoming Washington D.C North Dakota Vermont Delaware Montana Nebraska
EMR Conversions: Ongoing Jobs Near Knoxville, Tennessee
The Covenant Health System, with hospitals located primarily in and around the Knoxville, Tennessee area, is completing an EMR conversion over the first three quarters of 2018, and it needs travel nurses to help with the transition. The system is switching from McKesson EMR to Cerner EMR and will need help with at least four specialties: Med/Surg, Telemetry, ICU, and ER. There is a potential for other needs. Covenant System hiring officials say they’re looking for candidates with recent McKesson experience. While Cerner experience would be nice, it’s not a requirement. Covenant will provide training on the Cerner system for nurses that it chooses to extend. Candidates should also be open to the idea of floating between other facilities within 50 miles of their home hospital while on assignment. Floating will not occur mid-shift, and nurses will be given notice of the need to float at least two hours prior to the start of a shift. Two and three hospitals will be converting each quarter, starting with Methodist Medical Center, Roane Medical Center, and Rhea Medical Center in the first quarter. Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee is a 301-bed facility 25 miles east of Knoxville. Roane Medical Center is in Harriman, Tennessee, 42 miles west of Knoxville. It’s a 52 bed short-term acute care facility. Rhea Medical Center is a 25 bed critical access facility located in Dayton, Tennessee, 80 miles southwest of Knoxville. Hospitals included in the second phase of the conversion, happening in the second quarter of the year, are Parkwest Medical Center, Fort Loudon Medical Center, and Cumberland Medical Center. Parkwest Medical Center is a 400-bed facility in southwest Knoxville. Fort Loudon Medical Center is 30 miles south and west of Knoxville in Lenoir City, Tennessee. It’s a 30-bed, short-term acute care facility. Cumberland Medical Center has 73 beds and is located 70 miles west of Knoxville in Crossville, Tennessee. Two hospitals will convert in the third phase, occurring in the third quarter of 2018: Fort Sanders Medical Center and LeConte Medical Center. Fort Sanders Medical Center is a 352-bed hospital located in Knoxville near the University of Tennessee campus. LeConte Medical Center is in Sevierville, Tennessee, 30 miles southeast of Knoxville. It’s a 111-bed facility. Two hospitals in the system haven’t been assigned a phase–Claiborne County Hospital and Morristown-Hamblen Hospital. Claiborne County Hospital is in Tazewell, Tennessee, 50 miles north of Knoxville. It has 129 beds. Morristown-Hamblen Hospital is a 128-bed facility located 50 miles northeast of Knoxville in Morristown, Tennessee.