Searching for an Assignment after my Mini-Retirement

When I started my mini-retirement this summer, I wasn’t exactly sure how long I would be gone for. I figured it would be 3 months at a minimum, but I didn’t want to commit to any jobs until last minute. Finally, at the end of May I decided I would go back to work at the beginning of July. From my previous experiences, searching 1 month ahead of time in a state I am already licensed in, is more than enough time.

I had interviewed with a few sites that I liked, but then found out the credentialing could take 60-90 days. I was surprised that this ended up being more common than I thought. I didn’t want to wait until August or September to start working.

So, my search criteria priorities quickly became:

-Credentialing in less than 30 days

-Site needs to be in a state that is currently warm for summer but normally too cold for me to visit outside of summer

-Patients need to be all ages

I was initially nervous when the majority of the sites seemed to have the longest credentialing. It had been a while since I was the one actively searching for an assignment versus sites just pursuing me. Since I am a family nurse practitioner, I needed experience working with pediatrics to keep my credentialing active. It had been 2 years (outside of telemedicine) since I had worked with any children.

Thus, I couldn’t work at the geriatric clinics I normally work with. I felt like I was a newbie traveling nurse practitioner all over again. I didn’t stress out because I knew that job opportunities can change day to day.

There was an assignment in Florida I really wanted but they wanted me to start the following week, and I still had plans to travel in Europe for the remainder of the month. Therefore, they went with someone else.

Soon after, I had 3 solid options to choose from. I ended up prioritizing location. One of the options was in Maine. I had worked in Maine before and really enjoyed it, so I didn’t mind returning there. The facility seemed very fair as far as scheduling and workplace culture.

The other option was in California, right outside of San Francisco. This was honestly just my backup option. I didn’t really want to work there, especially because as a locums now you have to be paid as a W2 employee in CA, and I wanted to get paid as a 1099 contractor (because you can take home more of the pay). It was my backup option because CA is always desperate for traveling nurse practitioners.

I ended up choosing my 3^rd option which I will share in another post. I just found it interesting that many sites seem to be looking for coverage way in advance than they used to be. I remember in the past, the sites wanted someone that is available to start within a couple of weeks or the same month. Now, a lot of the listings are for positions 3 months from now. I am sure many people like knowing what they are doing in advance, but I have gotten used to being a last minute planner when it comes to choosing an assignment.