5 Signs You Need a Different Recruiter

Our experience with our recruiter will make or break a locum tenens assignment or even our search process. This is why I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a good relationship with your recruiter. If you do not like your current recruiter, you can always contact the agency and ask for a different one!

Here are 5 signs that you need to change your recruiter:

  1. Unresponsive – Recruiters are known to blow up our phones and email us constantly. If you are having a hard time reaching your recruiter or if they do not respond to your phone calls, you know something isn’t right. With full time jobs, we shouldn’t have to be the one to chase down our recruiter.

 

  1. Belittling – There are recruiters out there that may speak to you in a condescending tone. You may ask for a certain type of job or pay rate and they may tell you it’s not going to happen. A good recruiter will hear what you are saying and work with you to meet a medium ground, not speak to you as if you are crazy.

 

  1. Unable to answer questions – If a recruiter has no idea when your eligible start date will be or how long your license will take, they should be able to contact someone to obtain those answers. Never settle for a “I’m not sure.” I noticed some agencies are hiring a lot of newbies that don’t seem to know what they are doing.

 

  1. Pushy – It is safe to say that most traveling Nurse Practitioners hate when recruiters can be pushy. When they continuously try to force you to accept a position you do not want or sketchily have you sign an agreement trying to bind you to something you did not agree to. My favorite is: “maybe you can work at this site for the next 3 months until something opens up in your location of interest”. No thanks.

 

  1. Not your Advocate – If you start an assignment and absolutely hate it, you should be comfortable enough to confide in your recruiter. This has happened to me on multiple occasions. My favorite recruiter served as my advocate and made sure my concerns were addressed. On the other hand, I had a bad recruiter who continued to put the site first and nothing was ever changed for my benefit.

 

A great recruiter is always following up with you, even when you are on a current assignment. They will take your needs into consideration and let you know when a compromise may be needed. Most importantly, your recruiter should be your advocate and encourage you in your field.

Providing Coverage During a Nurse Strike

I recently wrote an article for www.travelnursing.org on being a traveler working during a nurse strike. It’s a bit controversial but working as either a travel nurse or nurse practitioner during a strike can have it’s benefits. Check out the article below:

http://www.travelnursing.org/crossing-the-picket-line-as-a-travel-nurse/

Frustrations of Starting in Locum Tenens

I have been working as a traveling nurse practitioner for a while now, that I forgot how frustrating it could be to initially work in locum tenens.

 

  • Tons of paperwork: Each time you accept a new assignment you have to be credentialed with the new site. This requires filling out tons of paperwork and providing copies of your licenses, vaccination records, certifications, references, etc. If you are also working with a new agency for the first time, expect your paperwork to double. In addition, you will have to do a drug test for both the agency and site.

 

  • Last minute: There will be times you won’t know your exact start date until 1 week out or less. There will be times you wont know where you will be living until the morning you leave. It may be scary at first, but part of working in locum tenens is being okay with the unknown. After a while, you get used to knowing things last minute.

 

  • Licensing issues: Is your license taking longer than you thought? Maybe you didn’t realize you also need a prescribing license, in addition to the RN and ARNP licenses in that state. Some agencies have really good licensing teams that can get in touch with the state board of nursing and expedite the processing of your licenses.

 

  • Recruiters: Not having a good relationship with your recruiter can make your locum tenens experience awful. Your recruiter should be your advocate. If they are putting you down and not being helpful, ask for a new recruiter!

 

I think the above four topics are probably the most frustrating aspects of starting a career in locum tenens. After a while, you get used to those things and realize the benefits of being a traveler outweigh the nuisances. Also, keep in mind that being a traveling nurse practitioner isn’t for everyone.

Questions from Readers

Each month I will include a blog entry answering some of the most common questions I get from readers about locum tenens as a nurse practitioner. Feel free to comment any questions you have or email me at travelingNP.com@gmail.com.

 

  • How does housing work for locum tenens positions? Would I need to have my own housing for my “off” days?

 

Housing options vary by agency, sites, length of assignment, and locations. For the most part, the average locum tenens assignment is 3 months long and you will be provided an apartment or hotel for the duration of your assignment. So if you are off for the weekend, you will still be able to live in the accommodations provided.

 Some assignments only want local providers so they do not offer lodging. In these cases, people commute from their homes.

There are sites that will provide their own housing options, especially if they are located in rural areas. For instance, there was an Indian health services location that provided a house for each of its locum tenens providers to stay in. I also know of a remote facility that housed its providers in a dorm like building and offered free breakfast on the first floor.

Thailand and Dubai Trip

I recently returned from a 3-week trip to Thailand and the United Arab Emirates with my family. Since Thailand is so far, I was able to get a free stopover in Dubai for a few days. We flew Emirates for the first time, which is the most luxurious plane with the best service! Our plane was two stories and we had access to the bar. We really enjoyed our 14-hour flight from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Dubai.

It was our first time in the Middle East, and we actually come from a Lebanese background, so it was exciting to be in Dubai. The Middle Eastern food was delicious! The city was really clean and modern. Our favorite day was when we went on the desert safari excursion. We went sand dune riding in the desert and rode ATV wheelers. We also visited a camel farm and rode on some camels.

On the way back from Thailand we stopped in Abu Dhabi to break up the flight. We went to visit the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which was absolutely stunning!

Bangkok was a pretty crazy city. Our first day there we rode on a tuk-tuk and it was the funniest experience. Our driver didn’t speak English so he would just bring us to all of these random places instead of where we needed to go

Thailand was incredibly cheap! We would get 1-2 hour massages for $8 almost every day. A 45 min taxi ride cost about $5-6. A family of four ate for about $20-40/dinner.

I have always been intrigued by the Buddhist religion and enjoyed visiting various Buddha temples. My favorite Buddha was the reclining Buddha!

We visited the old capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya. It was interesting to see the ruins of the city and learn how this Buddha head ended up in this tree:

It turns out that the Buddha head fell off the statue during an invasion of the city. As the Buddha head lay on the floor, birds pooped around it. Eventually a tree started to grow and the Buddha head grew with it.

My favorite food besides sushi is Thai food. We ate tons of good food during the trip! And I never thought I would say this, but by the end of the trip I was actually tired of Thai food.

As much as I loved seeing all of the Buddha’s, the best part of Thailand was going to Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands. We had an incredible time swimming in beautiful water, snorkeling with a variety of fish, and sailing on a speed boat. We literally felt like we were in paradise.

Time Off


Americans have a reputation of being “workaholics”. Some companies only allow 1-2 weeks of vacation each year. Luckily with locum tenens, our vacation time can be as long as we want it to be. I calculated that last year in 2016, I took a total of 12 weeks vacation time. Isn’t that amazing?!

Anyways, I had been at my current assignment for almost 6 months, with my last vacation being about 3 months ago. I started to feel antsy being in the same place. And I noticed my patience starting to dwindle down and slowly became more irritable.

Just in time, my 3-week vacation came in. I was able to relax and take some time away from the daily commotion of working in the medical field. After recharging my batteries, I came back to work an entirely new person.

I was no longer stressed. I had an abundance of patience and took my time with my work. No poor scheduling or acute complex visit was going to ruin my day. I felt like I had more energy to listen to my patients and provide them with even better care.

The reason I bring this up is because I do not think there is a medical provider out there that is not familiar with “physician burnout”. Medical workforce burnout is troublesome because it enables us to become cynical about medicine and exhausted both physically and emotionally.

There are many factors that impact this burnout. Some of these include the amount of patients seen per day; amount of time allotted per patient; working with a challenging patient population; lack of admin time; the need for thorough documentation to avoid malpractice claims; and too many bureaucratic demands.

The best way to prevent burnout in the workplace is to allow frequent periods of vacation or time off. Working in locum tenens allows this flexibility. Many locum tenens nurse practitioners choose to take time off between assignments, while others choose to only work a part-time schedule. Although I do not think I will be taking off 12 weeks again this year, it will still be more than the average medical provider.

Questions from Readers

Each month I will include a blog entry answering some of the most common questions I get from readers about locum tenens as a nurse practitioner. Feel free to comment any questions you have or email me at travelingNP.com@gmail.com.

 

What are some challenges of finding that first assignment?

 

The first assignment may be a bit challenging to find because as new travelers we are expecting the perfect job. After time we start to realize that we have to be a bit more open minded of the location and practice setting we are looking for.

 Another challenge is having recruiters take you seriously. Many nurse practitioners are curious about locum tenens and will talk to a recruiter about locum tenens options without being completely serious about it. Thus, recruiters do not like “wasting” their time with new travelers that may never accept a locum tenens position. I find that recruiters take you more seriously after completing your first assignment. I recommend networking with other travelers so they can refer you to their recruiter, as referrals are taken more seriously. I am always more than happy to get you in touch with some of my recruiters. 

Lastly, finding that first assignment is tricky if you do not already have the state license you are searching in. It is possible to work with an agency to obtain a license and then search for jobs. However, many sites do not want to hire you until your license comes through. I personally recommend you obtain the license yourself first, and then search for jobs with multiple agencies. This will increase the probability of you finding something that meets your needs. You can always be reimbursed for the license later on. I think new travelers have a misconception that the agency will do EVERYTHING for them, so applying for a license on their own isn’t ideal.

Losing a Patient

I write this post with humility.

After returning from a 3-week vacation, I was a bit nervous about how much work waited for me (lab/imaging results to review, medication refills, phone messages etc). Surprisingly, my first day back went pretty smoothly. My schedule wasn’t too crazy. My co-workers were ecstatic to see me, and my patients were relieved that I was back.

At the end of the day I was skimming through hundreds of work emails, deleting most, keeping the important ones. I came across some emails about one of my patients being in the hospital for a heart attack. I wrote down his name on my to-do list, so that I could give him a call and see how he was doing.

As I continued going over my emails, I was in disbelief when I read “patient expired. Sorry for your loss.” It turns out that the patient that had a heart attack in the hospital was discharged home a few days later in stable condition. The following day he passed away at home. It was a complex situation, as he had a history of severe coronary artery disease and other co-morbidities. Even though you know all that could have been done, was done for him, you still feel like it wasn’t enough.

I immediately started crying like crazy, as I had never cried before. He was actually one of my favorite patients, and one of the first patients I developed a relationship with at my clinic. A very pleasant man and compliant with all medical recommendations. During the 6 months of working at this clinic, I had seen him at least 10 times.

My co-workers tried to comfort me, explaining that all of our patients are much older and much more sick than the average person. They tried to reassure me that at least he is no longer in pain and was able to pass away in the comfort of his home.

It was so hard for me because I had seen him right before I went on my trip, not knowing it would be the last time. I had also wished I was here when he passed so that I could have at least attended his funeral.

The following day I was still grieving and wasn’t sure how I was going to face my other patients. I thought to myself, what is the point of all this? I had a busy day and it was actually a good thing. It distracted me and also reminded me that there were still other patients that needed me.

It has been so hard for me because I have never had anyone close to me pass away before. Although I also worked with a geriatric population in Miami for several years, none of my patients ever died while under my care. They didn’t seem to be as sick as my current patients. As a child I had distant relatives pass away, but death seemed so foreign as a kid.

The other providers told me that the first few patients they lost were really hard. But after a while, you have to learn to become less emotionally invested. I think the passing of my patient reminded me how near, death truly is. Death is inevitable. I realize I cannot promise my patients that they will never die. But I can help them to live a comfortable life and gain more time to spend with their loved ones.

May he rest in peace.