Texting Trends in Travel Nursing

 With an ever-changing workforce and a new generation of Travel Nurses (and nurses in general) joining the career, it’s only inevitable that staffing trends begin to change.  The new generation of nurses entering the field is much more ‘plugged-in’ than ever before.  Life revolves around tech and social media.  I know many people that utilize text and email as their primary communications resources.  Phone calls and in-person meetings seem to be becoming a thing of the past.

As the generations evolve, it’s expected that the means of communication for travel staffing agencies will evolve.  There are pros and cons to this new trend in staffing alerts.  For me, the pros would be simply quick notification.  If I’m looking for a position, texting me of availability is the fastest way to contact me.  By quickly knowing of an opening, I can choose if I want to be submitted. And perhaps be one of the first profiles on the manager’s desk.  The other advantage for me would be any changes.  If I’m contracted and the hospital needs something last minute, a quick text is a good notification system.

I wouldn’t want to be bombarded by companies that I am not already registered with. Nor would I want to be constantly notified if I am not currently seeking a contract position.  Email is more than effective for these situations.

I would caution the travel nurse staffing agencies not to be Annoyance.  Agencies may want to consider an ‘opt-in’ for text in order not to alienate the generation of non-tech nurses, as well as those that are currently not registered with your company.  Consider it like spam…if I didn’t ask for notification, please don’t send it.  The other item to remember with texting is that some have to pay additional fees for text messages.  The last thing that an agency ‘should’ want is to alienate potential travelers by costing them money for their advertising.

If you are a travel nurse, I would love to hear your thoughts about being text messaged by the travel staffing companies. Alternately, if you are an agency representative. I’m interested in finding out if your agency utilizes text messaging and, if so, in what regard.