What to Expect When You Extend Your Travel Nurse Assignment

This article was provided by LRS Healthcare.

So, you’re considering extending your current travel assignment, but you aren’t sure how to go about it. It’s simple—ask your recruiter! It could be during the first or last week of your current assignment. It’s never too early to start thinking ahead.

The standard healthcare travel assignment is typically 13 weeks. Massive transformations can occur during 13 weeks—physically, mentally, emotionally…professionally. And yet, in the grand scheme of things, it’s a short period. As a healthcare traveler, you’re familiar with the application process, the move, and the extensive paperwork, licensing, and background checks involved when starting a new travel assignment. Repeating this process every 90-120 days can be exhausting.

That said, if you’re nearing the end of your current assignment and the thought of packing up and moving on to the next unknown home seems daunting, extending your travel assignment could be a great option!

There are many reasons travelers extend their contracts, even several benefits of extending travel assignments. Maybe you found yourself loving your current job and surroundings and aren’t quite ready to leave the connections you’ve made. Maybe you impressed the facility’s leadership, and they’re not ready to see you go. Whatever the reason, explore your options and use your recruiter as a sounding board.

Here’s what you might expect when extending your healthcare travel assignment:

• First, send your recruiter a text, call or email and let them know you’re thinking about extending your current contract. Be sure to include how long you’d like to extend. This could vary from 2 weeks to 39 weeks. You’ll also want to let your on-site staff manager know you’re interested in extending as they can work with your recruiter to get your request approved.

• Then, your recruiter will then draft a new contract agreement that will include your new extension dates. This is a good time to identify and formally request any planned time off (PTO). Requests for time off are more likely to get approved for travelers who work extended assignments. Especially if they are approved before your contract extension starts. Additionally, for extended travelers, there will be no lapse in insurance coverage if your new contract is received within the same month as your previous contract end date. The gap between the previous contract and the new contract is less than 30 days! This means your contracts do not have to be back-to-back, and you can use time in between to truly explore and experience the corners of the city!

• Finally, when your contract has been approved through the facility, you can take a sigh of relief that you no longer have to pack up your world and move to your next unknown home. Settle into a temporary comfort zone and prepare for the next several weeks of your adventure.

LRS Healthcare

At LRS Healthcare, our team of recruiters is here to assist you in landing your dream job and advocating for our travelers. If you have questions regarding a new travel assignment or extending your current contract, call us at 800. 811.0064, or reach out to your recruiter directly.

We hope you found these tips for knowing if you want to extend your travel nurse assignment helpful. Have you extended your assignment? Do you have any tips to share with your fellow travel nurses? Comment them below.

Are you looking for your next travel nurse assignment? Click here to view our job board. Do you have an assignment lined up but need to secure housing? Click here to search our housing page.