As a travel nurse, you will come across many staffing agencies and recruiters during your travel nursing journey. Many agencies are really great at putting their nurses first. They send gifts, food, and check-in on you as your own mother would.
But sometimes there are agencies out there that don’t treat you as well as they should. This could range from pay discrepancy issues to housing problems, to contract challenges. When you come across these “bad apples” it can make you feel frustrated as well as helpless! Where do you go? Who do you turn to? You feel like screaming to the travel nursing world about your problem. While this may make you feel better temporarily, it won’t fix the problem. Your voice is being heard… but not by the right people. You need to document your grievance and must start first by filing a formal complaint to the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations.
Just who is “NATHO”? According to their website, they are a “non-profit association of travel healthcare organizations, founded in 2008 to promote ethical business practices in the travel healthcare industry, setting the gold standard for conduct that is aligned among member agencies on behalf of travel healthcare candidates and clients.” NATHO advocates for the travel RN through this process and can help to positively affect change in individual cases or industry-wide if the need is there.
Below is a step by step guide to filing a formal complaint and the actual formal complaint form
NATHO Ethics Committee Formal Complaint
<Complainant Name>
<Address>
<Phone number>
<email address>
<Current Date>
Dear NATHO Ethics Committee Chairperson:
Indicate any request for anonymity. Please keep in mind that certain details may have to be divulged to determine if wrongdoing has occurred. In that event, your permission to reveal said details will be necessary.
Please include a detailed account of how the NATHO member in question has violated the NATHO Code of Ethics. Provide a direct reference to sections of the code that are in violation.
Also include action, if any is possible, by the member in violation that would provide sufficient remediation of the violation.
Salutation
Attach any evidence that may support the claim
Send to NATHO via email as a signed pdf document or via post to:
National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO)
555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1902
New York, NY 10018
