Onestaff Medical provided this article.
When healthcare professionals enter the field of travel nursing, they may wonder, “Can I work with two travel nursing agencies simultaneously?” The short answer is yes, although you’ll want to consider the pros and cons of working with more than one travel nursing agency before deciding to do so. Overall, it depends on what experience you’re looking for as a travel nurse, how much you’re looking to work, and if you can handle the demands of more than one agency.
Let’s find out the advantages and disadvantages of working with more than one travel nursing agency and what you should consider as you choose the right travel nursing agency for you.
3 Pros of Working with Multiple Travel Nurse Staffing Agencies
There can be many advantages to working with two or more travel nurse agencies, including the following:
1. More Opportunities
First, working with multiple travel nursing agencies allows you to take on more assignment opportunities. This is one of the most common reasons travel nurses decide to have more than one agency to fall back on. With more job prospects, you are less likely to deal with the stress of long breaks between assignments and how that may affect you financially.
Additionally, more job options mean you are more likely to find assignments that fully meet your wants and needs rather than accepting subpar assignments that don’t meet your expectations.
2. Salary Increases
If you inquire about a travel nursing assignment from a few different agencies, each agency will likely offer a different salary amount. With this information, you can accept the assignment from the agency offering the highest salary amount, increasing your overall income.
Doing this long-term can result in a large salary increase, making it easier to afford what you want, such as nicer housing, and giving you the flexibility to periodically take breaks between assignments.
3. High-Quality Recruiter Relationships
Working with multiple agencies not only helps diversify your assignment options but also allows you to foster close relationships with more than one recruiter.
Your travel nurse recruiter is someone who should act in your best interest and be a constant support system for you. Working with more than one gives you more people to fall back on if you need additional help and support during your assignments. If your travel nursing assignment is canceled, you have more than one recruiter to support you and transition you to a different location.
4 Cons of Working with Multiple Travel Nurse Staffing Agencies
There are some caveats to consider if you decide to work with multiple travel nursing agencies at one time, including the ones listed below:
1. More Paperwork
Unfortunately, working with more than one agency does mean you will likely have to complete and keep track of more paperwork. Many documents and records will follow you throughout your travel nursing career, including records of your credentials and other qualifications. When you work with multiple agencies, you may double or even triple the amount of paperwork you must complete, making it more challenging to keep track of your records.
If more paperwork is keeping you from trying out other agencies, consider developing an organization system that works for you so you can properly keep track of any documents and easily find them when you need them. Then, if an assignment ever becomes problematic, any contracts and legal documentation will be easier to find and fall back on.
2. Taking On Too Much Work
When you work with more than one travel nursing agency, there’s always the possibility that you will bite off more than you can chew. Taking on too much work at one time can be incredibly stressful and quickly lead to compassion fatigue, which is a common reason many nurses decide to leave the healthcare field completely.
While there can be many perks to working with more than one travel nursing agency, it’s not wise if it comes at the expense of your mental and physical well-being. If you find yourself taking on more work than you can handle, it’s likely time to step back and reevaluate whether it’s the right situation for you or if you’d benefit from having one less agency to answer to.
3. Scheduling Conflicts
Scheduling can quickly become conflicting if you’re trying to meet the demands of more than one agency. For example, assignments may end up overlapping, or you may not be able to accept an assignment from one agency all because you already accepted one from another.
Also, if you’re choosing to take on more than one assignment at once, you may find it difficult to create an effective daily schedule based on the demands of each position, leaving you with little to no downtime outside of work.
4. Travel Nurse Agency Policies
It’s important to remember that some travel nursing agencies may have a conflict-of-interest agreement that you must sign. In this case, if one agency finds out that you’re working with another and it’s against their policies, they may terminate your agreement to work with them.
For this reason, read all angles of your employment contract terms to ensure that working with more than one agency is allowed, and don’t make any assumptions before doing so.
3 Ways to Manage Working with Multiple Travel Nursing Agencies
While working with more than one travel nursing agency can come with its challenges, it can be possible. Consider the following tips as you talk with more than one recruiter.
1. Don’t Talk About Your Other Agencies Directly
Honesty is always the best policy, but you also don’t have an obligation to get into the specifics of each agency. While you shouldn’t get into the specifics of other travel nursing agencies you’re working with, you should be upfront with each recruiter so they can place you in assignments effectively.
This way, your recruiters are aware that they may be working around different assignment schedules, but they don’t have an abundance of information that could lead to conflict down the road.
2. Retain Control Over Your Applications
It can be difficult to balance the trust level you have with your recruiters when it comes to submitting applications for new assignments. On the one hand, having too much trust may lead to being put in an unideal assignment. On the other hand, not having enough trust may mean that you miss out on job opportunities.
Because of this, try to retain a certain amount of control over when your applications are submitted to a new travel nursing assignment. One way to do this is to establish clear guidelines with your recruiter and create a system that works best for both of you. This may mean allowing your recruiter to submit on your behalf only when an assignment fits your needs but consulting you first before submitting if the assignment doesn’t have everything you want.
In addition, if you are working with multiple agencies, you’ll want to consider whether you’ll need more control over when your applications are submitted to ensure you don’t run into scheduling conflicts.
3. Be Honest and Upfront
Being upfront about the fact that you’re working with more than one agency can help ensure that your recruiters place and schedule you in the most effective way possible. Having an honest relationship with your recruiter also means they’ll be more respectful of your situation and more willing to work with you, helping create a stronger nurse-to-recruiter relationship.
Most recruiters know they can’t always offer you everything you want in an assignment, and they know there are recruiters elsewhere who can. A great recruiter won’t hold it against you if you decide to work with another agency, but they’d also rather know this upfront.
While working with more than one travel nursing staffing agency is a great option for securing the position you love, our recruiters at OneStaff Medical are here to help ensure you receive a travel assignment with everything you’re looking for. Contact us today to learn more at 877-783-1483.
Our job board is a great place to search for your next travel nurse assignment. We have you covered with our housing page if housing is an issue. You can search for what you are looking for.
