Negotiate directly without a travel company?

[wgrady]

Is it possible to negotiate directly with a hospital for an assignment without a travel nurse company? Has anyone had any experience with this?

Wendy

[Anonymous]

It is possible. Probable that you might get an assignment. Probably not. You might want to check into becoming an independent contractor. There are many informative sites on the net to research that route.

Good Luck

WR,,, three commas for Becca

[wgrady]

I am a retired military OR nurse with my BSN and 20 yrs of nursing experience, so I won't need benefits such as medical, 401K, etc. Nor do I wish to go thru the independant contractor route. I would just like to make $25-$35 per hour plus a housing stipend of $900-1200 per month and work either 3 12's or 4 days on and 3 off. Wouldn't negotiating directly save the typical $100 per hour a travel nurse company charges a hospital? Plus, I would be able to go where I want instead of having to rely on 3-4 recruiters trying to find assignments that are in thier commissions best interest. Why would this be a difficult thing to do? Do hospitals trust the travel nurse companies more than a nurse willing to meet them directly who has excellant referrals?

[Anonymous]

First of all I seriously doubt many hospitals are paying $100 per hour.. You can try. I am telling you I doubt you will get consistent contracts. Hospitals don't work that way. Why would you settle for $25 when you can get consistently $35 with an agency. And where do you think you can get good housing at $900 per month.. Remember you are gonna have to pay for every thing up front.. And most hospitals don't pay weekly on a contract. You might have to wait 45+ days to get paid. And you will have to do all your taxes etc. Find an apt in a strange city, set up utilities, phone, cable internet service also.. And rent furniture. Remember that you might be doing a short term contract i.e. 13 weeks and many apts won't rent that short a period of time and can charge huge deposits..

This is how I look at agencies. Do I NEED an agency ..NO I am a Registered Nurse with a much needed speciality. Do I WANT an agency.. Yes, I want them to do the leg work, I want them to deal with the housing, furniture people etc..

Imagine renting an apt and arriving to find it a dump.. Then you have to get out of the lease. Try to work and do a good job and find another place to live. Not so easy to work when you don't know where you are gonna be sleeping tonight.

Again JMHO..

I don't want to work more than 36-40 hours a week and when you run your own business you work much more than that.

When I'm at the end of my contract I don't want to have to spend my days off looking for another one..

WR,,, three commas for Becca

You will be an independent contactor if you get your own contract whether you want to be or not.. There are some seasonal contracts in AZ and So Cali where the hospitals will get your housing for you etc..If that's what you want. I don't know about OR.. Check out the hospital in Yuma AZ.

[Anonymous]

Sorry I missed your last question.. Hospitals are used to dealing with companies not individuals.. And they don't want to give nurses that much autonomy.

JMHO

WR,,, three commas for Becca

[wgrady]

WN,

Thanks for your input. Just to clarify, I want to return to San Antonio, Tx where I used to live. There are many apts for $700-900 per month. My husband is going to stay with his mom, scout out a good place and setup the utilites, etc. As far as pay, $25-$35 is the range I have understtod this market offers, which will work for me. Naturally, I want to negotiate for the most I can get.

Are you familiar with how much a hospital pays a travel nurse company per hour for an OR nurse in Texas?
If they are going to pay me $35 an hour, give me an apt with all utilities paid, a 401K, insurance benefits and additional long term bonuses, plus pay for all thier admin overhead, rent, taxes etc, wouldn't they need to get somewhere around that much per hour from the hospitals to cover all those costs? My understanding of the pay is that typically the nurse will get about 1/3 of what the hospital pays the travel nurse company. So if they pay me $35 plus all the perks, wouldn't that be about $100 per hour that they get from the hospital or am I grossly mistaken?

[Anonymous]

I'd say the later. I've seen bill rates, been quoted bill rates and they are around 60-70.. Many of the things you are talking about are tax deductible to the company. Most companies are operating on a 20% margin or less..

I believe Texas has a hospital association. And therefore all contracts go through that association I can't think of the name of it.

I don't work in hospitals any more but I have been traveling for almost 2 years and I read and listen alot about what's going on in the travel field.

Are you planning to send your husband out each time you change jobs?
Do you have a "tax home" in order to claim all the tax deductions you would be entitled to?
Do you know that if you stay away from your "tax home" for more than a year you are no longer considered a travelor and therefore can't benefit from all the tax deductions the rest of us can?

IMHO .. I would work somewhere else for $35 and then take a nice long visit to where ever I thought I needed to be.

I have been doing this for almost 2 years and have never made less than $35. In Nevada I made $37. I made $35 in NC...I took 8 weeks off last year and still made very close to $70k..

Going it alone is certainly doable but I still doubt you will get a contract on your own especially in Texas.
Also, Texas is a low paying state. Although I may go to San Antonio.

If you would care to discuss this further you can e-mail me through this site. I have a gazillion minutes on my cell. Or we can continue here.. Just sometimes this gets tedious ..What with typing and making sense etc.

You do know that most hospitals require you to carry worker's comp if you are not on their payroll?

WR,,, three commas for Becca

I doubt there are many travel nurses in the OR in Texas making $35 because of it's low pay and the association. I could be wrong.. Have you checked to see if the hospitals in San Antonio even need OR nurses..

[wgrady]

WN,

It sounds like you know your stuff. There are currently 3u openings in San Antonio. My husband is retired and we can afford for him to prescout areas that have openings.

I agree with you that negotiating as an individual isn't the best bet. Let me ask a different question.

Is it possible to call a hospital directly that has a opening advertised in the local newspaper, speak to the right person in charge of hiring, ask if they are willing to hire a travel nurse, find out which travel nurse companies they do business with, join that company as a travel nurse and request that position?

Is this another way of getting a desired location or am I really in left field?

[Anonymous]

That's exactly how you would do it.. Find out if that hospital uses travelers and what company they use..

WR,,, three commas for Becca

I'd talk to HR. I did that at my old home hospital because I knew an ICU nurse who was looking in that area..

[Anonymous]

Also going it on your own can present problems. What happens if your contract is cut. Do you have a reserve fund for such an occasion. With a travel company they would have other assignments they might be able to plug you right into quickly other wise your husband might have to scramble to find you another assignment.

If you go independent I would make him an employee.. Your administative assistant.. Another tax deduction. And have him work for you finding housing, assignments, etc.

Just ruminating here.. Thinking of scenarios..

WR,,, three commas for Becca

What if the assignment is the pits.. Who will go to bat for you..Not that all agencies would but some will. They have to weight having you work for them or keeping their contract with the hospital..Sometimes they will "side" with the nurse sometimes not..