Questions to Ask Travel Nurse Recruiter
Questions for a first call with a travel nurse recruiter, covering how the pay package splits, housing stipends, guaranteed hours, licensure timing, and what happens when a facility cancels a contract.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How long have you been recruiting, and how many nurses are you working with right now?
Why ask it
A recruiter carrying eighty nurses cannot answer a text at 6am when your badge does not work on day one. A dodged number, or a vague answer like plenty, tells you what support will actually feel like.
Which facilities and states do you place nurses in, and do you hold direct contracts or submit through a vendor management system?
Why ask it
Agencies without a direct contract pass your profile through a middle layer, which usually means a lower rate and slower answers on submission status. You learn where the money goes before you try to negotiate.
Can you break this pay package into taxable hourly and non-taxable stipends for me?
Why ask it
One blended number hides how much of your pay evaporates if the stipend portion is later disallowed. A recruiter who cannot split it on the spot is reading from a sheet they do not control.
What is the housing stipend for this location, and have nurses actually found places at that rate?
Why ask it
Compare the figure against real one-month rentals in that zip code before you accept it. If the stipend sits well under market, you are quietly subsidizing the assignment out of your taxable pay.
Do I need to maintain a tax home to take the stipends, and what changes if I do not?
Why ask it
Stipends stay non-taxable only if you are genuinely duplicating expenses at a permanent residence. A recruiter who waves this off is leaving you exposed at filing time rather than saving you paperwork.
How many hours are guaranteed per week, and what happens if the hospital sends me home?
Why ask it
The guarantee is the difference between a slow week and an unpaid one. Listen for whether it covers low census call-offs and who has authority to send a traveler home early.
What does the cancellation clause say, and how much notice can the facility give?
Why ask it
Many travel contracts let the hospital cancel on very little notice, which matters more than a dollar an hour on the rate. If the recruiter says cancellations basically never happen, ask them to read you the paragraph.
If the hospital cancels me in week two, what specifically will you do to get me working again?
Why ask it
This separates agencies with real bench depth from ones with a single client hospital. Vague reassurance here predicts weeks of unpaid searching while your lease keeps running.
What license do I need for this assignment, who pays for it, and how long is processing right now?
Why ask it
A compact license does not cover every state, and some boards run months behind. The answer tells you whether the start date is realistic and who absorbs the fee if it slips.
Which certifications, modules, and screenings do I need before I start, and does the agency reimburse them?
Why ask it
Titers, fit testing, drug screens, and online modules add up, and some agencies deduct the cost from an early check. Getting the list in writing keeps your first paycheck from arriving hundreds short.
When does health insurance start, and does it lapse between assignments?
Why ask it
Coverage that begins on day thirty, or drops during the gap between contracts, is a real expense you can plan around only if you ask. Push on the between-contracts case, not just the start date.
What is the ratio and patient population on the unit and shift I would be covering?
Why ask it
Acuity and ratios decide whether thirteen weeks is manageable, and recruiters frequently do not know. I will find out from the manager is a more trustworthy answer than a confident guess.
Will I be floated to other units, and is that written into the contract?
Why ask it
Float language buried in the fine print is how a med-surg traveler ends up covering step-down. If floating is expected, get the specific units named before you sign.
Is scheduling done in blocks, self-scheduled, or assigned by the charge nurse?
Why ask it
This shapes thirteen weeks of your life, especially if you plan to fly home on stretches off. A vague answer usually means the charge nurse decides week to week and travelers get what is left.
Am I paid for orientation, and how many hours of it are there?
Why ask it
Unpaid orientation is common and can quietly cost a week of income. The number of hours also hints at how much the facility invests in travelers before putting them on the floor.
What travel reimbursement do I get, and is it paid up front or on a later check?
Why ask it
Money that arrives in week three means you are floating airfare and a deposit on a credit card. Timing matters here more than the size of the amount.
Have you placed nurses at this facility before, and what did they tell you afterward?
Why ask it
Traveler word of mouth is specific: charting system, how the night charge treats agency staff, whether the parking is a mile out. Generic praise means you would be their first placement there.
If I run into a problem with the manager mid-assignment, who do I call, and what do you actually do about it?
Why ask it
You want a named escalation path, not an open invitation to call anytime. Ask what they did the last time a nurse called them about a unit manager and listen for a real story.
How do extensions work, and does the rate usually change when I extend?
Why ask it
Extension rates often fall because the agency knows you are settled and unlikely to move. Raising it in the first conversation sets up the negotiation before you are attached to the apartment.
If you were taking this contract yourself, what part of it would you want to look at twice?
Why ask it
Recruiters know which contracts carry a catch, and a straight one will name it. Nothing at all is either inexperience or a sales reflex, and both are useful to know.
Working with a Travel Nurse Recruiter
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the call
Decide your floor, not your dream number
Work out the weekly take-home you need after rent in the target city, plus travel home. Recruiters negotiate against uncertainty, so a specific floor ends the conversation faster than a wish.
Work with two or three recruiters, not ten
Duplicate submissions to the same facility get profiles blocked, and a hospital cannot tell which agency sent you first. Keep a written list of who submitted you where and give permission per submission.
Have your file ready
Skills checklist, licenses, certifications, immunization records, and two clinical references reachable by phone. Contracts move in hours, and the nurse whose paperwork is already complete gets the offer.
Reading the offer
- Ask for the pay package in writing with taxable hourly and each stipend listed separately.
- Check the guaranteed hours figure against the shift length: 36 guaranteed against three twelves leaves no slack.
- Find the cancellation notice period and the penalty for leaving early, and compare the two.
- Confirm the exact facility name and unit, not just the city, before you agree to a submission.
- Note when insurance begins and whether it covers the gap to your next contract.
- Look for float requirements, on-call expectations, and holiday coverage language.
- Get the start date, orientation date, and first paycheck date, which are often three different things.
Warning signs
Pressure to accept before you see the contract
A verbal rate is not an offer. If a recruiter needs an answer today but the paperwork comes tomorrow, the terms in the paperwork are the ones that will govern the assignment.
A quoted rate that no one will put in writing
Blended hourly figures shown in a text message and never repeated in the contract are how packages shrink after signing. Ask for the written breakdown every time.
Reluctance to name the facility
Some agencies withhold the hospital name to prevent you shopping the contract elsewhere. You cannot check the unit's reputation or your commute without it, so treat refusal as a reason to slow down.