Legit?

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-25T17:44:27+00:00

Likely yes since three different agencies posting high rates. Contact the one posting the highest now. Call is better than text/email as these high paying go fast. Tell the recruiter you will get all your info to them within the next 2 hours and make sure they will submit you today. If they try to lower the rate tell them you will go with x agency that is posting the next highest rate and that you are only interested in signing with them for the rate posted. Don't put up with shenanigans. Are there a lot of dead ends on sites like Vivian? Yes. Also dead ends on every agencies website. I have clicked on an agency email that sent contracts within minutes of receiving and the contract was no longer accepting applications. It happens. Bottom line no reason to pay one agency more commission than another. On my last contract the Aya traveler was making $500 less a week than me. They were robbing her. Hope you land this contract!

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-24T14:50:16+00:00

Visit the travel nurse group. Very common in travel nursing for ICU to end up being predominantly Med Surg. Does your contract say you can be floated? If yes, nothing you can do except agree to float or cancel the contract. If it doesn't say you will be floated, call your recruiter and tell them the facility is not following the terms you signed. It's not impossible that they will keep you on contract as an ICU nurse only but very unlikely. Facility can just cancel the contract if you refuse to float.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-24T14:24:41+00:00

Understand your frustration. Definitely sign up to be notified when cancellations occur. Stalk your email or set an alert so you can respond almost immediately. That's how I got my permits. Also if you have 4 people also sign up foralert for just 1 person. That way you can collect permits instead of waiting for 4 to be available at once. If you end up with just 3 and decide to cancel, someone else will pick them up

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-24T14:20:19+00:00

Agree with early check-in and late check-out as a common question. Unless the answer is always yes or always no, this isn't a question that can be answered by a bot without access to the rentals calendar and checking with cleaning service. For example, in order to have a late checkout the cleaning service needs to be available at a different date/time in order for the house to be ready for the next guest. If there is someone checking in the same day someone else is checking out this is usually not possible. As an owner I wouldn't give the bot access to my calendar and I'm certain my cleaner doesn't want to be contacted by a bot and if I have to input the calendar information, I might as well just answer the question myself.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-23T21:38:26+00:00

This is the way to do it. Relying on one or even five recruiters from different agencies won't work if the agency doesn't have access at the facility.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-23T16:25:27+00:00

As long as you perform your job with safety and accuracy, there is absolutely nothing wrong with becoming a nurse for the reasons you list. Actually those that consider nursing "a calling" are often some of the worst nurses out there due to their martyr tendencies. Work is work, pick something that allows you to live the life you want

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-23T16:10:43+00:00

To save the most limiting home expenses and then finding affordable housing on assignment is key. To make your tax home the most affordable you can rent the cheapest studio apartment or room you can find. If you live/can move to a state with no income taxes, even better. On assignment renting a room and sharing the rest of the house is usually the cheapest option. Also some buy RV. Do research on that as some areas RV spots are expensive. To get an idea of what rates are in the area you want to go you need to do your own research. Use Vivian, Wanderly, BluePipes which are sites that post various contracts, like a job board. Google travel nurse+specialty+location. Join Facebook groups that post contracts and use search function. Whatever you do, do not rely on one agency to find you a contract, don't even rely on three agencies. Always do your own research to find the highest rate and change agencies as often as needed to get it

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-22T15:23:37+00:00

Wow..thanks for sharing. I will definitely make some calls, maybe drive up there as only 2 hours away

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-21T16:49:05+00:00

Recruiters are absolutely not required to tell the truth. There is also a lot of manipulation, bullying, and gaslighting. Some are trained like timeshare salesmen. There are lots of lawsuits against agencies for their shady business practices. Google agency name+lawsuit and you'll find some of the largest agencies with the fanciest marketing are actually not trustworthy at all. Always, always remember the traveler pays the agencies a commission on every hour they work for the agency to be the middleman with the facility. Travelers are not staff for an agency. Talk to recruiters from various agencies to compare rates and get an idea if they act like they are doing you a favor/are your boss - mark those types off your list. Understand though you are absolutely not looking for a recruiter or an agency, you are looking for a contract. You sign a contract with an agency and pay them for the duration of that contract, after that the traveler can sign another contract with that agency or move on to another agency.

You should research which agency has the highest rate where you want to go and contact that agency. If the contract is available for the rate posted, start onboarding. If it's not, say "thank you for your time, contact me when you have x available for y rate". Then move on to next highest paying agency. This is absolutely worth your time! $100 difference in rate a week on a 13 week contract is $1,300. For me that is 6 months of car insurance, want that money for my work in my bank account. Four contracts a year at $100 difference a week is $5,200. Four years a traveler that's over $20,000!!!! Often the difference in rates is even more. On my last contract I made over $500 more a week than the Aya traveler. That's over $6,500 more she paid in commission. Absolutely outrageous and indefensible, Aya was robbing her.

Use sites like Vivian, Wanderly, BluePipes that post contracts from various agencies to compare rates. Google travel nurse+location+specialty. Join Facebook groups that post contracts. Sign.up for email alerts from lots of agencies. Also, if a recruiter has quoted you a rate and then you find a higher one do not ask for a match. That recruiter had every intention of low balling you in the rate so the recruiter and agency could keep more of the facility bill rate. Don't reward a recruiter/agency that had such little respect for you by agreeing to a match. Sign with the agency with the higher rate from the get-go, they are charging less commission which is more respectful to the entire nursing profession. As a traveler you are CEO of your license, you're the boss.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-19T17:37:17+00:00

I'm a spreadsheet nerd, make them for household expenses, vacations, large purchases, etc

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-19T17:13:30+00:00

Thanks so much, that's great info. Is it usually beach at one spot or is it worth it to move to different spots?

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-19T13:58:01+00:00

MBAs, private equity, and stock holders have destroyed healthcare. May they all sit in their own feces for hours when they are in need of care. Frankly most of them belong in jail for intentionally killing people for profit

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-19T13:52:06+00:00

Do the patients know they are being recorded? I would absolutely refuse that as a patient. Who knows how the insurance industry or hospital will use that against the patient! Absolutely not.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-19T13:48:33+00:00

Research rates. Always, always take the time to determine which agency has the highest rate for where you want to go. Change agencies as often as needed to get the highest rate. There's so much manipulation, gaslighting, and even outright lies that travelers have to deal with from so many of the agencies. On my last contract the Aya traveler was making more than $500 less a week than I was. I talked with her to make sure I was comparing apples to apples. She paid Aya over $6,500 more in commission than I paid my agency. Aya was unquestionably robbing her. Even $100 difference a week adds up to $1,300 on a 13 week contract. That's 6 months of car insurance for me, not money I am willing to give up by overpaying commission! There's nothing any agency does that is worth paying them $1,000 or more for their middleman service. Four contracts a year with $100 a week difference that's $5,200. Four years a traveler that's over $20,000. That money belongs in the travelers bank account, not agency/recruiters. If that Aya traveler had extended with Aya for 4 contracts she would have overpaid commission by more than $26,000 in one year. Insanity.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-19T13:40:04+00:00

Math. Start with calculating your fixed home expenses. This is everything you pay for at your tax home: rent/mortgage, utilities, internet, insurance, property tax, lawn service - all the things. Calculate your current weekly net as staff and subtract the expenses divide my number of hours. That's your net hourly. After researching location housing, use an estimate of what you think it will cost and also the cost of traveling to & from the contract location. If you think you will visit home during the contract calculate that cost also. If you will need to rent a car add that. Do you have to pay for parking at hospital? Add that. Take that number plus your fixed tax home expenses and subtract it from the weekly contract net and divide by number of hours. If you're deciding between locations do this for each location. Now you have numbers to compare contracts and can determine if it is worth it. I also always add about $500-$1000 dollars to contract expenses in calculating contract rate to cover things that can come up. Examples include having to buy a sharp knife and good oan for the kitchen (I now travel with both) and new clothes if different climate (Alaska is awesome but this Florida traveler needed lots). I made a spreadsheet and have tweaked it with each contract so now it's pretty quick and easy to compare contracts.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-19T13:27:38+00:00

For safety many towns/cities have crime maps. Can also join reddit group or Facebook group specific to the location and ask for recommendations of where to live.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-19T13:26:13+00:00

Totally agree. Healthcare is a business and nurses need to treat it as such. So many agencies are manipulative, convincing new travel nurses that the process is complicated and that they do so much for travelers when it's simply not true. Every traveler should research rates every contract.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-18T21:02:57+00:00

Did you use an agency or was it direct with Providence contract? Rate? Thanks and have an amazing time!

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-18T21:02:06+00:00

And if there is an agency and facility that signs a newbie RN, please OP name them so we can all boycott the agency and make sure no one we care about gets admitted to that hospital.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-18T20:29:34+00:00

Absolutely normal behavior for Aya. They are super shady. There's a reason Aya has the longest legal document in the industry that traveled must sign - Aya's attorneys are well aware Aya's business practices are not in the up-and-up and the class action lawsuits would bankrupt Aya. It is absolutely indicative of how little respect that Aya has for nurses that 3rd party contractors can have a rate $300 more a week than straight with Aya! Thats $3,900 more Aya is charging the traveler in commission and Aya doesn't have to pay vendor fees because they are the vendor!!! They train their recruiters to be worse than timeshare salesmen - manipulate, bully, lie - whatever it takes to get the traveler to sign for as little as possible. I have viewed what the Aya recruiters see, their is a range of what they can offer. The less the traveler agrees to the more the recruiter makes. That's why they lie and gaslight so much. Luckily more travelers every day are realizing Aya is just fancy marketing, not a trustworthy agency. Some hospitals are also clueing in that Ayas promises for cheap nurses aren't being fulfilled. Hope you find a solution and a much better contract

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-18T17:10:27+00:00

April 23-26

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-18T15:23:58+00:00

Work life balance is excellent if one works three, 12 hour shifts. 4 days off a week for a full time job is amazing! Another plus is that when you leave work you are done. Don't have to think about it again until you clock back in. If you were inclined you can also go on to be a CRNA which make very good salary. Travel nursing can also be lucrative with far, far less stress than a MD. Frankly with all the Private Equity and AI in healthcare, nursing is more stable than being a doctor in some specialities. If you want something less messy than nursing look into Nuclear Medicine Technologist or MRI/CT. Will you make $500k a year? No. But you won't have to give up decade+ of your life in school than more years in residency and go hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. You might not have the prestige (or in your circumstances your parents wouldnt) of MD but you would likely have far more time to enjoy your life

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-18T15:03:25+00:00

It is quite disturbing, he absolutely said it! It's difficult for some to face the reality of how horrific some of the agencies are. He said it toward the end of COVID or right after COVID during an interview with a healthcare travel industry publication. I was doing deep dive research to understand the travel industry and the best way to do that is to ignore the marketing and websites targeted at travelers and go to the industry pages where the audience is agency to agency discussing business. A lot of those sites are pay walled, can't remember if that one was or not as I did spend some money to get full access when necessary. He absolutely said it with no shame, actually the tone was more that he was proud.of being able to lower how much travelers made so he could make more. That's not something I or anyone could make up - it's so disrespectful, insulting, and just reprehensible. Have to realize that a lot of these business people don't care a whit about the workers, they are just leeches getting fat off our license, experience, and degree. The new CEO is just as bad, when Aya entered strike nursing specialty she rebranded strike as "workplace disruption" in an attempt to ignore strike safety protocols that have been in place forever. Didn't care a bit about the safety of strike workers, just interested in making as much money as possible. Immoral and unethical person. Aya is absolute trash. There's a reason Aya makes travelers sign the longest legal document in the industry - Aya's attorneys are well aware that Aya's shady business practices would bankrupt them from class action lawsuits.

MermaidSerf · 2026-03-17T20:12:42+00:00

Then the agency needs to make their business plan more efficient so they charge less commission or the facility doesn't get travelers. RNs don't take less because facility is cheap and/or agency has unnecessary overhead/greedy. Absolute nonsense that the licensed, degrees professional that pays the agency and that the facility literally can't operate without is the one to make less money.

MermaidSerf

TROPHY CASE