“The grass isn’t always greener”
Do I stay or should I go?
It’s that time of the contract again. When your manager pulls you aside and asks
“Have you thought about whether you want to extend?”
This post will help you weight the pros and cons of staying at your current contract versus moving on to a new assignment.
Let’s start by saying if you are completely miserable at your current assignment, then it’s time to go. Don’t stay somewhere you are miserable or at a facility that is unsafe.
Hopefully you are in a decent situation and you are trying to weight the pros and cons of staying versus leaving.
MOVING ON TO A NEW ASSIGNMENT
Every time you move, you lose money. It’s inevitable.
As travelers, when we aren’t working, we don’t get paid. So every time you swap contracts, you are moving and most likely missing out on one week of work – one week of PAY.
You will also have a lot of money “floating” around.
You will be moving out of your current rental and waiting on that security deposit to come back to your bank account (assuming you didn’t destroy the place). You will be moving to a new rental and have to pay a security deposit and first months rent up front. Lots of money floating around. So you need to make sure you still have enough money saved up to account for those and also cost of new scrubs (if needed), meals, moving costs (travel – gas or flights) to your new assignment. When you get to your new place, you may need to buy some items that are missing (i.e. more toilet paper, paper towels, kitchen items, cleaning supplies, spices, etc.)
You don’t need to be scared to move on to another assignment, you just need to be aware of your money and make sure you are managing it in a way that you can juggle all of this “floating” money and still be able to live your life and show up to the next hospital!
The next hospital might not be what you had hoped.
We romanticize the next contract. Maybe the next assignment is going to pay you more. Maybe the next assignment is 3x12s. Maybe the next assignment won’t require you to take call. Maybe you are moving to a bucket list city that you have always dreamed of living.
Whatever the reason. I can ensure you that the grass is not always greener.
I can tell you from personal experience, that you may have dreamed of living in a certain city and then you get there for a contract and realize it’s not all that. Or vice vera, a hospital or city may really blow me away and have me thinking “should I move here?”
A new contract can be scary because you really don’t know what you are getting into sometimes. Usually hospitals that need travelers are hurting for some reason. There is a REASON people don’t want to work there. Now that reason can range. Maybe the hospital is SUPER busy. Maybe its a huge trauma I with 1,000 beds and not enough staff to cover it. Maybe the hospital doesn’t pay their employees as much as other hospitals in the area. Maybe the hospital is not run well. Maybe the hospital is in a rough area (crime ridden city, middle of nowhere, etc.). Maybe the hospital is one of 5 hospitals in a 2 mile radius and there aren’t enough employees to fill all of the need (competition at its finest). Maybe the hospital is unsafe. Maybe management is mean, doesn’t care or condescending.
All of these scenarios exist in travel healthcare. So think about if where you are currently working is THAT bad. Or if its actually not that bad of a place to work and you can definitely put up with it for another assignment because the grass is not always greener.
Moving can be stressful.
Need I say more? Moving can seriously be stressful. The amount of stress is going to depend on who you are and how you handle the obstacles that come with moving. Depending on if you drive or fly. Depending on how far you have to go. Depending on how much stuff you have to lug around from assignment to assignment. Depending on if you have pets (I travel with my three cats).
We have chosen to drive our cars to every assignment for the four years we have been traveling. We feel that having our two cars is helpful and works for us. Find what works for you. You could fly to your assignment and rent a car (more money, but this might be practical for you). You could drive your car to each assignment – that means long drives, more time lost between assignments, and more miles on your car (something to consider if you lease your car). You could fly to your assignment and ship your car cross country (something to consider if you have to move REALLY far in a shorter amount of time). You could move to a walkable city and not even need a car! Instead, use public transit, walk, bike, ride the train. The possibilities are endless but it’s something to think about.
Making more money. (The reason we travel)
This is obviously one of the main reasons that people get into travel healthcare. For the money… duh! It is great money, no doubt! So if moving on to a new assignment/contract would allow you to make a significantly better paycheck, then it might be worth jumping ship.
I want to advise you to think about the cost of living in the area. Too often I have met travelers who take a high paying assignment in an EXPENSIVE city. Although it might sound nice to be making that much money, you may not be TAKING HOME all of that money because you may end up paying “an arm and a leg” for a place to live. Something to consider. I ALWAYS look at placed to live in the area to make sure that there are at least 10 places to live with reasonable rent before applying to the job (I also have to make sure I find pet friendly housing which reduces the amount of available rentals).
Moving to a new city. (A close second reason I do travel healthcare).
I absolutely love moving to a new city. That “first breath” feeling when you get to your new “home” and really soak it in that you LIVE here! It’s so fun. I love immersing myself in the city knowing that I have (at least) three whole months to explore it and feel like a local.
I love getting into my new rental and finding a new spot for all of my things. Personally, we move all of our stuff in our two jeeps. When we first started traveling we would drive our two cars AND a 8×5 uHaul trailer full of our stuff. We soon realized that was rediculous and not practical for us. We now rent furnished homes/apartments and only bring our “personal essentials.” Things like: summer and winter clothes, winter coats/scarves, some kitchen items (favorite pan, spices, reusable cups, glass tupperware for meal prepping, our own kitchen knives), all of the items to make our cats happy (toys, cat tree that can be taken apart, litter boxes, water fountain, automatic feeders). Lowkey having cats is actually like having children with the amount of stuff we have to bring for them.
Alex and I like using “Travel healthcare” as a way to explore new places that we may never have thought of living but we may want to settle down in someday. We LOVE swee little Cincinnati, Ohio, but we are open to seeing what other states/cities speak to us. And getting to explore new cities while we make money doing travel healthcare, is the ideal situation for us.
You may fall in love with the hospital
Let’s be honest. No one WANTS to work. Or at least, I haven’t met anyone that wouldn’t want to just float through life if they could. But we WANT the life that work provides for us. So we want to find the best place to work that feels fun, not miserable, and hopefully pays well.
So maybe moving to a new assignment will mean that you fall in love with that hospital. Maybe their workflow really makes sense and the job feels effortless. Maybe the nurses start all of the IVs and you hate starting IVs so this is perfect for you to be here long term (lol). Maybe the hours are awesome and you work 3x12s in a row and then get 4 days off to relax and do whatever your heart desires. Maybe they don’t make you take call. Maybe you don’t have to work weekends. Maybe your coworkers are seriously the nicest and best people you have ever met and you really fit in with them. Maybe your manager actually CARES about you as an employee and working for them feels worth it. Maybe parking doesn’t suck. Whatever the reason for why you “love a place”, it might be enough reason to want to settle down there (at least for a little while).
You may meet a lifelong friend or partner.
I would say I have made a friend at every contract that I could reach out to and we would pick back up like no time had passed. That is an amazing part about starting a new assignment! You never know who you might meet.
Whether you are single and are open to the potential of a significant other. Or you are solo and want to make new travel buddies along the way. There are so many reasons to put yourself out there and MEET people in real life. I love this part about travel. Getting to meet new people and form lifelong friendships.
STAYING AT YOUR CURRENT ASSIGNMENT
You just need a break from moving & being the new kid on the block.
Sometimes you don’t stay at assignment because you are one hundred percent gung ho about the place. But maybe its tolerable, you like your hours, and the people are pretty nice.
Or maybe you love your rental home and you like the friends you have made. Maybe you have a favorite coffee shop that you walk to on fridays and you aren’t ready to give that up yet. Maybe you are a 20 minute drive from the beach. Maybe you are living close to family.
My point is that maybe you have some good things going for you and the job isn’t bad enough to make you want to run for the hills. If the money is good and you are able to afford rent and all your other “essential” purchases, then its OKAY to stay put.
Sometimes staying put is what your soul needs. Maybe you are sick of moving every three months and you really just need a break. Maybe it would be nice to have a flow at the hospital and not be the new person again.
I find myself having to remind myself that its okay to stay put. I don’t have anyone to impress. If I want to stay at a contract longer because I like the place or maybe I just don’t want to move again. That is a good reason.
You save money.
Like I said before, you really do lose money everytime you move to a new contract. It’s true.
So staying put can, in turn, allow you to save more money. Maybe you even end up picking up some extra call or overtime shifts because you are comfortable enough at the hospital to do so. Yay!
Did I mention you should try to negotiate a pay increase?
Think about it, you are a trained employee that is willing to stay and help out longer. They should be willing to pay you more. This is something to discuss with your travel agency recruiter when the time comes to sign an extension. If they aren’t able to pay you any more money, you could try negotiating hours (maybe ask for 3x12s instead of 4x10s OR asking for day shift instead of night shift). Maybe you ask to be trained on cardiacs or ask to learn the ALPHA CT scanner at the other location. Maybe you ask for your agency to pay for you to park in the closer lot. Maybe you ask for another scrub reimbursement. Negotiate something that benefits you.
You are already “in the zone”
Let’s face it, after the first contract, you are in the zone. You know where the IV supplies are, you’ve found your favorite bathroom in the hospital, and your “flow” with doing your job is on point. For me, learning new protocols every assignment is a little annoying. So once I get the hang of how they scan things at the hospital and how the radologists like their exams, I am feeling good. So sometimes it is nice to stay at an assignment longer just to stay in a good flow and not be at the bottom of the totem pole again.
More time to explore
I love moving to a new city and taking time to explore. I am a foodie at heart. So I have to make sure I try all of the delicious restaurants while I am on assignment in this new place. So if I stay a little longer, I get to try more places or maybe even go back to the places that were TO DIE for 🙂
I have found that I really get to emerse myself in a place when I stay a second contract. I am in a groove at work so my brain feels good about that. Which frees up more mental capacity for other things like exploring a new area I haven’t been or taking a day trip to the next closest city. Maybe this opens up time for you to get outside and hike or you decide to take up a weekly pilates class. All of these things come because you gave yourself time to settle in and now you can be free and explore.
You decrease stress.
We are creatures of habit. As much as I would insist that I react well to change, deep down, I know it takes me about 1 month to fully adjust to a new place and get into a routine again. So staying put can sometimes mean that I will be less stressed. Stress can literally cause you to become ill. Stress can give you headaches. Stress can make you feel depressed. If staying put would be good for your mental and physical wellbeing, then that might be enough reason to stay put for right now.
STICK TO THE DECISION
The biggest advice I can give you is once you make the decision to stay or to go, stick to it.
If you decide to stay, commit to it. Don’t start looking at job postings after you said you would extend. This will only make you sad and will make you feel like you made the wrong decision. Whatever decision you made was right for you at the time, so stick with it.
If you decide to leave, then use those last few weeks to enjoy your time. Explore. Do the things you want to do. Don’t regret your decision. Get excited for your next chapter.
#beRAD