10 Questions to Ask Your Travel Nurse Recruiter

Mar 23, 2023

After you have chosen a few travel nursing agencies and recruiters to work with and gotten yourself organized, it’s time to start applying for jobs. Often travel nurse assignments will require a phone interview. You should have the details of the contract and pay package before you set up your interview or even submit an application. The following inquiries are all perfectly reasonable questions and are important factors for most travel nurses.

Keep this list nearby when you are approached with a job offer so you know what to ask the travel nurse recruiter. Some of the answers may be agency policy but can also be facility specific. Before you let any agency submit you for a travel nurse contract, ask your recruiter these questions. If an answer doesn’t resonate with you, ask if it’s negotiable.

10 Questions to Ask Your Travel Nurse Recruiter

1. How many hours am I required to work per week, and are they guaranteed?

Verify the shift you’ll be working and the required hours. You’ll also want to clarify if you’ll still get paid if a shift is canceled and if your stipend gets prorated or if you will be paid the full amount. Some companies will only give you a portion of your housing and/or per diem stipend if you are called off for a shift. It’s best to try and ensure this will not affect your stipends, as this is a sizable portion of your income.

I once was canceled at 7:05 AM. I had just finished report, and then another nurse walked over and tried to take report on the same patients. My phone had missed a call from the unit at the exact same time. I was livid. I told my manager I had missed her phone call because I was sitting two feet away from her taking report. Unfortunately, I didn’t have guaranteed hours, and it affected my stipend. I did demand four hours of pay, although that didn’t feel like it was enough. So, make sure you ask this question.

2. If I miss hours, is there an additional penalty that I incur?

You should also ask what happens if you need to call out for a shift. Are your stipends affected? (most likely, yes) And are you going to be charged for the shift? Some facilities will actually make you pay back the money you would have been paid or make it up with an extra shift in the future. This is obviously good to know in advance.

3. How far away is housing and what does it include?

If you are planning on taking the agency-provided housing, you should know what you are going to be responsible for bringing along. Does the housing include kitchenware or linens? What furniture is present? Is there a TV? Are things like utilities, cable and internet included?

You also need to know what kind of commute you are facing. Ask how far the housing is from the facility, both in distance and average travel time. You should look up the public transportation options if you are going to a large city and if driving is the best option.

If you are not taking the provided housing, ask how much the stipend is and the average cost of rent in the area. You can do further online research on your own to investigate the cost of living in your desired area and the best sites for travel nurse housing.

4. What will my first day be like?

The travel nurse recruiter may not have a specific answer to this question but should be able to give you a general idea. Your average onboarding includes 1-2 days of general hospital orientation and computer work and 1-2 days on the unit shadowing a nurse.

Nursing interview questions

5. What agency resources are available if I have an issue?

The recruiter can direct you to people within the agency that can help you sort through clinical, technical or onboarding documentation issues. The contact information for these people should be easy to find on the internal agency website. If you cannot find it, ask your recruiter or have them email you a quick go-to list for your reference.

As you’re vetting agencies it’s a great idea to compare the pros and cons, but remember to always only let one agency per facility apply for you. Having multiple agencies send the same applications on your behalf can look foolish.

6. What is the pay rate and can I have a copy of the pay package?

You can always ask for a copy of the pay package. It should match what you have been promised verbally. You can try asking for the bill rate, but most agencies are hesitant to give out this information. Furthermore, when they do, there is no way for you, or anyone, to verify the information is true and accurate. I will say I’ve known some travel nurses to ask managers at the hospital for the bill rate and they’ve most often gotten it. They do this when they are thinking about asking for an extension and deciding whether or not it’s appropriate to ask for more money.

The bill rate, to be clear, is the total amount of money the hospital is giving to the agency to hire you as a temporary worker. You would be able to clearly see how much you’re earning versus what the agency is keeping. Obviously, you work for them, so it’s expected that they make some money off of you. But, if something seems glaringly wrong, ask around on social media groups and I am sure you will get a clear answer if your bill rate is fair or not. More often than not, it’s reasonable, and it just makes the travel nurse feel better to know they are earning what they are worth.

If a recruiter declines to give you the bill rate it doesn’t mean you should dump them. On the contrary, if they do so without hesitation, keep them around! They are willing to be transparent with you and you should give them the same respect.

7. What are travel nursing medical benefits and how much do they cost?

This seems like an obvious question but in the excitement of things insurance coverage can be easily forgotten. If you’ll need insurance to include dependents, be sure to mention that as well. You should also ask when the benefits start so you can plan. Is it on day 1 or after 30 days? If you have multiple agencies offering you the same job, the answers to questions like these may help you choose who you should work with since coverage and rates will also vary.

8. What is the overtime rate and how are you paid for hours past your shift?

OT is usually known as time and a half. Meaning you make 1.5x your taxable hourly base rate for any hours over 40 hours worked. In travel nursing, if you are taking tax-free stipends, this could mean that your OT rate is very low (because the majority of a blended rate is tax-free stipends). Often, agencies will call it something else, like “other hours” or “extra hours” and apply it to anything over your committed time. This rate is often higher than 1.5x your taxable hourly wage.

In many hospitals, these substantial “extra hours” rates are why administration highly discourages managers from letting travelers work overtime. During one of my travel nurse assignments, I chose to leave my pay as 1.5x at one assignment, solely so I could work OT. More hours worked is still more hours paid and I’d rather have the opportunity to earn more. My OT rate was less than what the local agency nurses were making hourly. Personally, I’d rather see travel nursing agencies pay more in general and keep OT rates low. I’d prefer an extra $200-$300/week instead of an insanely high OT rate.

9. Are there any travel, completion or sign-on bonuses?

Bonuses are taxed higher than every other form of income. You can try asking if the bonus amount can be split among your 13 weeks of pay, added to your stipend or even figured into your hourly wage. This is then either tax-free or taxed far less than a bonus payment.

travel nurse with family

10. What’s the pet or family member policy?

If you are planning on bringing a pet or travel nursing with family, always ask in advance. Don’t just assume that all housing is the same if you have a pet. There may be a deposit or monthly fee for having a pet in the housing provided by an agency. If you need extra rooms for family members, ask what the extra charges will be per month.

After getting answers to all your questions and you’ve agreed to the offer, apply for the job and begin preparing for your interview. Get yourself even better prepared for your interview and land your next job with our Tips for Nailing Nursing Interviews.

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Rachel Norton BSN, RN

Rachel Norton became an RN in 2007 and has been part of the Vivian team since 2019. She has always worked in critical care, and spent the first 12 years of her career working in a surgical neuroscience trauma ICU. She's also worked as a flight nurse, started travel nursing in 2010 and continued working in the ICU until joining Vivian full-time in 2022. As a user researcher, Rachel advocates for healthcare workers to help bridge the gap between employee and employer expectations.