A travel advocate is one of the most crucial components of an excellent travel nurse career. A good relationship with your advocate keeps your options for amazing opportunities open. As you build trust and rapport, they will better understand what you want in a contract. To ensure you are efficiently working with your advocate, here are five tips to boost your relationship.
Honest Communication
The more your advocate knows about you, the better they can serve your needs. That’s why it is vital to keep an open line of communication, even during non-business hours. Be upfront with what you’re interested in and tell your advocate what you are looking for, what travel nurse location you want to go to, and where you want to work. If you’re searching for a new travel nurse assignment, don’t be afraid to check in every few days to get a status update. Travel nursing is a competitive market, so you and your travel advocate need to be on the same page when a job becomes available.
Transparency
Like honest communication, transparency will strengthen the relationship between you and your travel advocate. Don’t sugarcoat any of your priorities, preferences, and non-negotiables. Bring up any conflicts, worries, or concerns that may arise during your assignment, no matter how small. Their job is to find the best assignment for you, and being honest about your preferences will help with their search and build trust between you.
Ask Questions
There’s no such thing as a wrong question when asking about a travel assignment. Before settling on a travel nurse contract, make a list of questions, including those you may not want to ask.
- How many days of orientation will I get?
- What is the policy for time off?
- What are the perks or benefits?
The more you ask, the better.
Flexibility
Having an open mind is the best way to cultivate a solid nurse-advocate relationship. Your advocate isn’t a genie and can’t always have the perfect job available. You may need to work weekends and expect to float. Be open to traveling to destinations that may not be your first choice but on your list of top three places to visit. You may not get everything you want on every travel assignment, but you can hopefully check off most of the boxes on your wishlist. Being locked into certain specifications could cause you to overlook a great opportunity.
Stay In Touch
Once established, maintaining a good relationship is important because you never know when you or a fellow traveler will need their assistance. Keep your advocate in the loop and check in with them once in a while. As your assignment comes to an end, let them know your status if they haven’t already asked. Are you interested in another assignment? Taking a break? Your travel advocate is still your primary contact, so reach out if you need assistance or have a concern—but don’t forget to share the good stuff too!
Efficiently working with your travel advocate is the best way to get the travel assignment of your dreams. Honesty and transparency is the key to satisfaction for you and them. To begin your journey reach out to our travel nurse agency and check out our travel nurse jobs.
