If you’ve never worked as a traveling healthcare professional before, read below for some insight on what you can expect the first day of your first travel assignment.
- First, you should come prepared yourself. You’ll more than likely have a chance to speak with your assignment supervisor before you arrive for assignment. It’s at this time that you should ask him or her some important questions.
- What is the normal patient-to-healthcare-provider ratio?
- Will I be asked to float before regular staff?
- Will I get orientation for the whole medical facility, or just my unit/department?
- How long is your orientation process?
- Will I be asked to pass any tests before starting?
- Have you had travelers working in your department/unit before?
- Will I be able to take on overtime hours (as applicable)?
- What about continuing education opportunities that occur while I’m on assignment? Will I be able to participate in them as well as your regular staff?
- When you arrive for your assignment, you’ll undoubtedly be given a tour of at least your department. You’ll meet your new colleagues and you’ll probably get a list of important phone numbers and numbers of supervisors. (If you don’t get one, ask for one.)
- Give your contact information to anyone you think should have it.
- As you get the tour, take good notes and keep them with you. You’ll probably need to take notes for the first two or three days of your assignment, too.
- The fact that you’ll have lots of questions is to be expected and your new colleagues and supervisors more than likely will be happy to answer as many of them as you have, so long as you ask them in a spirit of wanting to be a part of the team and being useful.
- Don’t start saying how you did things this or that way at your last job or assignment. No one likes a know-it-all or braggart. Each assignment will have its own quirks; learn to deal with them.
- That doesn’t mean that if you see a way a process or procedure could be improved that you need to keep silent. But you need to prove yourself first. Wait at last two or three weeks before you start making suggestions.
- If you should find yourself with time on your hands, ask your supervisor if there’s anything else you can do.
- Introduce yourself to everyone you meet.
Are you outgoing? Do you have a sense of humor? Are you a “go-with-the-flow” type of person with a flexible attitude? Then contact the recruiters at MedPro Healthcare Staffing. We look forward to hearing from you!
