Ask A Travel Nurse: Travel Nurse Contract Extension

Gypsy,

Thank you,
Marty RN

Thank you for reading The Gypsy Nurse. You have taken the first step on your journey to become A Gypsy Nurse.

Marty,

The ability to extend a travel nurse assignment is variable.  It really depends on the assignment. I've worked as a travel nurse for nearly 9 years, and most of my contracts have offered an extension.  There are times when the hospital will not need an extension because they have hired travelers for a specific reason; EMR conversions are a good example of this.

If you like the hospital and location and would like to extend, simply ask your recruiter about extending.  The recruiter should be able to easily arrange a travel nurse contract extension for you.  This is a huge benefit for a staffing company as their out-of-pocket expenses are lowered by an extension vs a new traveler.

Don't forget to leverage your negotiating abilities for an extension.  The staffing agency will be saving some monies that would go to bringing in a new traveler so use those savings to your benefit by asking for a little something extra.  This could be a 'completion bonus', a small hourly increase or a multitude of other options.