The holidays can be tough, especially as a travel nurse, limiting your shared time with family and friends. However, taking a fall assignment doesn’t necessarily mean you have to miss out on the fun. With the right strategy you, too, can spend quality time with those you love this holiday season.
Below are five tips we’ve compiled to help you score that coveted requested time off.
- Limit your requests: The vendors hospitals work with have to submit all profiles through for consideration. Limit your time off requests to one or two big holidays and five days total at this time of year to gain the best chances of approval.
- Request your time early: Don’t wait until the end of the year to put in your time. Request the five most important days off before being submitted for a job. That way, as long as the hospital approves your dates in the offer, those days are guaranteed off per the contract—and you have it in writing. Any additional days can still be requested and approved by your unit manager once you’re on assignment (and they usually are, as long as it’s not extensive).
- Be flexible: Nurses who are submitted with minimal-to-no requested time off are more likely to get offers than others because it shows they are a more flexible candidate, which is what all hospitals need, especially during this time of year.
- Prioritize your holidays: Be flexible when it comes to holiday shifts, and expect to work one major holiday during your assignment. For example, working on Christmas Day but having New Year’s Day off. Prioritize which major holidays mean the most to you and identify those which you’d be willing to work.
- Think outside the box: Just because you can’t take off every holiday, doesn’t mean you have to miss out on celebrating. Consider requesting off the beginning of a holiday week and celebrate the holiday early or combining holiday celebrations that hit closely throughout the year.
Have questions about how you can gain approval for requested time off? Contact our team or reach out to your recruiter to learn more.
