Tag: nurses

It’s Our Golden Birthday!

We are celebrating our Golden Birthday on June 29, 2023. Fidelity On Call will be 29 years old having started in 1994!

When Fidelity was formed, we had one goal – provide the best of care for those we served. Since that time, we have never deviated from that goal.

We hire only the best – we call our travel team the ELITE TEAM. That is because we expect them to be the best. We thoroughly screen those who apply. They must have a discipline-free license, great references, and a background that shows they are quality.

It is also important that they become part of our team. Contracts are from 8-13 weeks. They could choose to leave us for another travel company or even to work directly. Although we can’t keep this from happening, we do many things to show them we are the best company to work for. Pay, bonuses and benefits are important, but we have found that professional respect and being there for them is just as important. We recognize them and give rewards – All Exceeds, Daisy Awards, Birthdays, Company Anniversaries, Nurses Week, Christmas, and even for remaining part of our team. If they have something happen in their life (birth, death, wedding), we acknowledge that. We have contests and create opportunities for them to be engaged. We also recognize them on a systematic basis. Plus, our recruiters personally know their team. They coach, counsel, encourage, and make sure our travel team members know we are in their corner as long as they are dedicated to doing their best. All this and more makes Fidelity On Call stand out from others.

We treat our travel team with respect and fairness. We treat our customers the same way. We prefer to work directly with them, but as independent facilities have been bought out to become part of large corporations, some of our customers work through VMS. In several instances, we have been successful in being “carved out” of VMS contracts and allowed to work directly. Repeatedly, we are told that we are the best. Fidelity On Call has always worked hard for our customers – and would never assign a traveler to a facility that was not an exact match for the opening. That simply means if the hospital needs a NICU nurse, that is what they will receive. They further appreciate that we never allow someone to start a contract without all the proper documentation, orientation, testing, and checks that go into making sure they are total quality. We have had numerous calls from facilities to tell us about something that just happened to them (and we could relate some hair-raising ones) to make sure we don’t do the same. We tell them we would never do that. Their response is always: “We should have known”. We have worked hard for our reputation and we would never sacrifice our commitment to quality.

With many companies it is all about the money. Our thought has always been if we do what is right by our customers and our employees the money will follow.

Fidelity On Call couldn’t do what it does without a dedicated internal team. Once again, we treat our office team with respect and fairness. We also reward them for the job they do and provide them with great benefits. Our senior team has been with Fidelity for over 15 years. Others in the company for 7 years or longer.

Fidelity On Call applied for certification with the Joint Commission the year they opened it up to travel companies. This requires additional reporting and auditing, but we gladly do it and proudly display the Gold Seal. The State of Illinois has passed legislation that requires an abundance of reporting in order to maintain our Labor License. Our team has all the systems in place to accomplish this as seamlessly as possible.

Twenty-nine years in business on June 29! Much has changed over that time. But, we also know there is so much more than can be done. We look forward to what the next 29 years may bring!

Why Travel Pay Is NOT Tied to Your Performance

The differences between travel healthcare pay and staff pay have long been discussed. But more so recently due to the rapid way travel pay went up and now is returning to a new normal range. Many travelers are upset as they feel the lowering of rates is a direct reflection of their work performance, skill set, etc. Nothing could be any further from the truth.

Travel healthcare pay has always been determined by contracted bill rates that are negotiated with either the Vendor Management company and hospital or the hospital directly. The rates are determined by supply and demand, industry standards, and geographic area.

They also vary based on specialties. How the travelers pay is then computed from the specific bill rate is: travel distance, meal allowance, mileage allowances, housing allowances and then the hourly rate. There are lots of factors involved as it is not a one size fits all approach. Rates are not determined by any specific nurse going into that position. The bill rate is determined prior to the need ever getting placed with the agency or vendor. Whether that traveler has been there for one contract or 13 contracts, that travelers pay is not an individually made decision.

Staff pay used to be based on seniority, tenure on the job, performance etc. Seemingly hospitals’ standards for pay packages have changed greatly as well. We have seen nurses with one year being offered staff job pay packages which are the same as a nurse with 15 years of experience on the same job. While in the past staff job performance and tenure would rate pay, that does not seem to be the case now.

Our best definition of a traveler’s success has never been defined by pay. In fact, we don’t believe you should determine your worth by money. In the travel nurse industry, money comes and goes and while we understand its importance at the end of the day, one’s pay does not determine who one is as a person or better yet how they are as a healthcare provider. After all, we have all worked with someone who has been paid higher than us, that was not as knowledgeable or as good. Being asked to extend, or being invited back to a facility to help again, are two ways healthcare providers can know they have been a successful traveler.

In addition, notes of appreciation from your employer of appreciation, or above expectation contract evaluations, are other ways, we at Fidelity On Call feel that our team is valued and appreciated. Moreover, you need to determine that your worth is not based on a dollar sign. Your worth is so much more than that.

Back to Basics for Travelers

With Fidelity On Call, all of our travel nurses receive a contract that spells out everything that will happen during their assignment – rate of pay, days off, facility assignment, floor assignment and so much more.

Here are some of the basics you agree to:

1) Attendance

Travel nurses are the back up team. Facilities are already short staffed and when travelers are utilized, our attendance is paramount to the success of patient care at that facility.

-If you accept a travel contract, you are held accountable for the verbal and written agreement of working the shift and hours agreed to. Any personal time off must have been preapproved and in writing in the contract. Should something arise during the course of the contract, traveler should be communicating with their recruiter on the best course of action to take.

-If you have an emergency or illness that prohibits you from being able to work a scheduled shift, you would contact your recruiter. You would also alert the hospital that you are unable to make it.

-Any shifts you call off for must be made up as quickly as possible. That make up shift will not be paid as overtime. Make up shifts are paid at the contracted rate as regular hours.

2) Schedules

As a travel nurse, we ask you to send in your schedule to your recruiter once you receive it from the facility. Any changes that happen throughout the schedule provided us also need to be reported. This tracking is to help check and balance payroll and to help ensure we do not make errors on your payroll. Having your schedule also helps us figure out when to contact you if we need to reach you – helps to NOT Wake you up if you are a night shift worker.

3) Communication

They say communication is half the battle. Never truer words spoken. Communication in travel healthcare is paramount to ensure success for you as a traveler and also our success with you. If someone from the office team reaches out to you, please ensure you communicate back with that person as quickly as you are able to do so. Perhaps the calls are inquiries regarding payroll, schedule, compliance etc. All communication is important. Not responding leads to more work on both of our parts.

We appreciate our nurses who are dedicated to fulfilling every commitment of their contract. If you have questions on anything stated above, please contact your recruiter.

Our Team is Walking the WALK

Since our inception in 1994, our mission has never changed: to provide only the best in patient care. How do we know if our office team and our travel team are walking the walk?

Weekly, we have nurses that are achieving not only DAISY nominations, but also receiving DAISY Awards. The Daisy was somewhat elusive to travelers, however, we see our team acquiring these awards every week! The end of contract evaluations returned from our clients repeatedly show ABOVE average and/or EXCEEDS Expectations.

Many contain additional remarks on the quality, dependability, attitude and respect the hospital has for our nurse.  These comments are becoming more and more frequent which not only shows the strength of our travel team but also the hiring practices utilized by our recruiters to obtain “only the best.”

Of course, when a nurse’s contract is repeatedly extended (in many cases year after year), you know their performance is exceptional!

We have clients that rely solely on our company to provide the staffing they need. They love the ability to pick up the phone anytime – day or night, weekday or weekend – and know they will be able to speak to a person at our company.

We recently helped a client open a new unit. They called to thank us for making that opening even more successful than they had anticipated.  With the team we supplied them, they were able to open at full patient capacity.

Fidelity On Call has few openings in the home office and these usually occur because the company is growing and we need an additional team member. We have successfully hired in all departments this year.

With that said, we have office team members who have been with our company over a decade and a few over two decades. That says a lot.

Retention is important to our company. No employee should feel like they are just a number. Every person is valued. As we hire, we understand travelers come and go for a variety of reasons. But, we are always SOOO happy when they decide to come back – they choose us! Our recruiters and our entire company work very hard to ensure our travel team retention is just as high as our internal staff retention.

What Fidelity On Call knows for sure is a company is only as good as the people they employ. We could not be happier with that success. We strive to hire the best and treat our team the best.

Clearly our clients are reaping the rewards and we appreciate them sharing feedback with us. We look forward to continuing on our mission to hire only the best!

The History of Travel Nursing

Travel nursing has certainly become “trendy” with a larger percentage of the nursing population in the past couple of years.  Many nurses have left their staff jobs to become a part of this industry. Some because of the increased pay that has happened since 2020. This put the spotlight on a career path that has been around for the last 40 years.
Continue reading The History of Travel Nursing