Accepting Your First Job Offer So, you’ve received your first travel nurse offer! This is an exciting time, but if this is your first travel nursing assignment, you may not know what’s next or how to officially accept an offer. Here’s our full guide to accepting your first travel nurse assignment!

You Received an Offer…Now What? Accepting Your First Travel Assignment

How long does it take to receive an offer?

You've applied for your ideal healthcare travel job. ✅ You've met with a Fusion Medical Staffing recruiter. ✅ You've interviewed with the facility's hiring manager. ✅ How long do you have to wait for an offer?

The time it takes to receive an offer depends on a few factors. As soon as you complete your interview, you enter the offer stage of the process. From there, the relationship between the facility and the agency is one of the biggest factors when it comes to the timing of receiving job offers. Plus, demand for your specialty, seasonality, and the market may affect how quickly you hear back, too.

What constitutes an official offer?

A travel job offer is official when the facility communicates the offer to the travel agency. Any verbal offer either from a hiring manager during your interview or from your recruiter is not an official offer.

Sometimes, hiring managers will ask travelers if they would accept the assignment during the interview. This may seem like an official offer, but it’s not. In these cases, it’s best to say you’re highly likely to accept but will need to go over the final details with agency before officially accepting.

Do you have to accept an offer?

No, you do not have to accept an offer! Travelers are not required to accept an assignment just because a facility made an offer. You could discover during the interview that the job isn’t a good fit or not find the contract acceptable.

However, if you make it a habit to decline offers with an agency, there could be potential consequences. A lot of work goes into submitting a candidate, securing an interview, and maintaining relationships with facilities. So, if a traveler declines offers often, an agency may decide to not work with them anymore. This can be avoided by having a good relationship with your recruiter and communicating what you’re looking for in a job, so they can help find the best fit for you.

How long do you have to accept an offer?

You should accept or decline an offer as quickly as possible. Once the facility sends the offer, they’re expecting to hear back as soon as possible, usually within 48 hours. It’s not likely they will accommodate a lengthy delay since they’re trying to get the job filled quickly. Especially if the candidate declines the offer, the facility may have to interview other candidates, which takes time.

How to officially accept an offer

The key to successfully accepting an offer is understanding your contract and all its elements. This is important because once you sign the travel nurse contract, you will be held to all the terms of the contract.

When you’re ready to accept a position, you’ll tell your recruiter and then they will draw up a written contract for you. Read through this contract thoroughly and make sure everything you discussed with your recruiter as far as your salary and preferences are included before signing. Pay attention to these items and ensure you agree with them:

Guaranteed hours
Penalties for hospital canceled hours and shifts
Missed hour penalties (sickness)
Housing location/stipend amount
- This should include any housing promises (washer/dryer, TV, etc.)
Hourly, holiday and overtime rates with detailed per-diem (non-taxable) rate/amount
Assigned shift and unit
On call requirements
Start date
End date
Travel reimbursements and date of distribution
Floating agreements
Benefits
Penalties for early termination
Any requested days off

Your travel contract should also include any agreements that you and the hospital manager agreed on. If anything is missing from the contract or you have any issues, tell your recruiter as soon as possible and don’t sign. When the contract is to your liking you can sign it and send it back for the recruiter to sign. Keep a copy of the final contract signed by your recruiter and have it accessible to you during your assignment.

When you receive a travel job offer, there's a variety of actions you can take. Be sure to review the contract to ensure you agree with all the terms and conditions. If there are uncertainties, reach out to your recruiter to ask questions or negotiate terms. Either way, receiving a job offer is exciting! Don't be afraid to celebrate yourself.