Our story starts with a 21-year-old CNA named Pete Hietpas. Pete was diligently working in the Fox Valley Wisconsin area with a variety of staffing agencies, but something was missing. He loved caring for his patients, but felt that the staffing agencies were exchanging compassion for competitiveness. Why can’t there be a balanced approach built on strong relationships with the nurses and clients? He was determined to change that.
As a result, he started Nurses PRN in 1995 to be a model for the healthcare staffing industry– being competitive in the market place, yet still maintaining a compassionate heart. Nurses PRN’s mission is to positively impact lives through our Nurse First Focus, Client Satisfaction, and Giving Back.
Today that model is thriving. Pete, as president, guides Nurses PRN in building authentic relationships with both our nurses and clients – driven by the simple idea that better nursing care leads to better patient care – all supported by a dedicated internal staff.
Our company culture is strongly supported by Christian values and activities to remind us that our success provides us the opportunity to serve and give back to our communities. This is the spirit of caregiving. This is Nurses PRN.
What should travelers know about Nurses PRN?
At Nurses PRN, we pride ourselves on being “Nurse First” focused. We value a relationship with our travelers that is honest, supportive, and up-front. The last thing a nurse needs is a staffing agency that gives false promises and lacks in great communication. There is always someone on staff to assist our nurses – 24/7. Our travelers never need to walk alone. At the end of the day, we have our nurses’ best interests at heart and want each travel nurse to have an unforgettable experience.
What is the team culture like at Nurses PRN?
Our culture is second to none, if we do say so ourselves! Our team is full of dynamic, energetic, and hard-working people. We never shy away from a challenge and always find a reason to celebrate. If it’s National Donut Day, you can bet your bottom dollar someone is on donut duty for the office. Creating a culture that is positive, upbeat, and celebratory is so crucial for the success and happiness of our team. If our internal team is happy and fulfilled, our nurses will feel that too. The energy is contagious and we want our travelers to feel that too.
Along with our love for celebrating the little things in life. We also enjoy stretching our hearts and giving back to our communities. Nurses PRN gives each internal employee 16 hours of volunteer time off (VTO) throughout the year. We are encouraged to use all of these hours and give back to organizations that mean the most to us.
During the summer months, you’ll find us with our tool belts on building homes for “Habitat for Humanity” and at Christmas-time we’re caroling at local nursing homes (being tone-deaf is a requirement to work here). Regardless of the time of year, our greatest joy is bringing happiness and fulfillment to others.
How does the leadership at Nurses PRN define success for the employees as well as success for the travelers?
The double R factor – retention and referrals. These are two of the most important pieces to our success. If we’re retaining our travelers that means we’re doing everything possible to either extend an existing contract or find a travel nurse their next one. As a team, we’re always one step ahead to ensure we’re locking in their next gig before the current one is up.
This goes without saying, but receiving referrals is one of the greatest compliments we can get as a company. It speaks volumes to our team and their dedication to our travelers. Our recruiters not only assist with job matching, they take a vested interest in the lives of our travelers. One of our travelers was invited to his recruiter’s wedding…no joke! This isn’t a trainable attribute, you cannot teach someone to be relational, caring, and empathetic. These attributes are innately rooted into each one of our team members. You either got it or you don’t. And we got it…
What are the hopes for the Nurses PRN + Wanderly partnership in 2020/2021? How can we continue to best support each other?
Our goal is to continue to match travelers with fantastic job opportunities throughout the country. Our team works tirelessly for our nurses and we value that Wanderly has created an easy to use platform for travel nurses to search positions and agencies.
At Nurses PRN, we place a high emphasis on being “Nurse First” focused. So naturally, we admire that Wanderly is always looking for ways to better the travel nurse experience. We’re excited to innovatively work together in the future for the betterment of travelers around the country!
What myths about the travel healthcare industry would Nurses PRN want to correct for someone considering taking an assignment?
MYTH: Travel nurses can pick their own schedules.
Most of the time travelers are filling a vacancy from another nurse. Typically management will do their best to accommodate schedule needs, but there is no guarantee.
MYTH: Travel nurses will be paid more based upon experience. (Ex: ICU RN with 20 years of experience vs ICU RN with 3 years of experience)
The more experience you have under your belt may help you get an interview quicker than someone else; however, it doesn’t necessarily equate to more pay.
A nurse with lesser experience, may have a leg up depending on their type of experience. For example, if a newer ICU RN has traveled and worked in a Level 1 Trauma and Teaching hospital and the 20 year veteran has not, the newer nurse may be a better fit. It truly all depends on what the hospital manager is looking for in a candidate.
MYTH: Travel RN’s aren’t treated well by hospital staff members.
A lot of our travel nurses fit right in. When we are able to find them a good fit, they typically extend for numerous contracts at the same facility. There are times when they feel staff members treat them differently, but that could also just be a difference in personalities.
MYTH: Assignments don’t last long and never turn into permanent positions.
Contracts will often get extended and depending on the need the position could turn into a permanent opportunity. Never say never!
MYTH: I am a travel nurse, so I automatically qualify for tax free money.
Travel nurses qualify for tax free money if they’re 50 miles away from the job.
What gives the team at Nurses PRN the feeling of purpose in the day-to-day?
Building relationships with our travel nurses is one of the best parts of our jobs. We refuse to operate as “job order takers”. Our business
was founded on so much more than that. We truly want to understand the interworking of our nurses and get to the heart of what’s most important to them –professionally and personally.
What are the plans for the future of Nurses PRN? What is planned for 2020?
As a team we are always finding unique ways to place our travelers in positions that best fit them professionally and personally. As you can imagine when we started this year, we didn’t intend for there to be a global pandemic. However, through it all our travelers have been resilient, fighters, and true heroes of the healthcare industry. We could not be more proud and humbled to walk beside them. This year and beyond, our team will always be a constant support, cheerleader, and advocate to our travel nurses.
What else would you like to share?
We would love for you to follow us on social media! Get an up-close and personal look at what happens in our office, our volunteer efforts, blogs, latest job postings, and so much more!
Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/NursesPRNJobBoard/?business_id=302264007250085
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