What to ask a travel nurse recruiter before you sign a contract

A good recruiter call should leave you with fewer guesses

A weekly number, city, shift, and start date are useful as a first pass. They are not enough to compare an assignment safely. Before you move forward, slow the offer down and ask the questions that affect your money, schedule, housing, license timing, benefits dates, and first-week logistics.

Mara rule: did they put that in writing? A phone call can start the conversation, but the details that affect real decisions should be documented somewhere you can find later.

• Use this as a script before a recruiter call, during the call, and again before signing.
• Start with the details that could change your decision: pay, guaranteed hours, cancellation language, housing, floating, start date, credentialing, and benefits timing if relevant.
• If the recruiter does not know an answer, ask who can clarify it and where the written source lives.

Pay package questions to ask first

Start with the full pay breakdown in writing. Do not compare offers from screenshots alone. You want the assumptions behind the weekly number before the number starts doing all the talking.

Keep tax, stipend, reimbursement, and per diem language in question form unless a qualified source has reviewed it. This article does not tell you what is taxable, allowed, or financially best. It tells you what to ask before relying on a number.

• Can you send the full pay package breakdown in writing?
• What taxable hourly rate, scheduled weekly hours, stipends, reimbursements, overtime, call, callback, holiday, charge, bonus, and extension terms are included?
• What conditions could change the advertised weekly total?
• Is any reimbursement or bonus included in the advertised weekly number?

Guaranteed hours, cancellations, and start-date changes

Guaranteed-hour and cancellation language can decide how much risk sits behind a pretty offer. Do not turn this into contract interpretation. Ask where the written language appears, who explains it, and what could affect pay, housing, travel, or reimbursement timing.

The safer framing is simple: if a change would cost you money or scramble your housing, ask before you spend money or sign anything.

• How many hours are guaranteed, and where is that written?
• What happens if the facility cancels shifts, delays orientation, or changes the start date?
• What happens if the assignment ends early, and where can I read the cancellation language before signing?
• Who can clarify the written language if the answer is unclear?

Schedule, floating, and unit-fit questions

A job can look good until the schedule, floating expectations, or unit details are not what you pictured. Ask for specifics before the contract becomes the only place to find them.

Do not make clinical, scope, or licensing assumptions from a recruiter text. Verify facility expectations and official requirements where needed.

• What is the exact shift, schedule pattern, weekend expectation, holiday expectation, and call expectation?
• Which unit is listed, and what patient population, charting system, and orientation plan should I expect?
• Which units can travelers float to, and are those expectations documented?
• Who do I contact if first-week instructions, badge access, EHR training, or unit expectations do not match what I was told?

Housing, travel, reimbursement, and credential timing

If you arrange your own housing, the recruiter may not control the rental. But assignment timing still affects housing risk. A delayed start date, uncertain credentialing item, or vague cancellation term can turn a deposit into a problem.

Treat reimbursements and credentialing the same way: ask when money is paid, what documentation is required, which steps could delay the start, and who confirms you are cleared to travel or begin orientation.

• Is the assignment fully confirmed before I send a housing deposit?
• Does the agency offer housing support or only a stipend, and who is responsible for written housing terms if agency housing is involved?
• What reimbursements are included, when are they paid, and what receipts or completion requirements apply?
• What licensing, credentialing, compliance, background, health, module, or facility-specific items could delay my start?

Benefits, coverage timing, and who helps after hours

Benefits timing belongs in an organizing checklist, not a hard-sell insurance pitch. If benefits dates affect prescriptions, appointments, dependents, or a contract gap, ask for the official plan documents or benefits contact instead of relying on a casual answer.

Also ask who helps when something changes outside business hours. Travel assignments do not only break at convenient times.

• Am I eligible for agency benefits on this assignment, and where can I review official plan documents or benefits contacts?
• When would benefits begin and end if timing matters to my situation?
• Who handles payroll questions, housing issues if agency housing is involved, facility-access problems, and after-hours urgent assignment issues?
• What is the escalation path if I cannot reach my recruiter?

Red flags that mean slow down

A vague answer does not always mean a bad assignment. It does mean you still have homework. Pause before moving forward when the conversation avoids the written details that affect pay, schedule, housing, credentialing, or benefits dates.

The best recruiter conversations do not just sell the assignment. They make the assignment clearer.

• The recruiter only discusses the weekly number, not the breakdown.
• Verbal answers do not match the written offer.
• Guaranteed hours, cancellation terms, reimbursement timing, or start-date status are vague.
• You are pressured to send a housing deposit before the assignment is firmly confirmed.
• Benefits dates matter, but no one can point you to official documents or a benefits contact.
• You are told “that does not happen” instead of being shown where the language lives.

What to save before you say yes

Create one assignment folder before the details start scattering across texts, portals, emails, and screenshots. The goal is not to build a legal case. The goal is to stop relying on memory when money, housing, schedule, and travel are involved.

Ask before you pack the car. If it affects your money, schedule, housing, license, safety, or benefits timing, ask the Mara question: did they put that in writing?