If you have experience as a travel nurse, are you treated differently than a staff nurse?

Depends on the facility you are contracting with… I’ve always been treated well by staff and management, but other travelers tell stories of abusive scheduling, float requirements, and treatment by core staff.

Working as a Locum can be lonely. Just remember you are there to work and get paid. You will get the hardest assignments and at times work harder than the normal staff.

I’ve been to 6 hospitals and have been treated very well at 5 of them.

Ascension of St Vincent in Indianapolis has an extremely toxic work environment and pits their staff against their travelers on a systems level. By design their travelers get worse assignments, and management treats you like FTE fodder.

Everywhere else has been lovely. Hospitals and nurses recognize that supplementary staff is a sign that the hospital
Is struggling to find experienced nurses, and generally they are happy someone is there to help.
I’ve also met a lot of travelers who clearly don’t care about patient care, and they give travelers a bad reputation. Obviously, you will be treated differently if it’s clear that you don’t care. Some agencies do little to no screening of their candidates, or match unqualified candidates to fulfill their contract quota, and any charge nurse or nurse manager that doesn’t watch out for this is doing their patients a disservice.