Aya Healthcare Travel Nursing Agency Review

The demand for travel nursing has skyrocketed, keeping travel nurse agencies busier than ever. These agencies partner with hospitals and travel nurses to fill temporary staffing needs. Hospitals depend on agencies to connect them with competent nurses when staffing shortages occur.

Most travel nurses work with at least one–sometimes multiple–agencies to find a contract. One of the benefits of working with an agency is your recruiter does most of the legwork involved in finding a job. The agency ensures that you have all the necessary licenses, credentials, and lab work before you start an assignment. The drawbacks of working with an agency are that they receive a portion of your salary, and your only job options are limited to the hospitals they have contracts with. 

Aya Healthcare Travel Nurse Agency

Aya claims to be the largest healthcare staffing agency in the US. They have the largest job database for nurses to choose from. Their technology-driven staffing platform provides personalized algorithms to match healthcare professionals with ideal jobs. 

Last year, Aya was honored with the following awards based on voting: 

• Best Staffing Firm to Work For - Staffing Industry Analysts
• Top 100 Companies to Work For - Fortune
• Top Workplace USA - USA Today
• Best Places to Work in Healthcare - Modern Healthcare
• America's Best Recruiting and Temporary Staffing Firms - Forbes
• Best Employers for New Grads - Forbes
• Best Workplaces in Healthcare - Fortune

Aya Healthcare Travel Nursing Stats

• Abundant Opportunities: Aya Healthcare's website currently shows 28,862 healthcare job openings.
• Diverse Professions: They cater not only to travel nurses but also to an array of "allied" professions including paramedics, medical assistants, and respiratory therapists.
• Flexible Choices: In addition to travel positions, Aya offers local per diem jobs and permanent staff positions for those wanting to transition out of travel nursing.
• National Reach: Their job listings extend to all 50 states, ensuring options for everyone.
• Endorsement and Trust: Backed by the endorsement and partnership of 27 state hospital associations, Aya holds a solid reputation with major hospital systems.
• Nursing Pay Spectrum: The travel assignments they offer have a weekly pay ranging from $1,050 to $5,280, as of August 2023.
• No Sign-Up Costs: Enrolling with Aya doesn't come with any sign-up fees, making it a very user-friendly process.
• Supportive Assistance: Aya takes care of the expenses and paperwork related to credentialing and licensure, which allows nurses to focus on nursing.

Aya Healthcare Travel Nursing Agency Review

Ease of Signing Up 

Before signing up with Aya, you can browse their available jobs and pay packages. If you see a job that fits your preferences, you can easily make an account in less than a minute. Then, you can click “I’m Interested” on jobs you like, and it directly alerts your recruiter. Your recruiter will be in touch to help you land your ideal assignment. 

Communication

Most communications are between nurses and their recruiters. Recruiters are available by text, email, or phone call. Once you sign a contract for an assignment, your support team will be in contact to ensure that you have all the correct paperwork and licensure in place. 

Pay and Benefits

Aya pays their nurses weekly. A typical paycheck is broken down into your hourly pay, housing stipend, meals and incidentals, and any additional personal reimbursements. 

They offer these benefits:

• 401K plans
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Sick pay while on assignment
• Perks and discounts
• Aya Scholars Program: The only clinical ladder program to travel nurses in the industry.

Support for Travel Nurses

One thing that sets Aya apart is the support team they provide for you once you sign a contract. In addition to your recruiter, a representative from the Credentialing, Payroll, and Travel Experience Team reach out to you to ensure you are completely ready for your assignment. 

From nursing licenses to finding housing, the Aya support teams have you covered from all angles. 

Other Aya Perks: 

• Scholarships: Aya supports their nurses in advancing their education. They provide up to ten $1,000 scholarships per year for nursing students.
• Free CEU courses: Hospitals don’t always fulfill travel nurses’ CEU annual requirements. Aya provides a free platform to ensure their nurses get their annual hours. 
• Canadian licensure: Aya has a program that helps Canadian RNs get their US license and start work in 2-3 months.
• Active blog: Aya has a blog with great resources for travelers or those interested in travel nursing. 

 

Personal Review of Aya Healthcare

1. Quality of Recruiters

I had a few different recruiters over the course of two years because they either moved jobs or moved up the corporate ladder. Every recruiter I’ve had was quick to respond and available outside typical business hours. They submitted me for the jobs I wanted in a timely manner, and I ended up getting every job I applied for! 

2. Ability to Get a Job Placement

With so many jobs available through Aya, I had plenty of options. Once I found one that fit my specialty, location preference, and pay standards, I sent it to my recruiter. They submitted me and I had a phone interview or automatic offer within a couple of days. Because of my experience and the demand at the time, I got every job I wanted. It was an efficient and streamlined process.

3. Personal Experience Working with Them

I chose Aya because I was nervous about starting travel nursing. I heard that they provided a supportive team that would hold your hand through your first assignment, and I found that to be true and quite helpful at the time. One downside is that Aya has never offered the highest-paying contracts, but the trade-off for efficiency, support, and available jobs made it worth it for me. 

4. Pros and Cons of Aya Healthcare

Pros of working with Aya Healthcare	Cons of working with Aya Healthcare
Paid sick time	Not the highest-paying contracts compared to the rest of the industry
You get a support team that does most of the prep and paperwork for you	Your experience with Aya is dictated by the quality of your recruiter
Easy to find and get a job that fits your preferences	Lack of personable touch due to Aya’s large clientele and “digital-first” strategy
If you want to take a break from travel nursing, Aya can help you find a local per diem or permanent staff job.	You lose benefits if you take more than a 30-day break between assignments.

What Others Are Saying About Aya Healthcare

Bre Weldon and Liz Hughes, both ICU travel nurses, shared their experiences and thoughts about working with Aya.

1. Quality of Recruiters

Bre, who worked with Aya for three assignments, said that the quality of recruiters was “hit or miss.” Her first recruiter was proactive about finding her an assignment but did not listen to her preferences. After a year, she changed to a new recruiter, based on the recommendation of a friend. She said, “This recruiter listened to me and my priorities…they were a good fit for me and were conscious of what I wanted.”

Liz has worked with multiple travel agencies and recruiters. She described her recruiter with Aya as “subpar.” Since Aya was the first travel agency she worked with, Liz said she didn’t know any better and didn’t know what a great recruiter looked like. Often, her recruiter would suggest assignments that were “way off base” for her needs at the time. 

2. Finding an Assignment

Both Bre and Liz agree that Aya’s website is easy to use and is transparent about their pay packages and assignment details.

Bre said that her experience finding an assignment was “low-effort.” Her recruiter and credentialing team did all the prep work and covered all the costs. This is Bre’s “biggest plus” about working with Aya.

Liz found it easy to find an assignment that she wanted based on location, pay, and other preferences. She said, “I don’t remember having any issues with placement once I requested an assignment. I do believe I was submitted in a timely manner.”

3. Their Opinions After Working with Aya

Bre and Liz both expressed that Aya was a good place for them to start travel nursing. Since then, they have moved on to work with other travel agencies. 

Bre shared that the downside to working with a company this big is that they do take a larger portion of your paycheck. She wishes they would prioritize paying their travel nurses more since the nurses are the ones working on the front lines. 

Both nurses agreed that Aya is an organized agency with a seamless onboarding process. They handle a lot of the paperwork and licensure, so the nurses can focus on being a nurse. 

 

How To Work with Aya Healthcare Travel Nursing Agency

Working with Aya is a simple process. If you know someone who likes their Aya recruiter, then reach out to their recruiter directly. They will get you onboarded and help you find jobs. Or, you can simply sign up on their website, start browsing jobs, and a recruiter will be in touch with you. If you want to ask a question, you can fill out their contact form. 

Just like their website and onboarding process, their job board is also user-friendly. You can filter through thousands of jobs to find one that fits your preferences. If you’re not ready to commit yet, no problem. You can still browse their job board and pay packages without creating an account. 

More Agency Reviews

If you're interested in checking out other agencies, here are some other reviews we've done:

• Medical Solutions Travel Agency Review
• Nomad Travel Nursing Review

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