Census has been terrible

[CCU NRS]

I am in OKC (Okla city) and this has been the worst four months that i have ever seen in 7 years of agency nursing, I had been so comfortable in one place that I hadn't even worked anywhere else for 6 years and I have never had a problem getting at least 40 hours a week. In the last month I have had a few different weeks with only 12 and 16 hours. Needless to say I am gettingback out in the foray to work other locations now but it has really been bad all over Okc.

[eddy]

Census in Eastern Kansas has been unusually high for the last several months. I am getting offered 80+ hours a week right now. I am setting my limits at 60 though. Any more is just asking for trouble due to fatigue IMO. But I know several nurses right now doing 80 a week.... crazy!

[NTexNurse]

I do agency in North Texas---the dry spell here was froom The beginning of November til just after Xmas..and I do mean dry dry dry. Having gotten so used to getting 36 hours a week and then some and being able to be picky about the days I wanted to work, it came as quite a blow to MAYBE getting a single 12 hr shift a week and then maybe 4 hrs here and there. Biggest problem was low census but also that a local hospital has an inhouse agency and they shut out all other agencies from the shifts. So I finally signed up for the inhouse agency out of desperation and also agreed to do contract work and now once again the hours are available to a point where I am having to turn shifts down out of exhaustion...but that dry spell was horrible..worst I have seen in years!

[nightingale, RN]

Census is back up in Denver.... whew!!! that was a long and painful dry spell!

[Tinkertots]

Of course you don't have any patients. They are all here in sunny Florida. We could really use the help in the winter! I spoke with a ER nurse yesterday while taking report and she said they have had patients waiting for beds for 2 days! People on vents in the ER waiting for ICU beds too. We have 800+ plus beds in my hospital and not enough nurses. So many hospitals offer seasonal contracts too paying 32-35/hr for floor nurses. Most are 12-18 wk contracts.. Anyway..."ya'll" come on down!

[mattsmom81]

We have stretches like yours too, Tinkertots, where ER is busting with vent/ICU patients cuz all our beds are filled to capacity... there is literally nowhere to put them. Doncha hate playing musical beds all shift long....when the medsurg patients get discharged everyone gets transferred down a notch. Sometimes this is all the day nurses do, and administration can't understand why this transferring, discharging cycle takes so much of their time. Another reason to love nights as we get less of this.

Recently a corporate buy out resulted in closure of several hospitals in my area which is behind this bed shortage at peak times of the year. But then of course we have our 'dry spells' too.

My hubby wants to visit Florida again so I may indeed 'travel nurse' there in the future! :)