Moving to Tampa - Any recommendations?

midnightdana · Oct 1, 2004

Hi! I'm moving to Tampa Bay area next year and I wanted to ask for your advice. What nursing agency can you recommend? I want to work per diem shifts at the same time work as staff in a hospital. What hospital in the area has the best working environment? My specialty is cardiac nursing. Your input will be a very great help.[/Q
i like the tampa area except the traffic. i like staff at mease norton plant facilities but not as prn...only as staff. call leah tafalla at rn network
800-803-7812 she's awesome

tpabaylpn · Feb 19, 2005

hi! i have worked for almost all of the agencies around here and I can tell you a ton of things.

Nurses Choice in clearwater 727 446 6000 ( i THINK???)

they are sneaky people with TONS AND TONS of work. Nursing home primarily. They are the #1 busiest agency around. I've been a nurse here since 1999. They are the first called agency at most area nursing homes. They also have a st. petersburg office, and i don't know if they are as busy as clearwater. basically their deal is if you cancel, you "quit" they don't fire you, so they don't have to pay your unemployment if you try to get it. They pay LPN's pretty low, around 17-19 or 20 an hour. You get 70% up front, same day or next day pay, if you work 3-11, and you get the remainder the next week. they will bombard you with work if they like you. They love to know all your personal business, and they are NOT your friends, they are nosy gossipers. I would go back to work in a heart beat for them if they would re hire me.

Intelistaf in tampa. something like buschwood park office center. they have a lot of work for RN's and they also contract with hospice. They work a lot with the morton plant system, which has a lot of specialty work. morton plant has ungodly requirements atleast for lpn's to work agency there. they pay pretty decent and i'm not sure about if they do daily pay or not. they fired me about a year ago.

MSN -Medical Staffing Network. numerous offices. seasonal work for LPN's. sometimes they are slammed, sometimes it's pretty slim pickings. they also go to the morton plant hospital system and generally have a lot of rn work. they pay awesome for LPN's, and the staffing coordinator at one of the major hospitals tells me that that's why MSN isn't used heavily.

Arcadia. located i believe in st. petersburg. i've heard good and bad things. they have favorites. if you need advanced pay they will give it to you if they like you. advanced as in, i haven't worked the shift yet, but i need to buy diapers.

M and M staffing. pinellas park. the sneakiest ever. their favorites work 40 hours. she says you are booked and confirmed but i have learned to call the facility myself whether they like it or not, and i was never booked. i would call the agency back, and she would tell me some excuse, how she and i must not have talked to the same person, etc. also, she takes call a lot and it is impossible most times to get a hold of her, whether to confirm your shift or cancel your shift.

bay care mobile pool is the "agency" inside the morton plant/mease/st. joe's/tampa children's/south florida baptist and maybe st. anthony's. they pay good and are busy.

i understand everyone has their own opinion, but these are the major points to share in my opinion only. i'm not saying i'm right or wrong, just sharing my experiences.

tpabaylpn

msonurse · Mar 17, 2005

Hi! I'm moving to Tampa Bay area next year and I wanted to ask for your advice. What nursing agency can you recommend? I want to work per diem shifts at the same time work as staff in a hospital. What hospital in the area has the best working environment? My specialty is cardiac nursing. Your input will be a very great help.

Nurse Staffing is wonderful. I work out of the one in Sarasota. Lots of good hospitals in Tampa and Saint Pete. Tampa General.