Treatment of Agency Staff

I cast my vote for treated the same. In some hospitals you are treated well in others all are dumped on, same s--t, different address.

Unfortuantely I would have to say most....!! But you find out quickly which ones are nice...and you get in good with staff....and the staffing office. And soon you don't have to go to the bad ones..

I once had a hospital staffing office call my agency to see why I wasn't on their schedule. The agency made an excuse that I had taken sometime off...when in reality I was on a contract elsewhere. It's nice to be wanted...and everyone needs to feel welcome. Makes all the difference in the world!

The thing you have to remember is...some hospitals are understaffed because of the pay...and some are understaffed, because management doesn't care, they're unorganized, and nurse eaters abound! Most times...if the staff is burnt out...and their being made to work MOT...they don't feel respected, or cared about....many times you won't be treated well!

But if the nurses are working in relatively positive surroundings..but the hospital just can't or thinks it can't compete with the bonuses other hospitals are offering...and just can't keep staff because of it....many times the nurses will be very nice, and try to recruit you. At one of the worst paying hospitals I found the staff to be the most kind. They loved where they worked and woulldn't consider going anywhere else...unless it was for more money. Some make scarafices for better working conditions. Unfortuantely I want to have my cake and eat it too...I want good working conditions and good pay..

Just greedy I guess..

I think I know when I'm being dumped on...if everytime I work...I get the first admission, and my rooms are stretched out to all three halls! Also I once went to a hospital...on a late call. I took report, and went to work. Meantime I'm watching the staff sitting around laughing and talking, drinking coffee. I finally took time to find out what the census was. I soon realized...that I couldn't possibly had a fair amount of pts...with the amount of nurses on the unit! I foudn out..I had SIX more pts. then anyone else...and a couple of totals!! Needless to say I had the CN RE do the assignement!!! They tried to say they hadn't realized it!! Yeah right!! I thnk it's more than just perspective..!

I just started working agency at the beginning of the year. So far, it seems to be working out much better than "regular" employee. I will say, that I have found night shift is universally more accepting than day (I float shifts, as well as hospitals & units) There are some hospitals where I just won't work anymore on their day shift - partly staff attitude towards agency - mostly just the basic staff attitude (as confirmed by the night shift). I will say, that at this point I expect to stay as agency - even with the occassional dump - I LOVE the freedom, flexibility and the broader level of experiences.

As a full time staff RN in a community hospital, I just wanted to add my experiences with agency nurses. I work in a small 10 bed ICU on the evening shift. We use agency nurses VERY frequently due to staffing shortages and actually have policies on how they are to be "treated". For example if there is a need to float someone from ICU to another area in the hospital, they float "regular" staff and keep the agency RN in the unit. True that a scheduled agency RN will be cancelled first if census changes mean we need less staff. As far as assignments go, we try to maintain continuity of care so the RN who had the patient the day before will get the same one(s) back leaving the agency RN to pick up the assignment of a nurse that isn't there that particular day. If agency RN's are being treated poorly in our facility it's more likely a clash of personalities I suppose though I know that they start off with biases due to the fact that the salary of an agency RN is often double than what the staff RN's are getting. But please, all you agency RN's, keep coming! We couldn't manage without your help and the varying experiences you bring with you.

Exactly, you have to speak loudly with your feet!.

I must say that is hospitals that are organized, with written policies about how agency will be used, I have been treated better than those that aren't. Some hospital don't even bother giving agency nurses any kind of orientation, but expect them to walk in cold, and perform.

When you spend part of your shift trying to find everything, and have to bother other staff to find out, how you do this or that, this takes away from that nurses time of actually doing pt. care.

Yes, I can walk in and function with zero orientation, but how much more effective could I have been if I didn't have to waste time searching for this or that??? Especially the hospitals that use pcs. One hospital decided that I could be oriented to their pc system, at the same time I was taking care of 6-7pts, with one of them post-op!! They took up almost 3 hrs of my shift with me sitting in the nurses station, with someoone trying show me how to use this awful system they had!! Now that make real good sense. Their response ...no one else had a problem with it!!! Yeah right....that is why a traveler told me, that the hospital was on the DNR of most nurses in the area, and asked didn't anyone warn me!!! I never went back!!

I'm sure with your response here, your hospital will have less nurses who vote with their feet. Good post...

Hello Nightngale...sorry I'm just now reading the question you posed to Brownie and myself. In answer to your question...No, at most places where I have worked as an agency nurse or traveling nurse, I have been very warmly received, appreciated, and respected which is the main reason I continued working in that capacity as a nurse. I can count on one hand the number of places I've worked that were not appreciative or receptive to agency nurses (or travelers). I remember one hospital in particular out in Southern California that constantly called the agency I worked with requesting my nursing expertise at their facility. Often times, the Supervisor would pay me a visit before the end of my shift, and ask me if I could come back the next day. I always said yes as I loved working with them as much as they enjoyed having me work with them. Even in the worst of situations, I have made the best of the shift because I'm old enough to realize that there are rough edges to everyone's personality at times, and if handled with TLC and a smile, they eventually soften.

One of my favorite quotes (by Andy Rooney) is "I've learned that under everyone's hardshell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved." AND "One can preach a better sermon with their life than with their lips." I try to remember these things when I'm working with people that aren't too thrilled to have me in their presence...as SOME work environments can be.