[Brownms46]

Originally posted by HazeK
We love our travelers/agency staff!

I work in a 450 births/month level 3 Labor & delivery unit.
With FEMLA leaves and maternity leaves, we would be totally sunk without our traveler staff! They jump in with both feet, are hard workers, know their skill levels and mingle quickly with us 'old folks'! We often beg them to come back...and sometimes they do!

Haze

GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FELLOW STAFF MEMBERS!! :

I 'm sure you they will continue to come back time and time again..AND they will always give good feedback on your UNIT!! !! You're the kind of people any Traveler would be GLAD to work with..!

If you don't mind...you could pm if you want...but I would like to know what hospital this is...so I can post what you said on the Travel Forums!! Travelers are constantly asking how traveler friendly a hospital or unit is...

[fadingyouth]

Amazing how this topic springs eternal. Have seen polls often during nursing shortages. It seems to be a matter of do we or don't we use agency nurses.
I voted.
Presently I am treated as well as regular staff. But then most of us have been there as contracted agency for years.
My last travel assignment was horrible. I seemed to get the worst ICU cases, received little help and with comments that often led me to believe that they waited for me to fail I would not return for twice the salary.
Most agency nurses want the basics: trust, fairness and respect. We work agency for various reasons. Most do so to maintain control over their schedule. I do so to obtain a better salary and the freedom to try new things, meet new people, and learn.
Over the years, I have had better treatment in small, community hospitals than in large metropolitan ones. I seem to have better treatment from other travelers/agency nurses than from local staff ( I guess we bond). The worst treatment I received was from foreign nurses who, in my opinion, seemed insecure.
I guess, I've been lucky, I really am not able to complain much.

[KBaldwinLVN]

Originally posted by Brownms46
Or persons...on either side...

(hahahaha)...True. Staff personel can be great or grunt too!

[KBaldwinLVN]

I have a question to the agency nurses that are represented here:

Do you feel comfortable enough on the majority of your assignments to question, pick and choose your patient assignments working a med-surg, tele or IC unit?

I want to say NO ONE should be dumped on when assignments are made (ie, LVN's and travelers getting total cares and harder assignments), but, I've seen agency personnel get down right indignant when receiving their assignments. That is not to say regular staff stays quiet and harmonious (for the record!), its just a little amusing to see agency personnel "calling shots" (for lack of better words), as I am lead to believe they fill in where best needed.

Some say its because agency personnel know they will be contractually compensated regardless of what they do or say, others say its because they don't necessarily care because they do not have any invested interest in the facility, seeing that they are "extra help". I’m not sure what my take on it is.

Please tell me your version.

[Brownms46]

KBaldwinLVN,

I think that everyone wants to be treated fairly, whether their per diem, FT, PT, or travel. Too many times agency nurses are misused and abuse by some staff members, who see them as having no rights, what so ever! Many...even though they maybe not responding on this forum...do feel that , just because they make more..staff feels they should work more. Many staff nurses also resent the freedom that a agency nurse has, in saying where, when and how long.

Staff nurses who feel that agency nurses should take the more dfficult pts, because they make more is also some of the problem. No one wants to be dumped on, and when you have feelings like this....some agency nurses maybe already have their antennas up...and are suspicious of heavy assignments. Especially when they'e running all shift and staff is sitting down....watching them!!! Believe me I have seen it more times than I want to count. I have actually seen staff members laugning about how they treated an agency nurse....as they forgot I was agency also...because I'm usually there for 13 weeks. Funny how quick people forget where they are..

And yes...the agency nurse is there to fill in on whatever units need her/him...not for whatever pt the staff doesn't want to deal with!!! Units that make those kinds of assignments...usually have trouble getting help in the future...as I for one, would never return! Most agency nurses are good nurses, who want to make more money, and have control over their lives. But everyone has their own objectives for doing whatever they do.

I for one...give my best, as I want the staff to feel I was benefical in helping them, and their pts. I want to be able to come in, and function as close to what another staff member would have done.

But NO..I don't want to know about your politics or become involved in them. Do I feel a responsiblity to the hospital, the staff and the pts...YES! But that responsiblity is to give the best care possible, document well, follow whatever policies are in place in that facility, and be helpful to not only the staff, but to anyone in that hospital!

But... I also don't want to be dragged into staff petty discussions. I'm there to do a job...and be as pleasant as I can...in talking with staff...as needed to do that job.

You know I have seen staff say stuff to agency nurses, and then watch their faces to see how they will take it. I just smile...because if it's not right...I only have to do it for that day, and that day only... I will then tell my agency, that floor or that hospital is on my DNU list...and in 20yrs...only one hospital has ever come off that list. Also agency nurses talk to each other too. So if you have screwed a couple of us...and some one asks how is it working in your hospital...you have just shot yourself in the foot..with more than just one or two nurses. As one nurses tell another, and another.

As for the statment, that agency nurses are compensated regardless of what they do or say?? I won't even justify that one with an answer!!

Some places it is possible for me to make a difference...and some places not at all! I take the sour with the sweet...but I don't let others run over me for long. And since I have been asked back many times, many hospitals ..as I know management asks staff for feedback on us...I think I have done a pretty good job.

[nightingale]

quote - Do you feel comfortable enough on the majority of your assignments to question, pick and choose your patient assignments working a med-surg, tele or IC unit?

I would have to say I do feel comfortable on the majority of my assignments. I have refused assignments; it is more like suggesting for reassigning certain patients in a poor mix of a group. I rarely get dumped on but when I have felt I was, I went through the chain of command. I have never had to go past the first step but would do so if needed.

I have worked, pretty much, strictly agency for almost two years. I work per diem and do get called off from time to time; this is the price I pay to work my own schedule.

I do not work in ICU. I am a med/surg nurse with backrounds in Oncology, Home Health, Tele. (have ACLS), Ortho, Corrections, and a few other varied specialties. I do feel comfortable in most environments of nursing other then Peds, ICU, OR, and ER. I am giving a shot at Camp Nursing this summer.

Interesting take on what you hear about why agency nurses or whomever refuse assignments. I have never heard that one; not since the days of working strictly for a facility that boasted nurses who were there "forever". When in reality, they were the only ones I saw refuse assignments, get uppity about who was doing what etc. on assignments, and they went running (actually whining to the poor DON) about what so and so was doing; good riddens’ to “the good ol’ days”.

IMHO, the only time I would or any nurse SHOULD, and they SHOULD, refuse an assignment is when it compromises patient safety. We, the nursing staff, are the last line of defense for a patient. Yes, I want to protect my license too; there is no shame in proclaiming that.

There is nothing wrong with questioning an assignment. Good Lord, we all are trained professionals who are expected to be thinking of patients’ safety etc. Hopefully, we do this in a professional and positive manner.

B.

[nightingale]

The question that comes to mind, again and again, is: If you are not treated well then why go back? Are there not other options?

To me, the strongest statement I can make is how I expect others, professionally and personally, to treat me.

If I am not treated decent by a facility, I do not go back. That is my secret to finding great assignments, to freeing myself up for positive experiences, and ultimately being successful.

B.

[cheerfuldoer]

Originally posted by nightngale1998
The question that comes to mind, again and again, is: If you are not treated well then why go back? Are there not other options?

To me, the strongest statement I can make is how I expect others, professionally and personally, to treat me.

If I am not treated decent by a facility, I do not go back. That is my secret to finding great assignments, to freeing myself up for positive experiences, and ultimately being successful.

B.

DITTO, DITTO, DITTO, nightngale1998! My sentiments exactly.

[nightingale]

psssst.. Renee... love the pic!

B.

[fadingyouth]

Facilities/staff that cannot see past themselves should not expect an agency nurse to return. In the many years I have contracted I tend to start an assignment with the belief that I am there to assist them. However, if attitudes, assignments and general atmosphere lend themselves to a bad work day then I simply request that I do not return.
There is only 1 facility on that list ( in some 20 yrs) and the agency has understood the reasons.
There are facilities that I would rather not return to if there is some other assignment, but the reason here is generally due to lack of equipment, protocols and recent trends.
Presently, any nurse gets treated appropriately. For example, yesterday was admissions/transfer day. Each nurse is assigned a number in that rotation. When your number is up, it is simply your turn. The coodinators are pretty good at keeping the rooms together, altho it is not always possible. They set the rooms up for you and assist, when they can, with the admission or transfer. Of course, there is always 1 or 2 that would rather just sit, but that is the rarity.
I have learned that it is okay and acceptable to "just say no". If your reasons are substantiable, the new assignment is handed to someone else. Sometimes you are busier than what is visible at the time.
Talking to--not at-----works both ways.