[Lil123]

Just a little CNA working for an agency. Worse yet I've only been a CNA for 5 months. The hardest thing we do is walk in to a new place, be it a home or a facility. The most important thing is the patients! Every time I leave a home or facitlity I carry a piece of them with me. Sometimes I get to see them again, often other times never again. It is so hard getting in step in a facility. We don't need petty jealousy or envy or attitude. There is enough work out there for all of us. I'm going to get up tommorow and try again to make a difference. Lil123

[soliant12]

Usually it is because you are making so much more money than the nurses there. The worst was when I traveled at a unionized Kaiser facility in California. They hated travelers there because that cut into their double shifts and then they would not get double pay. So much for unionized nurses giving a rats rear end about patient safety or patient care. It was always about working double shifts.

[DarlinNurseRed]

I have enjoyed working with the agency nurses I have encountered. I think it is a good rule never to ask someones salary and never discuss yours.
I guess I never think about them being agency nurses,,,I just consider them nurses.

[cateccrn]

My 2 cents:
At my facility, I am always pleased to see travelers, because as a whole, they are bright, well trained and can be a fount of knowledge about other hospitals policies and proceedures.
Our hospitals experience has been that travelers don't last or re-up because they are treated so poorly.
Inadequate orientation, floating, split shifts(a 12 hour will often have to work 4 hours on 1 unit, and then transfer to another for the remaining 8 hours).
Not to mention the tendency of charge nurses to give the traveler the hardest patients. (And you KNOW it happens).
Yes, they make good money, but they are the nurses who are willing to work 12 hour night shifts, live in motels away from thier loved ones in a strange city with no friends.
Many of our recent travelers are from New Orleans, where there IS no work.
Others come here because they could not hope to make in a month what they can in 10 shifts here.
Nothing wrong with that, I say.

[yankeesrule]

Well I dont know if I have enough knowledge on this issue but here it goes. I signed on with an agency in Late March. I work for NYS. I was an LPN but took a promotion as a supervisor. I signed on with the agency to keep my skills up, to keep myself in the game, to make more money and the agency work is flexible enough for me. i have only worked at one place thus far. But I have been there for over a month. I have floated to 3 of the 4 floors. All the nurses have been extrememly friendly. I have encountered more rude patients than staff. Maybe I got lucky I dont know. I do know that I dont devalge the amount I am getting paid. I do let them know that No this is not my only job. I do put in 40hrs at my primary job and I have been pulling 32-48 a week with this job. I would hope nurses as a whole dont think agency nurses a less par in their skills or less of a nurse as they. An agency nurse is setting themself up to enter new environments on any given week. We dont know the internal games going on in a facility and perhaps that is a perk. I love the agency work. I have learned so much in such a short time. I have done so many treatments that I had only done in school 5yrs ago. I would think attitude and general body language could be a factor. OR... people are just miserable and they take it out on you! Good luck.
M.

[kikr]

These kinds of questions always make me smile. Sort of. I'm a 34 yo male LPN who recently became a nurse. After working as regular staff for a year at a chemical dependancy clinic I decided to work for an agency in order to broaden my experience. I generally work at 3 different facilities a week, a center for retarded adults, a total care nursing home, and a retirement center where the patients are self sufficient. I frequently ask for and receive assignments to new experiences and have not had but one bad experience yet. All the facilities that I've been too have been awesome. I feel that I have such good experiences is due to a couple of different factors.

First...I'm always early to report for my shift. If its the first time I've been to that facility I generally show up 45 min to an hour early to find the charge nurse or supervisor and introduce my self to them. I ask lots of questions (that I think are intelligent) about the patients that I'm working with, and about any skills that I'll be using. If theres something I'm unfamiliar with I ask about it. I ask pointed questions about policy and procedure for that facility concerning common tasks.

Second..I meet with the direct care staff. Every facility has unlicensed direct care personnel. They are the ones who know the patients best. Pick their brains for all kinds of information. I build an alliance with them early because they are the ones I'll be turning to ask where things are, and about patient specific behaviors.

Last...I don't stop moving. Even if I've done all my med pass or whatever I always try to pitch in else where. I offer to help with charting, filing, I clean, or I follow up with other patient requests.

This and my over abundance of wit and charm have helped me to make all the regular staff at the facility feel comfortable with me, and have helped me have a great time as an agency nurse.

[SEOBowhntr]

[quote=ern91]this is a late reply as i have just joined this forum but i am compelled to reply. in my opinion, hospital administration fosters rudness towards agency nurses as a general attitude by having them in the first place. QUOTE]

I worked for an agency in Columbus, OH, for about 3 yrs., and was never treated overly bad in any of the facilities I worked. I do agree that in smaller markets, agency nurses are ocassionally treated poorly, but that is mostly by individuals, not "administration," and most of the time, hospital administation is in the business of trying to ensure the patients are care for moreso than fostering the negative attitudes. Many areas that are suffering from nursing shortages rely upon these "agency nurses" to fill there holes, and without them would be unable to proviide the quality of healthcare that their pt.'s deserve.

[sassyg0110]

Originally Posted by Hellllllo Nurse

No problem, Tweety.

I was just adding on to your post to show that everyone's experiences w/ travelers/agency are different.

I've gotten so much respect and appreciation as agency. I almost never did as reg staff.

I have had very good experiences as both Traveler and local Agency insofar as interacting with the staff and management/supervisors. I do not discuss my pay, but know that the RNs I work with at a local University hospital make more than I do if they are being paid for the same number of years experience.I HAVE been treated unfairly by Nursing Admin. on two occasions. Another tale...but each time it had a negative impact on my ability to work in a particular health care system.Hang in...most of the staff behave the same toward any "new" person. Give them a chance to get to know you and your skills and dependability, team-work willingnes....all of those qualities we value in our co-workers.

[buildingmyfaith57]

my question is this why is that the regular staff members are calling the agency nurses or cna's lazy? and two there are the ones that would follow you around with a pen and paper in their hands writing down everything you do rather its right or wrong,plus they would run to their supervisior just making up lies and get away with it?

[gettingupthere]

Let me just relay my experience with an Agency nurse this past week! This young woman walked onto my unit, a rehab unit in a long term facility, on her cell phone, talking to God knows who! Oh, late I might add! Once off the phone, she proceeded to complain about the fact that she was placed on a unit rather that being the evening " supe". Said that every other facility she goes to, she is put on as supervisor, because( just in case I didn't know it) " I'm an RN".
I was working a 12 hour shift that evening, so I was able to observe this unprofessional little twit!
Let me see! She was on her cell phone for the major part of my last 4 hours. She handed one residents wife his evening meds and said " sweetie, take these to your husband since you're on your way down to his room" She prepoured meds and left them on top of her med cart, locked the med cart and left the keys on top of the med cart, and walked away! She complained to whoever she was speaking to on the phone and cursed all along!
I am an old LPN, I was horrified, but, I didn't say anything to her, I didn't want to start an arguement. I did call the " supe" on duty and reported my findings before I left, I was frankly very nervous about leaving my patients with such and incompetent nurse. This may be one reason why other nurses are so rude to agency nurses! Frankly, I have yet to meet one who is anywhere worth the money they make!
I know that everyone who works for agencies are not like this, but maybe we get all the flunkies!