Fellow Travel Nurses

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Specializes in Step-Down NICU/PICU.

Hello ,

My husband and I are both RN's he works in Neuro ICU I work in Peds ICU. We are looking to relocate to Houston with our 10 year old son and we are both considering taking a travel assignment to get a birds eye view of the facility we would work for. can someone tell me what the market is like in the houston area for travel nurses and what are great travel companies to go with?...there is Cross Country and MSN thus far we have looked into. thanks in advance. greatly appreciate any suggestions or advice!

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I think you should think twice about this move. Texas treats nurses notoriously badly, and Houston is perhaps the worst area in Texas for working conditions.

As far as agencies go, if you are only looking to do one assignment, I don't think you need to do that much shopping around. I would suggest instead researching Houston hospitals instead for the best ones to work at (perhaps you have already posted in the Texas sub-forum). The better ones to work for probably don't use that many travelers if there is any justice in the world, but call HR anyway and ask them which agencies they use. You might just ask HR about incentives as well, you will probably get more if you start directly for them - with a family it might be nice to have all your moving expenses paid.

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Specializes in Step-Down NICU/PICU.

Hey NedRn... Here in NY is the same thing ... Nursing in General has become a vicious cycle .. However for a better quality of life and cost of living Texas looks pretty good ... I seen and heard a few things ... Can't be worse than Dallas with the whole group one situation they have there... I can't move across country and risk being "blacklisted" by a manager... I have friends who are RNs also and they have not been treated badly. Now are you referring to agency nurses? Bc I know here in NY the floor nurses aren't to fond of agency nurses ...I personally do not have an issue with anyone as I am there to work as they are... Can you elaborate on how bad the nurses are treated? Thanks again for your reply...

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No, I'm talking about nursing in general. Treating agency nurses poorly is an individual hospital culture thing, not so much a regional thing I think. I had thought that most NY hospitals were union, giving additional employee protections? Texas doesn't have any unions - well, I think NNOC unionized the first hospital ever there last year.

Group One is a potential issue for sure, especially in DFW. But the scuttlebutt I hear is that actual treatment in Houston is worse, and Group One is still an issue most everywhere in Texas. The BON is nuts, and nurses get reported to the board for the stupidest stuff and go through hell. There is some liability issue in Texas that I don't understand well, but professional liability costs about 8 times what it costs in most states. That is kind of scary by itself.

Vast generalizations to be sure, and not first hand. Just like with most things, personal experiences can be different, and the culture in hospitals can vary dramatically from unit to unit. Sometimes it is a director, a manager, or even a charge or coworkers that can make a hospital with an otherwise bad rep a great place to work.

What is your specific interest in Texas? Or is it simply general, like climate, income tax, or wage to property cost ratio? If I had to pick somewhere in Texas, I think Austin might be my first choice for the energy and politics. But popular fast growing places have their downsides. Despite being Republican, or perhaps because of it, I don't think of Texas as being family friendly. From denying expanded Medicare coverage, to corporate coverage from liability suits, to poorly funded schools and poorly paid teachers, it just doesn't seem like a place to raise a family, especially if something goes wrong with your ability to provide for your family, like a major accident or the BON taking your license away.

That is a very personal take on things, and I'm sure half of everyone reading this might be offended even if they don't like Texas either. So I apologize in advance.

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Specializes in Step-Down NICU/PICU.

No offense taken... Thanks for replying... I went down a few time (Katy area) and everyone is so nice (stark difference from New York) lol... I went on a few interviews and everyone seemed happy... As we know it's always roses at interviews and I agree with you 100%... It really depends on your unit .. Co workers , managers , MDs , etc. it's a matter of finding a decent unit. I currently work in a PICU Unit and you would think Bc its a children's hospital the manager and even some co workers would be nice and not downright abusive.. Not so... Unfortunately here in NY it can be brutal, and again it really depends on the hospital/unit . And trust me sometimes even the union is not worth having... Not all hospitals are union up here..I'll say this , I use to work for a non union hospital prior to working for the one that I currently work for that is unionized and I got treated waaaay better in the non union hospital than the union facility I work for now...funny ain't it!? I guess it's relative ... Again thanks for your input ...

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Specializes in Dialysis.

I think just about any state has nicer people then NY. My experience with Texas was a in your face sorta racist place. In NY I've never had a latino call me the N word, but Texas they called me it to my face. In a way that I guess was suppose to be a compliment like I live N's

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