Nightmare start to an assignment!!

[NurseRies, BSN, RN]

So I was traveling from west coast to east coast for the last 6 days in my car with my husband. I agreed to take an assignment in Florida because it was close to my Grandma. I accepted the assignment about 12 days ago. The first week went by after that and I emailed my agency a bunch of documents and told them that I was hitting the road that weekend. We had a whole week to take care of business. i did all forms as requested. Since this was a different agency, they requested I do blood work / drug test before I left my last location. I show up to the office at 6:30am before my hospital shift, where the agency had set me up, and they said they had no appointment for me to get blood drawn and I couldn't get in that day. They had no idea who i was. Ok great, well I'm hitting the road the next day (Saturday) and now the blood work won't be ready. Ok great, well they try to set me up with blood work in Albuquerque on the way, fine, except one thing, my husband already booked a hotel in Santa Rosa New Mexico that day, and I didn't know yet. Ok I requested they switch the blood draw to Santa Rosa, NM instead. Great, no problem- except the agency booked it for Santa Rosa, California. Ok.. Wow! Cancel that one and rebooked in Amarillo, Texas. Keep in mind I'm in a car full of stuff, pulling a trailer, on a 2500 miles journey. Well thank God the blood work got postponed, because surprise, now I need a physical too. It worked out, but then got a text from agency- you will be charged for your physical and appointment, it will be taken our of your check on a weekly basis! WHAT! This is not normal. No negotiation.

So after the lab appointment is taken care of, I'm wondering why I don't have an address yet from provided housing. I'm bugging my agency nonstop. They say it will be taken care of and give me a complex to look at, just don't know exact apartment yet. This is Tuesday, I'm arriving Friday. Wednesday, I wake up in Texas, get back on the road. I start getting emails about hospital privacy documents that I need to sign and fax. Kinda difficult since I'm on te road, can this wait? No it can't. I go to fedex print and take care of it. $20 or more. Not even an hour later, after being back on the road, they call me about something else needing signed and faxed. Umm... I'm on the road!! Why is this all happening last minute. I go to fed ex again, spend another $20-30 on printing and faxing. Then I get a text saying I won't be able to start my assignment for another week because I need to redo my fingerprints for the state. Why do I need to redo fingerprints? I have an active license and did those already. And besides, I can't delay a week, I'm almost there and have no place to stay. They work on the issue. Then I get upset about not having an apartments yet- well something happened with the realtor and now I have to stay in extended stay. What?!?! That's not what I agreed to. I said forget it send me the stipend and I'll find my own. This is 2 days before arrival!! I'm on Craig's list like mad, calling people. I get a place lines up, it's perfect, then as we're filling out application, there it states - "No MOTOCYCLES". Are you serious? Who does this. Immediately, we know we can't stay there. Now here we are on Friday, no place to go. We may have a place to live tomorrow, have a couple people lined up. But this has been a nightmare for me. I think it's a series of bizarre coincidences and inconveniences. I have gotten nonstop emails about forms needing faxed and just when I complete one, I get another. I start Monday as planned. I am so stressed out its ridiculous.

I had to vent my story. The agency said its one of the worst experiences they've ever had placing someone. Everything that could go wrong did. I am praying my job and housing works out. I'm in a contract, so nothing I can do. I will not disclose agency or area, I don't see the point.

Has anyone experienced placements like this?!?!

[jskgx2]

Sorry all this happened to you and no this has never happened to me or any of my travel friends. Usually when you arrive at a place and they delay your start date for a week they let you stay in the apartment and deduct from your paycheck. I really would question working for this agency if I was you.

[NurseRies, BSN, RN]

I'm literally sitting in a parking lot right now with Nowhere to go.

Piece of advice- 2 weeks is not enough time to sign up with a new agency!! I wish someone had just told me the truth, you don't have enough time. I took this assignment to be near grandma. FYI I can't stay with her because she's in a 55 and up community and she is not around this weekend. I saw her yesterday.

I feel like this has been enough to make me want to quit this profession (travel nursing). I probably won't, but let me tell you, I sure feel like I want to right now. :-/

[jskgx2]

It depends on the agency, if you have all the paperwork from previous agencies and state license for new assignment then two weeks is plenty. I would call the agency and tell them I'm going home because I have no where to stay, the fear of them losing your contract will make them figure something out. May I ask what agency is this?

[NedRN]

Some agencies are more organized than others, or perhaps the QA person assigned to your documents. I have played the game of one more thing with agencies, and in the old days, it was more an issue of pulling over to find a wifi hotspot (which sometimes included Kinkos) but almost never a fax machine (that was the really old days). When I did need a fax machine, almost invariably an insurance office or a car dealership faxed what I needed for free (or allowed my agency to fax them). Today it is dead easy with a laptop: receive the document, fill it out and even sign it all on the laptop, and email it back. 10 minutes and I'm done.

None of that really addresses your sitting in a parking lot right now of course. That does suck. Sometimes the franticness of agencies has nothing to do with what the hospital has to have, and sometimes it does. Not much excuse for not having the housing done, holiday or not.

[NurseRies, BSN, RN]

It depends on the agency if you have all the paperwork from previous agencies and state license for new assignment then two weeks is plenty. I would call the agency and tell them I'm going home because I have no where to stay, the fear of them losing your contract will make them figure something out. May I ask what agency is this?[/quote']

Well I had paperwork from last agency, but releasing my titers and blood work was against policy. And I had a state license already, so I thought no problem! I did all required online tests back in California, I faxed in the big main packet and contract and all that. I think the problem lies in that there are 4 people communicating between me and the facility. The facility outsourced to an agency which outsourced to an agency which outsource to my agency. I didnt know all this until recently. I didnt even know agencies did this. Are you kidding me? I am really getting screwed. I am Sick to my stomach. But I have a start date- I'll just have to get through this one.. Do I have a choice? Not really.

[NedRN]

Releasing titers? You need a copy for yourself, then there is zero issue. If your old agency paid for titers, they don't have to release them to you and obviously would not want to do so for competitive reasons.

What you are describing is a bit unusual but does happen. Basically your assignment hospital has a vendor manager (or VMS for vendor management system) to handle all the contracting agencies. That is not necessarily a bad thing and it can be useful information for travelers to know, but often it is completely transparent to the traveler unless your agency lets you in on the secret.

What you are saying is that your agency does not have a direct contract with the vendor manager, but is subcontracting to an agency that does have a contract. That is not so great, and may well cut into your compensation as well.

The long communication chain that results can cause glitches galore. Your agency cannot just call the VMS or the hospital and solve issues directly. One more preliminary question to ask agencies about prior to accepting assignments.

[furrie, BSN]

it would be nice to know who these lousy agencies are as advice to the rest of us

[NurseRies, BSN, RN]

it would be nice to know who these lousy agencies are as advice to the rest of us

Unless you do dialysis, you wouldn't use this agency. Any dialysis travelers can PM me for details.

[SweetP'sAunt]

NurseRies, I got your PM but I am not able to reply to it on this website. If you want to PM your email address to me, I can email you that way. If not, that's okay. I feel so bad for you right now. Your recent experience sounds like a nightmare! I can't even imagine. I am on my first assignment. If that had been my experience, I would have been in tears and would never think about doing another assignment. I guess it's kind of good that you are traveling with your husband. You guys can turn to each other in all this mess. I'm traveling by myself. Luckily, everything has been fine.

Are things starting to turn around for you guys?

[sweetgurly25]

i hope you are ok. what agency it's this?

[NurseRies, BSN, RN]

i hope you are ok. what agency it's this?

Well I think the communication problems fell back on AMN who was directly communicating with the facility and my agency. There was too many lines of communication between me and the facility. My agency has great reviews from all travelers I have met.. So I honestly am not sure what to think other then that it may have been a series of bad events and bad luck. Everyone I have talked to says my agency is reliable and the best. So I do think that sometimes we all just encounter some bad communication, bad luck.