Seriously considering traveling, need guidance!

happy travelor · Jan 7, 2005

hi

Ive been traveling for 5 years and ive been a rn for 8 years!

Ive only done icu some ER registry when I travel. cctc I went with them for 1.5 years, If you plan to live by yourself you have to pay a few hundred a month for housing. they talk about points you accumulate for one year them you can get free housing. but its the points not the year that counts. this is what you want!

1)free housing with utilities payed for (all utilities)

2)medical/dental (if its important to you) or get your own.

3)guarented 36 hour a week pay (sometimes the hospital calls you off and making the hours up is hard to do if the hospital is slow. sick days they do take money out of your pay find out how much.

American mobile Im with but I am switching companies

they dont pay as much as others

im in san fransico area and my friends are getting payed 35/hr with time and half after 8 hours ( basically 40$/hr) good money.!

you can play companies against each other for example I had a friend who said to his recruiter that his friend was getting payed 26/hr and if he didn't get the same he'd have to go with that company so the recruiter gave hime that money. these companiies NEED YOUR BUSINESS!

the experience itself is great it is weird at first being the new kid but you learn to be flexible and you learn a lot about yourself. I never thought I had anything to learn about myself but when you put in situations that are a little uncomfortable you learn how to handle things in the best way.

Hello all, thanks in advance for any help! you'll meet a lot of other travelors if you go to major cities (san diego(crazy fun!) san fransisco, denver, all has many travelors! dont let fear of the unknown rule your life!!! goodluck I traveled after 3 years of nurseing, it all depends on you comfort :) level. every job you go to you have to learn a new system but there basically all the same. you'll do fine good luck other companies
augistini (a nurse run company payes well) HRN, in san fran pays a 3,000 subsity (you find your own rent good if you have a roomate) but the hourly pay is much lower mid low 20's/hr. american travelor is ok faststaff is ok good for high pay short term and strike work, medstaff suck with messing up you pay check three people I know including me went with them once becuse their idiots! be aggressive with what you want some recruiter will bully you with talking negative about other companies and tell you why their good it all comes with experince.
GOODLUCK
happy travelor
I filled out an application for CCTC a few days ago and the recruiter called me today. She explained some things to me, but I would really like to know if anyone has come up with a list of questions that I should ask, and things that I should have put in my contract.
I am an RN with 1 1/2 years experience in ER, and I have 2 years of LPN LTC experience. I am a little nervous about going to a new place with little orientation and possibly being treated badly by staff nurses, but I am excited about having new experiences and having the ability to see the country. Do you think this is enough experience to travel?
Any help would be appreciated, thanks again in advance :)

ColdFusion · Jan 7, 2005

CCTC has a horrible reputation amongst travel nurses! Check out the travel nurse forums at delphiforums.com....I would definitely seek a different company.

rjflyn, ASN, RN · Jan 9, 2005

www.geocities.com/hobonurse is an excellent travel nurse reference. I too am going traveling- start in FL in just a couple weeks. My recruiter was very good. She sent me a couple different lists of questions to ask the hospital's. She also since I was new also reccommended a particular hospital. This one she said uses alot of travel nurses in my chosen specialty. Everything so far has ran smoothly. You unfortunately tend to hear alot about the bad about any given company and not alot about the good. I talked with a couple of the travelers that worked here where I was staff. Rj:rolleyes:

readyrn · Jan 10, 2005

Hello.......as a fairly new traveler I can understand the concern of going to a new place/little orientation etc.I started traveling one year ago and have NO regrets. I have been a cardiac nurse for 9 years. The experience has been great! I have found the staff to be very welcoming as they are short staffed and looking forward to having your help. I recommend you make sure you read your contract carefully. One of my recent assignments had me scheduled to work every weekend. I didn't have it written in my contract "every other".......your contract can help you with these specifications. Also, I don't recommend HCA/Fort Pierce Florida. Currently, I am on assignment in N.VA (Inova) and it has been one of my best assignments. Good Luck to you!!

HeyFraydo · Jan 11, 2005

CCTC is low pay

Go http://www.delphiforums.com a register for free and join:

Travel Nurse and Therapists forum

Read , Read, Read

DaisyRN, ACNP · Jan 12, 2005

Hey there -

I was reading your post and I can OMPLETELY understand how you are feeling. I just did my first travel assignment in November. I did a 4 week assgnmt where I was home just before Christmas. I did miss Thanksgiving, however, but that is beside the point. This post is a bit lengthy, but I wanted to offer you as much insight as I could, without my fingers cramping. :)

I too, have only been an ER nurse for 1 1/2 years. I took an assignment with a smaller, newer company called Epic. After reading your description of where you work now, it sounds like we have had a pretty comparable experience. Our hospital is working on its designation for Level II and we see about the same amount of patients as your hospital. My assignment was in Southern California near Anaheim. It was a hospital about half the size of home. It had 17 ER beds always open. The nurse ratio was 3:1 until 2:00 am, and then became 4:1. I was scared to death before getting there that I was going to be thrown to the wolves and not have a freaking clue what I was doing. You know what, I surprised myself and walked away from that experience a new woman with a renewed self-confidence.

I don't know what kind of personality you have or what kind of work ethic you have, but I was amazed at what I was able do. The first day, I had 2 hours - yes, 2 hours, of orientation. Then my name was on the board by itself... without the orienters name. Lil nerve-racking. I did fine. Remember its okay to ask questions about how they do things and where things are... but you should be at a point where you are confident enough in your nursing abilities to not ask questions about general nursing knowledge. That is something they do expect you to already know. (Being a LPN prior, you should be fine.)

Theoretically, everything really works the same. You get the same kinda B.S. patients you do at home and the same sick kinds of patients you get at home. I did have to learn how to computer document while out there. Another first for me. It wasn't too bad. The hospital I was at was receptive to travelers - another fear I had. In fact, there were 4 of us travelers out of a 6 nurse staff some nights. Let's see, what else can I tell you... GET A MAP! I spent most of my time driving around. I worked nights, too... so that way, you seem to burn 2 days at once and it goes by faster. :) I don't know who said it, but YES - take a short-term assignment first, just in case you do not like the facilities, CCTC, etc. You can almost always ask to stay longer, but you won't be able to leave early if you dont like it. Another disadvantage I had was I knew no one out there... NO ONE. It forces you to learn independence. Something I didnt have to learn since I lived at home with mom and dad until I got married. I am a lil Texas girl and I tell ya, I have always been a home-body, so this was a HUGE, LIFE-ALTERING step for me. I have only been married 2 years also, so like I said, it was a HUGE step for me to take. Despite all the anxiety and pointless worrying, it was a great learning experience and life experience for me.

Would I do it again? No. Why not? I missed my honey too much. I think that I am going to travel locally to Dallas or Houston, but for me to go all the way to Cali again would require my husband going with me. :) That's just me... I would be happy to answer any other questions you might have. There are a lot of very helpful people in this forum, but being as though we seem to have very similar backgrounds, let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Feel free to PM me.

P.S. The TNT delphi forums are a WONDERFUL resource for LOTS of information. Jobs, general travel info, etc. I am "muddydaisy" on there if you need some assistance.

AzNurse67 · Jan 22, 2005

There is a great book by Shalon Kearney called: :"Hitting the Road-A guide to travel nursing"
Jeri :balloons:

There is also a newly released book out "Highway Hypodermics: Your Road Map To Travel Nursing" by Epstein LaRue, RN. It has great information on what to look for in a travel company, what to look for in a hospital, and how to survive your travel nursing assignment.

I believe that this can also be found at Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or by doing a search on the web for it.

Derrika · Mar 14, 2005

I have a question. Can LPNs travel or is it only for RNs??? What is their pay rate?

AzNurse67 · Mar 14, 2005

Yes, LPN can travel. Don't know for sure their pay rate, but I would think that it should be for around $20/hour.