travel nursing nightmare

[dmarcelal]

i posted this comment on the general forum originally.........

so I am a travel nurse. have been for a year now with the same company. to make a long story short, I am stuck in hawai'i. yes, I used the words "stuck" and " hawai'i" in the same sentence. last week I found out that someone in the contract department decided to change my availability to days/nights from my stated days/evenings. the local hawai'i office received one contract, i received another different copy. now am being asked to be flexible, my day shifts have been cancelled by the hospital becuase they dont need day nurses, they need night nurses. i have the email thread where i told me recruiter i wouldve be interested in night shifts. i cant work for any other local agencies becuase i was advised by my recruiter to "walk through" my hawaii license application instead of applying for a permanent one. this temporary license has a stipulation that i can only work for my agency.

so, i have not worked for 2 weeks, going on 3. the local office is trying to get me booked at other hospitals but since i havent been to their orientation i have to wait. i dont know if i am going to get paid for every shift that is cancelled. i cant go sightseeing and enjoy the city becuase that means spending money i might not have. my landlord wont return my deposit if i leave. and to top it all off, i bought tickets for my mom to come out here and visit all the way from new york. in total i am going to be at a loss of almost $3 grand if i leave. which in turn will be more costly to me becuase of the geographic matter. i want them to remiburse me for all my acquired expenses. but, i am afraid to tell them i want to leave fearing they will say i am not cooperating.

does anybody have any suggestions?

[KatieBell]

From reading the thread it says you wouldve been interested in night shift, but, i think you meant to say you wouldn;t be interested?

I would find out from your recruiter what reimbursement you will be getting for cancelled shifts. it's simple enough to ask.

in addition, i would consider trying to work a few night shifts. i used to turn green around the gills working nights, then I bit the bullet and took a nights contract, and was somehow able to do it. on my last contract (nights) the nurses were shocked to find out that I try to do primarily days. you might find you can't do nights at all, but....if you try it, you can really tell the agency you gave it the old college try...

This is one reason to have 3 months of living expenses saved when traveling, so that when wacky stuff happens you can feel a little confident with your cushion.

And a lesson to those of us going to "vacation locations" I'm headed to florida and my sister wants to bring her kids and do a disney weekend...I think I'll have her wait a few weeks before making any plane/hotel reservations.

I hope that your company finds a position for you soon. it sounds like a stressful, yukky situation. I do think with the copy of your contract in hand, you might be reimbursed for quite a bit, but probably not your moms plane tickets etc....

[dmarcelal]

i have done nights and couldnt handle it. and they that knew beacuse it was during one of their assgnmts! and i told them before i would sign this contract i wasnt interested in nights.

they just told me i wouldnt get paid for this week becuase i have been cancelled all week and i am unwilling, not flexible. so basically they dont see anything wrong with bringing me out there, not having work and not paying me.