Travel Nursing in St. Thomas

Hey Christine! Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I did indeed just finish up my 3 month assignment in St. Thomas at Roy Lester Schneider Hospital. If you are serious about taking an assignment there, I would really take careful consideration especially if you work in the med/surg area. RLS Hospital is definitely one of the worst, if not the worst, hospitals I have ever worked in. Pardon my truthfulness and bluntness but I definitely feel future travelers need to be well-informed of what to expect. I worked on the medical floor. When I first got there the whole hospital was coming off a staffing crisis over the holidays. The acuity of the patients on medical was terribly high and they were still pretty short staffed as well as consistently full census. Therefore, each nurse got anywhere between 7-9 patients on night shift. You must know though that I had just come from a year in California where nurse/patient ratio laws are mandated so it definitely was new and shocking to me. Regardless, the hospital on the whole is quite outdated, equipment is old and doesn't work half the time, and most importantly, the permanent staff tend to throw a lot of attitude and laziness. It definitely got better and towards the end of my assignment I was down to 4-6 patients, the medical floor got a lot more tame. I never did get used to the people down there, there is quite a culture shock for the entire island on the whole. I could go on and on but I must tell you that what helped me get through the 3 months is the beauty of the island, the island hopping, the other travel nurses I met and became fantastic friends with (and the man of my dreams I met and am still currently with). The nightlife is fun and you'll definitely experience island life here. The housing my company set me up was great. What company are you going through? I know very few send travelers to St. Thomas. Let me know if you need a company and recruiter. Professional Nursing Services is who I went through and my recruiter Jolene Buck was great. I can refer you if you would like. The licensure process is a joke but there were specific reasons for that. But people down there are just more laid back...WAY laid back. Anyway, let me know if I can answer anymore questions. Hope this helps with your decision making process. I did enjoy it greatly but not for the work.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Sarah