Agency nurses are your friends!!!

mustangsheba · Jul 10, 2001

Donna: I am an agency nurse also. You spoke eloquently for us all. I have had a few bad experiences, but as you noted, most have been good. I do have the luxury of refusing to return to a facility if they are exceptionally abusive. I can - and have - refused to take additional patients when the numbers or acuity become unsafe. Surprisingly, the staff nurses back me up. I am in school and agency nursing is the only thing that works for me. I wish I had had this option when my daughter was little. Enjoy your babies - they are small for only a heartbeat.

jamistlc · Jul 10, 2001

Greetings All Nurses,

I am a Agency Nurse also not so much by choice as a need to work! I do like not having to put up with the politics a staff nurse has to endure and the clients who are resentful for being in a state of unwellness! I would in a heart beat give it up though to work where my heart and passion lyes! OB/GYN, L&D, P.P., Well Baby Nursery, or NICU. But I have two strikes against me for those positions, I am a male and a LPN. I can change one of those facts and am working on my ADN to that end. I do not like the areas LPN's are utilized mostly Geriatrics, I am not that patient. But when I work at these institutions as a agency nurse I can give it my all plus 10%, why becuase I may or may not be coming back and I am like a visitor in a way, I can afford to give my patients my best and not have it take it's toll on me. I have found that agency nursing has stopped me from burning out years ago! I look forward to working a shift or two here and there, rather than dreding the some old stuff, day end and day out!

I like seeing positive results of my efforts and that is lacking in Geriatrics, most clients are upset about the state thier health has taken and feel warehoused, rather than a human being with needs. I try to give to fill those unmet needs and do it as best I can. I then leave and do not have all the thoughts in my head about what I could do to make so and so feel better or how to improve the institution. I can leave work at work! I agree I find med errors and ect. all the time. Often because I want to use a PRN from the box have MAR that says it is legit and NO PHYSICIAN ORDERS! This appears to be the norm, no one follows through. As a agency nurse if I want paid I have to do my documenttation, charting, signatures, and Physician orders before I leave. As well as the client care I am suppose to adm. :rolleyes:

Katmease · Jul 11, 2001

Hi. I'm not an agency nurse. I just wanted to thank you guys. It must be a difficult task to walk into a different environment on most every assignment you have. :)

IluvMyPtsPeriod · Jul 12, 2001

Glad to work by your side!!

nurs4kids · Jul 16, 2001

Donna,

Love your attitude. Your post shows you have much class. You made a good point. As irritated as staff nurses are because agency nurses make more $, there is downsides. I, personally, don't do it because I want the comforts of being in a familiar enviroment. You deserve more pay. Thank all of you for being available to help our in a crunch!

Tracy

P_RN, ADN, RN · Jul 16, 2001

Wow you have had some awful experiences. Back in the late 80's our unit had some questionable agency nurses come to us from an out of state agency. I think it was a clique that worked for this particular agency. The same 3 or 4 would either not show up, leave during the shift, etc. In all my years there those are the only undependable Nurses (note NOT just Agency) that I can recall. BTW that agency IS no more!!

Wow "Agency Folks" I want to tell you I appreciate your work.

You were there when we had a call in. You were there when 16 nurses on our unit got called up for Desert Storm! You were there the night our place here in the sunny south had a snowstorm! You made it, some staff didn't. Thank you .

One of you saved a patient's life by recognising a 'funky arrythmia" she heard on a PulseOx ! The patient's nurse was a new graduate and had asked the Agency nurse for help. Thank you .

There is never any excuse for rudeness. We tried to treat our visitors just like the rest of the staff. We did fixed teams, so it was almost impossible to give you the worst patients. If you had Team 1 then you had rooms xxx-yyy.

So Thank You Agency Nurses.

01Jetta · Aug 14, 2001

Carole,

You're a trip!! You sound like me. I don't have much of a tolerance for idiotic people who make dumb assumptions either.

debbyed · Aug 14, 2001

Donna,

If you ever come to the Baltimore/Washington area I would love to have you work with me. I am a Clinical Coordinator of an Emergency room and Agency Nurses are usually a God send. They are always welcome and always thanked. We actually have a pretty routine group that come and work with us when we are short. They even look in the schedule book to see when there are holes they can fill.

I was very surprised to learn that these nurses would prefer to work with us even though our nurse/patient ratio seems to be a little higher than usual. The reason they gave was because they are treated like family. I was surprised to learn from them how some places and nurses treat them. I am thrilled to death when an agency nurse can fill a hole. Not only do the patients get the care they deserve, the staff profits as well.

We have a booklet we give to all new agency people which explains important policies and standards of care, It shows a map of the hospital and points out where supplies are. It also covers the important things like where the bathrooms are, the cafateria, and the smoking area. Agency nurses are also given a resource person that they can depend on to answer their question.

It is just unbelievable to me how others can treat you so poorly when you are helping them out of a tight spot.

Keep up the good work and try an pick the places that appriciate you. If some of these facilities suddenly couldn't get any agency nurses, I bet they'd change their tune real fast.:)

RNforLongTime · Aug 15, 2001

Iluvmyptsperiod,

Please check out the new Agency Nurse forum! It was created for nurses such as yourself who work for an agency that don't travel!

Kelly:)

MRed94 · Aug 20, 2001

One of the best things for me, working agency, is when my boss calls me and says, "2-South has requested you again, are you available??"

That, to me, says it all about what kind of a job I am doing, and what kind of nurse I am.......

MRed

frustratedRN · Aug 30, 2001

hey donna....are you working at my hospital?

im not an agency nurse but thats how i get treated.

you know whats funny....i never would know who is an agency nurse. i dont ask. i dont care. im too busy caring about how im gonna care for my patients and what i need to do.

if you make double my salary then good for you...if you make half too bad. i dont care what ppl make..i only care bout what they do.