Hospital cancelled my contract!?!

[mrupp3]

Okay, so I took my first assignment at John Hopkins in Baltimore and I've been there for three weeks. Well, I travel with another nurse that was contracted with me for 13 weeks on another unit. Well, after three weeks, I thought everything was going well. However, I heard that they hired 7 more people for the unit, so I knew that I probably wasn't going to be resigned, which was fine with me. To make a long story short, a couple of days ago, I received a call from the quality assurance nurse telling me that both of our contracts were cancelled due to "clinical issues." They basically came up with lies about different circumstances and really dumb issues that were not even clinical related such as coming in 15 minutes early (the time I was told in orientation and by my recruiter). Basically really dumb things. So, anyway, I have no clue what to do. I have been living in this apt for 3 weeks, my roommate and I both got our reimbursments for travel and license and she has received two checks for the living stipend. My recruiter told me that the research has told them they are putting the reason as "a scheduling problem" and she is finding us a new assignment. I asked about the housing situation as I'm still here and she has told me to hang tight and have a nice weekend, she would call me on Monday.

So, has this happened to anyone? Do you think I have to pay the money back for the travel because the hospital cancelled us? Do I leave the apartment now and go back home until they find another assignment for me?

I have to say, this does scare me. Should I look forward to this all the time? I've never heard of what can actually happen to me. The hospital didn't even warn me or tell me there was a problem. I didn't even get to rebuttle.

HELP?!?!

[loricatus]

Karen G

YOu spoke of stats. Let you not forget that it is sometime cost efficent for a hospital to hire travel. Often the postions are only for temporary inflex of patients. Like Az , Fl in the winter. Then the snowbirds head back North. So would it be wise for a hospital to hire fulltime nurse for this time period?? I think not. Also the hospital doesn't have the overhead of Benefits for travelers. If you could or would waive your Benies you could make more per hr. So the cost is level. I am sure as nurse and your not an account that you don't actually know the true bottom dollar. my .02 worth!! lol

Please don't be fooled into thinking that Karen G. knows what she is talking about regarding stats (at the least). Sometimes someone like this is best ignored; but, for the sake of trying to end this nonsense, I was provided a reference to dispute her assertion, (in a venue that should be familiar to an nursing administrator):

There is an article in the November issue of Nursing 2007 that states, "After controlling for adequacy of staffing and resources, higher levels of temporary nurses were associated with lower levels of adverse events." The source for the article was "Aiken LH, et al, Supplemental nurse staffing in hospitals and quality of care. Journal of Nursing Administration, July/August 2007. The article appears on page 33 of the magazine.

[jlynn325]

Well put! Thanks!

[HarryHK]

Travel nursing is higher paid, and more dangerous on many levels including the nonconsistency of staff; the ability to know one can "fly the coop" or break a contract. If our profession is to uphold integrity, prepare the foundation for a new generation of nursing professionals then we must END these overpaid and alienating positions.

Karen G.

It is clear that you have a narrow management perspective and to imply that you are preparing a foundation for a new generation of nursing professionals is wrong. You are actually preparing a new generation of workers to exploit.

I would suggest to you that rather than denigrate travelers for being overpaid, you should consider the reality that you are underpaying your own staff nurses. If you paid appropriately, you would not be understaffed . And from a national perspective, there would not be a nursing shortage if all nurses were paid what they are worth.

Despite being a manager, you are not understanding the basic economic principles of supply and demand, only the constraints of your own corporate pocketbook.

You might look to the California example. Not only do they have mandated staffing ratios, but pay far above the national average. In fact staff pay routinely is so far higher than travelers that travelers become staff there. And the use of travelers in California has dropped precipitously in lockstep with the rise in pay over the last couple of years.

[GYPSY1349]

good morning!

as an administrative nurse dealing with budgets, and what we all know is cost-effective care for the recipients of nursing care, there is a monetary crisis in the "health care industry" today. although the nursing shortage remains "critical" there are other variables in play.

due to an industry shortage getting professors and clinical instructors for interested "adults" who want to become nursing professionals is almost impossible. therefore, educating would be nurses is becoming more difficult to do.

there is not one nurse; new or experienced that does not see "why one of us" would choose travel nursing, or per diem. it is clearly a financial advantage over nursing staff who are dedicated to one facility, and who make far less per hour. in fact many of us who have worked the floor in large university hospitals have seen "travel" come in and get special handling.

i recall back in 1997 a male travel nurse come into our step/down telemetry ccu unit at my alma mater. he could not start iv's which all of us had to do up there for we practiced primary nursing. one of our nurse educators worked with him so that he could "start up" and also take simple blood draws. he told her and many of us "i just do not do that and do not want to learn."

is anyone here smiling at this picture? after many years of hospitals getting hit due to the demand for nursing with "over budget travel expenses" they are getting sick and tired of paying these high fees out; it makes perfect sense.

for anyone here who is licensed you have the ability to commit to one facility, dedicate to yourself and your profession by doing so, and become a viable part of a family you work with and grow with. i encourage all to see the benefit of "less is more" in this solution.

thanks!

karen g.

you have an interesting, though skewed perception of travel nursing...and maybe it comes from being in management, although i'm sure you haven't always been a manager.

were it not for travel nurses, many hospitals in this country would be forced to shut down. one of the reasons so many thousands have chosen to travel, is precisely, because they were tired of the exact attitude you express in your post.

i have been a travel nurse for over a decade, and have traveled from one end of this country to this other. prior to becoming a traveler, i worked in a hospital setting as a loyal, tried and true employee...i worked my way up to a position as director of clinical services, in charge of all licensed personnel in the facility. not only did my hospital use travelers, we treated them so well, that the same ones are still returning year after year after all this time.

it takes a very special type of individual to make it in this field, and it goes beyond what is taught in nursing school. the saddest thing for me, after a lifetime of commitment to my profession, is that we are still in the dark ages, when it comes to supporting each other.

your post proves this unequivocally.

[cruisernurse]

karen,

"furthermore, you might change agencies for all of them offer vacation, bonuses, insurance, and taking the family along for the ride!"

i'm not sure where you got your information, but you are completely wrong in assuming that all agencies provide vacation, bonuses, and insurance. that is wrong, wrong, wrong. yes, we can try to find an agency that offers these things, but they may or may not have a position in the location we want to work.

i have been a nurse for 26 years and started traveling over a year ago and have never been happier. do i make more? not really.

the reason i started traveling? i wanted to see the country and get paid to work at the same time.

are travel nurses happier? many are and some are not. i can honestly say that i have been given more candy and thank you cards than ever before from happy patients. why? my attitude is so much better. i know if i don't like a place then i only have until the end of my contract to put up with a lot of crap. i also don't get involved in the politics of a unit.

the positive for managers? not only do you have happier nurses, but your patients will tell you their experience was one of the best of any hospital stay they ever had. but the most exciting thing that managers have told me is that we come in without blinders on and have an objective opinion of why units can't keep their core staff. i am currently on my 9th assignment and every time i have been asked by the director "can you tell me the positive and negatives of my unit?" i can tell them in a split second why they can't retain staff. good managers have listened and took action. the ones not really on the same page as the staff seem to want to change, but find it easier to just stay at the status quo.

every director i have worked for has told me they wished that agencies didn't charge so much and they could just pay the nurse direct because travelers know a whole lot more and more ways to do the same procedure (at a savings to the unit) than most of their core staff.

hopefully, your staff is dependable and you won't need travelers, but the odds are not with you. second, hopefully you will need the care of a traveler yourself and experience great things and this will change your mind. ( not that i want you to be sick, but just see how well you can be treated).

good luck and i really wish you could share the statistical data with the rest of us. i would really enjoy reading that material. i have a doctorate degree and love stats! i know i am weird, but math is just plain old right or wrong and no gray areas.

cruisernurse

[candida]

" then we must end these overpaid and alienating positions."

oh gosh karen bsn!!!! you really mean getting rid of the ceo's and the underlying facia of it's support??? that would be great! as a current "staff" nurse (although, sadly no i am not "married to my employer, i like to consider myself a "free" agent) and as a former but could -be- any -day- now travel nurse i am never overpaid!!! in fact i am not paid enough!!!. shouldn't i be paid what i am worth? as for travel nurses being unsafe - care to share an article to that effect??? back up what you say??? being a staff nurse in general can be unsafe due to high patient ratios, poor staffing, poor working conditions and mandatory overtime.

ciao! candida

:cheers:

[GYPSY1349]

" then we must end these overpaid and alienating positions."

oh gosh karen bsn!!!! you really mean getting rid of the ceo's and the underlying facia of it's support??? that would be great! as a current "staff" nurse (although, sadly no i am not "married to my employer, i like to consider myself a "free" agent) and as a former but could -be- any -day- now travel nurse i am never overpaid!!! in fact i am not paid enough!!!. shouldn't i be paid what i am worth? as for travel nurses being unsafe - care to share an article to that effect??? back up what you say??? being a staff nurse in general can be unsafe due to high patient ratios, poor staffing, poor working conditions and mandatory overtime.

ciao! candida

:cheers:

[color=sienna]hey candida...come on back to the travel work any time...the water is great! hugs, jesse:redbeathe

[candida]

"perhaps if you took off your wings and stayed put you'd learn that you owe this to the profession."

the wonderful think about being an american is the ablity to have a differnces of opinion; i do not agree with your statement. i have been both staff and travel nurse - both have offered me unique nursing opportunities. taking off my wings and staying put literally makes me a bird in a cage and i like freedom. i owe it to my profession to keep an open heart, an apt ear and an inquiring mind to all the opportunities that will present themselves during my nursing career. had i not "flown the coop" and started to "travel" i would never had the opportunity to work and live in germany (as well as see europe at a leisurely pace). so you may spout statistics (which by the way you haven't backed up) but i do believe you are in error.

~candida~

:cheers:

[walk6miles]

Here is my two cents (for all it's worth) regarding travel nursing. I used travel nursing to go back "home" ... over 15 years ago, I needed to leave Texas and return to Baltimore (I was supposed to marry an old flame but that turned into a nightmare - another story another time). I was able to pack the contents of my 1700 square feet home into a 700 s.f. townhome in suburban Baltimore. I wound up staying as a traveler almost three years and I remained at several assignments way past 3 sign-ups.

I made 20.00 an hour, 600.00 a month for "rent" on the townhome. I worked every holiday and more than my share of weekends. I NEVER had control over my schedule and I did get paid a shift diff on my paycheck since I worked nights only.

I left travel nursing when I moved (as a staff RN) to Florida. I found myself ready to jump into any assignment - I feel now, looking back, that I was a better nurse for having been a traveler - nothing bothers me; I was exposed to a variety of equipment, policies, nursing techniques and administrative attitudes. I would not trade that experience for anything.

Perhaps a softening of the commentary on the part of administrative representation would be helpful; I know I am feeling a definite shift towards THEM versus US when I read the comments.

Hope this helps.

[candida]

well, again from the staff versus travel issue - back in the day (oh late 80's early '90's) i worked with a nurse (staff) who was a bsn and she thought aminophylline and ampicillin were the same drug....go figure - not sure if she could start her own iv's though' - we had iv teams back then;

~candida~:cheers:

[rncopper]

Karen,

While you "spout" there are statistical facts, you give no references to back up your claim. And until you cite some references, your argument is invalid.

I have been a traveler for over 7 years - the last 14 months in Saudi Arabia. In those 7 years I have grown as a nurse, learning things that could never be learned in a stiffling environment that many facilities provide for their staff. Management believes their way is the only way, the right way, and evey other way is wrong.

You sound like a typical rhetoric speaking administrator - having no clue on what is out there and what the "real world of nursing is". I have been from AK to NH, from the US to KSA. I have learned and absorbed skills and tasks no perm nurse could even imagine because they have administrators, like yourself, who have blinders on concerning the PROFESSION of nursing. I can hit the floor running because of my varied experience. Many, if not most times, I am the most experienced nurse on the floor. I can critically think "outside the box" because I have worked "outside the box"!!

Facilities who retain management with your narrow attitude - truly is a reason there is such a turn-over in staff. Travel nurses come into a facility to help and enable a facility to keep floors and beds open. We do it at a personal sacrifice to our families and ourselves. If we are paid a little more - it is compensation for the sacrifices we make. No vacation pay, no sick time, no education reimbursement, paying for multiple licenses, no real job security (we look for positions possibly every 13 weeks), not sleeping in our own bed. Your statement all agencies offer vacation, insurance, taking the family along is a complete fallacy. Your information source is faulty - if there is even a source. Your statement is something we travelers come up against frequently. Mgmt has told the staff what great "wages and perks" we get. And that fosters resentment towards travelers from the staff. What is sad, it is false!!

Traveling is NOT for everyone. In fact, many long time staff nurses could never cut being a traveler because they know nothing different, things must stay the same, anything out of the routine throws them for a "loop". By your statements, it sounds like you could never cut it as a traveler - too narrow-minded.

Your blatant disregard for a valuable part of the nursing profession - it states volumes and is a sad commentary for the management of your facility.

Dear ?,

There is a lot of hostility in what is statistical fact. It is not my right to judge what the figures show. Furthermore I am a nurse; I just happen to represent the side of nursing where executive and management take over.

You are telling me that you did travel nursing as a speciality then? To broaden your experience and make you a better nurse? That you do not receive more money then staff nurses who commit just like a partner in marriage for the long haul?

Travel nursing is higher paid, and more dangerous on many levels including the nonconsistency of staff; the ability to know one can "fly the coop" or break a contract. If our profession is to uphold integrity, prepare the foundation for a new generation of nursing professionals then we must END these overpaid and alienating positions.

The nursing shortage is an epidemic get a job and stay there. You can go back to school, progress within an organization, but the costs of these positions are damaging to the acute care setting, the nurses who are committed to working as a team, and the clients and insurers.

Furthermore, you might change agencies for all of them offer vacation, bonuses, insurance, and taking the family along for the ride!

Thank you!

Karen G.

[Stellaluna]

You know, Karen, I was typing my response and one thought kept crossing my mind. Since my colleagues have done such a fabulous job already, I have chose not to defend my career choice against your inaccurate statements and just post the one thought.

If you are so anti-traveler, why are you lurking in a travelers forum.

As a side note, maybe you could use that time and put it to good use, like actually educating yourself on the facts that accompany traveling.