I need the DIRT on travel nursing!

Rntr · Feb 6, 2011

Remember, Cobra is good only for 18 mo and then you need to get a new insurance. So, keep an eye out for a company that offer's decent insurance and take one contract with them...

ERRNinMI · Feb 6, 2011

I have just started researching travel nursing and what I have found, and maybe this is because I'm ER, is that they want minimum 2 years, they want license in hand with the state(s) you are interested in, and anything else that makes you stand out. I have been advised that the hospitals want you to be able to come in, and get to work. Minimum orientation (a week at best), and be able to fit in. I also agree with the poster who mentioned the 3-5 companies. Get info from all.

mookedog2008 · Aug 16, 2011

Hi! I am a traveling nurse and just recently have decided to travel with my family (I have 3 sons, ages 5,8,14). I was going to enroll them in school, but have decided to homeschool them. Anyone with any way to balance work and homeschooling 3 boys? Is it possible? Also, what are the rules governing homeschooling? Is it my home state? Or the state I'm working in? Anyone with any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Aug 16, 2011

i am a student about to graduate and decided to do some research on travel nursing since i hear the process is strenuous and i need experience first. most posts do not list companies because they scour these forums looking to reprimand someone. is there anyone out there that can give me a true perspective of travel nursing and a trustworthy company to go with?

if you're determined to do travel nursing, make sure to get two solid years of experience before hand. some companies will hire you with less, but you'll have a tougher time finding positions at hospitals. and you want to be a good, solid nurse before you put your license on the line by going into a hospital with poor staffing, no procedures in place and a preference to hang you out to dry rather than standing behind you.

my first travel assignment was in a hospital circling the drain financially -- its reputation had already gone down the drain. the physicians were mostly from india and pakistan and weren't especially friendly to the nursing staff. they appeared to hate each other. nurses were reporting physicians to the medical board for (according to the medical staff) manufactured reasons and physicians were reporting nursing staff to the bon for "bogus non-issues." the joint commission was on it's way to yank their certification. staffing was in short supply as was linen, equipment and other supplies. assignments were overwhelming. there were so many traveler there that some of them did charge, and even the manager was a traveler.

but then i got to work in places like the university of washington in seattle, brigham and women's in boston and the mayo clinic.

it's an advantage to travel with your family -- cuts down on those lonely moments gripping the telephone and realize that you're in the wrong time zone to call anyone. but those traveling alone or with a friend in the same age group seem to get invited to the most parties and activities. you'll always be the new kid, so you have to be friendly and outgoing. you have to say "yes" to invitations you'd rather pass on because you're exhausted after your 12 hours of hell -- because if you don't say yes, they'll stop asking.

you see any part of the country you wish to see -- anchorage, miami, honolulu, san diego, new york or waterloo, iowa because that's where your grandmother grew up. sometimes it feels as though you don't have enough time off to explore as much as you'd like -- but you can always arrive early or stay after your assignment just to play tourist.

you meet some wonderful people.

you get exposed to some really shoddy practices by people who have been socialized to believe that those are safe practices . . . best to have a full two years of experience under your belt and the ability to distinguish a safe practice that is just different from the way you learned at your old hospital and a shoddy one. sometimes, you might even find that the way you learned it was the shoddy way. i've seen travelers who started out at johns hopkins or the cleveland clinic shocked and dismayed to find out it really isn't the only place they know how to take care of vads, and that the way they learned to titrate or mix drips isn't the only way. i've seen travelers who worked icu at east goatlick medical center in the middle of nowhere realize that they really didn't know icu after all. some of them learned on the (travel) assignment and became good nurses; but most didn't.

when your son hits his first homerun, grandma may be 3000 miles away and when your daughter loses her first tooth, no one at work will be really interested. you'll move into a strange town and have to find a new grocer, dry cleaner, hair dresser and pharmacy every few months, and when that food you ate at the potluck gives you food poisioning, you won't have a local physician. if you break your tooth falling off your bicycle, you'll have to find a dentist immediately -- probably on a sunday.

some travel companies are unreliable. some lie to you. some lie about you. some hospital units are ecstatic to see travelers to fill in the gaps in their staffing, others will be downright hostile and there's a male nurse everywhere who has to bed every traveler that comes through the unit. there's also a charge nurse everywhere who resents you because she sees you as making more money and getting more holidays off than her. there are nice people who are fun to get to know and may become real friends everywhere, too, but it takes a strong and outgoing personality to find them. anyone can stumble into the unhappy folks.

travel nursing is a great way to see the country and to gain perspective on how nursing is different everywhere you go. you can learn a lot and have lots of adventures, meet people you'll carry in your heart wherever you go and maybe find the place you can't stand to leave and will become your permanent home. or maybe it'll just be an adventure.

you did ask for the dirt, didn't you?

79Tango · Aug 16, 2011

Daaaang Ruby, this should be required reading or made into a sticky..

jdickrn · Aug 17, 2011

Travel nursing is not the money maker that it used to be, I'm not really making any more money than I did at my last perm job, but I'm not out chasing the big money as some people are. The travel part is definitely the best part of travel nursing in my opinion. I had 8.5yrs of nursing experience when I began traveling and I can't imagine doing it with less than 2 years experience under your belt. I started my career in med-surg nursing and I still believe it's the best place to start nursing- many will disagree but that's my personal opinion.

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Aug 22, 2011

Thanks Ruby Well written.

Rod