Local traveler 18 weeks pregnant

[kimtab]

I have been doing local contracts in the SF Bay area where my husband and I relocated for his job 6 months ago. My current contract is up Jan 22 and they don't need me to extend. I am due June 1. I plan to work up until the end but I am wondering whether any travel nurses have worked in this situation before? I'd like to be able to work something into my next contract so that if something unexpected happens and I have to quit work I won't be stuck owing a bunch of money. But on the other hand, I worry that revealing my pregnancy will cause me to be discriminated against and not get a position at all. Had hoped to be staff somewhere by now but jobs aren;t falling from the sky here right now. Really need to work, can't afford to quit at this stage. Any advice?

[RNERHOUSESUPOR]

It is illegal to discriminate based on pregnancy status. With a travel contract or an Agency job you are usually without long term insurance coverage and you will have no "sick time" or "PTO" time to tide you over after the baby is born and you are able to return to work. Almost 14 years ago my youngest daughter was born. I was working nights on a contract in South Florida. Her Mom called me around 1am at work and said it was time. I made it home in time for the contractions to have stopped, so we took a long walk around the neighborhood and then went to the hospital to be "checked" at 7pm that night my Ce' came into the world. I took about 4 weeks off with no notice and no penalties. I'm not sure if that would happen in todays society but . I didn't hide the fact that my significant other was pregnant and I had let the managers know that I would be taking some time off when she was born. There were a few grumbles around the 3rd week but I finished out my contract and all was well. No pay came in during the month off though. I stopped traveling for a while but have since gone back on the road. Good luck, congratulations and hope your New Year is healthy, happy and fruitful.

Rod

[Jolie, BSN]

Would you consider taking a shorter than normal contract or a per diem contract?

As a manager, I wouldn't be willing to work language into a contract allowing the traveler to bow out early without penalties, since I would be relying on that person for a set period of time. Inability to complete the contract would leave me having to pay OT or rush to find another traveler to fill it. Either option would be expensive.

But I might be willing to consider a shorter contract (8 weeks instead of 18) since I would know the end point upfront, or I would be willing to pay a per diem rate for as long as you are available. It would be somewhat less than a standard contract rate, since again, I might have to rely on OT to staff once you're gone.

Best of luck to you!

[RN Zeke]

Thank you for the information that many have been curious about. Honesty is the best policy on either side of the fence.