LOVE THE JOB...HATE my company

[huntfishwv]

So my wife and I are with Night**%ale travel nursing and have been working our new job for 2 weeks now. Whats funny is you expect the hospital to be the bad part but honestly we both LOVEEEE the hospital and the people, but are not thrilled with our company. In the beginning they told us " we have great health insurance and prescription plans," somewhere in the 100+pages of paperwork there was a page with the info on it but we (being naive) didn't go over it thoroughly. After signing our contract and starting work we had to get a script......funny story...." they pay $250 a month per person MAX with a $50 deductible....so for nexium and sleeping pills (gotta love nightshift) I will spend $400+ dollars of my own money with this wonderful prescription plan. Next, with health insurance if we're hospitalized, heaven forbid, they pay a max of $300 a day. LOL!!! wow, so thats a breakfast and lunch? The private furnished apt and house they claim on their website is an extended stay hotel. What's even more funny is before we got here I found the place they were going to put us up and it was going for $34.99 a night with hookers and cops around all the time. I found a better hotel minus the hookers but they booked the smallest room in the hotel WITHOUT a living area. The one bedrooms with a living room here go for $10 more a night, guess that was too much to splurge. So now we have a bed, a recliner thats 10 feet from a small sink and a full size fridge.......HAPPY 3 months!!! LOL. The icing on the cake is they told us we'd get our first weeks wages the week after we started.....after calling today they told us its really 2 weeks behind and that they, " Really don't hold a week.....but they kinda do." HAHAHA that's funny when i haven't had a pay check in over 3 weeks. I just feel frustrated and want to scream. I hate that I gave up smoking because now would be a great time for about half a pack of cigarettes. LOL We were talking to another company but the recruiter was submitting us for jobs without even talking to us about pay or location then sending me emails and calling me several times ( along with his supervisor) wondering why I hadn't talked to anyone. We left him a lone in fear of not trusting him and him not listening to a word we said in our conversations. Are there any company's that offer decent health insurance, good housing, and have experience working with husband and wife teams. I don't want any companies that are affiliated with 10 other travel companies and this will be asked if you send me your info. Be small enough to be real, helpful, and human. This is all we've wanted to do for the past 5 years when we were gaining experience, but this industry is not what it seams. I guess you live and learn and with a contract you're just stuck sometimes and as my friends back home say, " it is....what it is."

[dixRN]

Don't feel bad. Lots of travellers get burned the 1st time out. But the 2nd time they are much wiser. If you guys have a tax home, have you thought of taking the housing stipend for each of you & finding your own place. With 2 housing stipends you could spend one & bank the other. You already obviously know how to do the online research needed to find your own place. I find my own housing & particularly like furnished basement & garage apts.

Before you sign the contract have any company send you their insurance plans & how much your premiums are going to be. Yes you will have to push them. it typically takes several requests. You need to have your info at about 3 different companies so you can compare. You also have to be very clear with your recruiter about the submitting you without your permission. I have found this to be a common practice. I like my recruiter & company, but would not recommend them at this time for that very reason. Nothing like a surprise call out of the blue from some hospital you didn't even know you were submitted to. It makes the travel nurse look stupid because you haven't had a chance to research the hospital. You don't even know what the pay rate is & if you want to work there. I recently had that lovely experience & was so surprised I didn't ask my usual questions or even get the name of the nurse manager I talked to.

Keep all your info current at several companies & then you have much better choices.