Pediatric Cardiac ICU Travel Nurse- Options?

NurseRies, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2013

I am currently working in Columbus, OH and am looking for information regarding traveling.. Specifically to Charleston, South Carolina. Wondering if anyone has been there/works there in the CICU? How you like it? If travelers are hired often? How hard is it to obtain a SC license?
Also, which travel company is the best to use? I have been researching but would like to know first hand of peoples experiences/recommendations.
Any help or info you may have would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

Random! Columbus is where I graduated nursing school and grew up and then I moved to Charleston for almost 3 years! Now Im a traveler. It was not hard to get endorsement, about 8 weeks processing for perm license. South Carolina is a compact state so if you move there and actually want to establish residency, it's easier to be a traveler. But I guess that's not really what you said. I worked at roper and roper st Francis and they rarely used travelers. I am not sure about MUSC or trident, but I would stay away from Trident hospital if possible. MUSC or roper are both great. MUSC is a large teaching hospital and Roper is equally great.

One thing you may want to know is that people in South Carolina truly hate Ohioans. They have a website and bumper stickers that say "GBTO"--go back to Ohio. I lived there 3 years and people still were annoyed when I told them where I was born. This is across the board, from patients to employees and doctors. I got no respect the first 6 months. You have to earn their trust for being a northerner, especially the most hated state of Ohio. Of course I didn't let it get to me, but it is a fore warning of what to expect. I would still go back to live because of how amazing and beautiful it is. I made some good friends (none were South Carolina natives). It was so bizarre. I went to a baseball game there and it was printed on the ticket "go back to Ohio night", they had themed games about and all. You'll read articles in the newspapers about Ohioans and how we are invading their territory. The city has also been deemed a lot of peoples least favorite city to be a travel nurse in according to highway hypodermics. I assume its because theyre not big on outsiders. So anyways, best of luck. The city itself is my favorite city in the country, I just wish I felt more welcomed. Even after being there years.. :-/

NedRN · Mar 20, 2013

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Perhaps this is just a Charleston thing? I worked in Greenville and everyone knew I was from Ohio. I never got a hint of the vibe you are talking about, much less any comments.

NurseRies, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2013

Hey, I resemble that remark!
Perhaps this is just a Charleston thing? I worked in Greenville and everyone knew I was from Ohio. I never got a hint of the vibe you are talking about, much less any comments.

It might be a Charleston thing. I don't like to generalize... But they have bumper stickers and newspaper articles about it. I don't think it's in my head, haha. They didn't hate "me", just my state.

CardiacRN415 · Mar 20, 2013

Oh my gosh! That is crazy! wow! What nursing school in Ohio? There are so many here! haha I'm wondering if the best path to pursue is relocating through a travel company or just moving there? I don't even know where to start regarding traveling! And what exactly does a compact state mean?

NedRN · Mar 20, 2013

Every state has its own nursing board and license. The ordinary thing to do when you want to work in another state is to apply for their license, costing time, hassle, and expense. About half the states are part of a nursing licensure compact, where if you live in one member state and hold a license, you may work in another member state without having to get their license, as long as you don't move there (the requirement to have a multi-state license is that you actually live in a member state - you can't get one if you live elsewhere, even if you hold a compact state license to work specifically in that state).

The impetus for the compact was not travel nursing. It had to do more with legal issues of cross state practice such as telephone or internet practice. It also allows better disaster relief. BTW, neither Florida or Louisiana are members of the compact but both have instituted rapid disaster licensure.

In my opinion, compact licensure, undeniably convenient for those travelers who reside in a compact state, is not a boon for travelers. One of the reasons that nursing pays relatively well is that we have barriers to entry - education and board examination mean that hospitals have restricted choice for staffing (a good thing for us, and patients). The same theory applies to free movement across state lines with licensure specific to that state. The best paying states, California, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, NY, and NJ have licenses that are relatively difficult to obtain and are not members of the compact and no signs that they ever will. In contrast, compact states generally pay lower wages. This is quite notable to many travelers.

Because of this, the politics of a state becoming compact are the opposite of what you would otherwise expect. The state nursing associations are opposed because they know it will help keep wages down. The hospitals and their state association are for it for the same reason the associations (and unions) are against it. These are slow trends to be sure and not the only factor, but compact status is certainly part of pay trends nationally.

NurseRies, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2013

Oh my gosh! That is crazy! wow! What nursing school in Ohio? There are so many here! haha I'm wondering if the best path to pursue is relocating through a travel company or just moving there? I don't even know where to start regarding traveling! And what exactly does a compact state mean?

I went to Ohio state and then graduated from Chamberlain. If you really want to just move to charleston, then I suggest just doing that! If you want to be a travel nurse, then do that. But don't do travel nursing in order to have them pay for you to go to charleston, it won't work out the way you want most likely. The likelihood that you'll get a spot in your specialty in the right city is low. Charleston is a lot like Columbus in that all new grads and Ben experienced nurses are fighting over positions. It is very hard to get in anywhere and all about who you know. I took a chance and just moved there without a job and I loved it! I want to live there forever once I'm done traveling. Travel nursing takes a lot of research and planning to do it right. Take your time and learn a lot about the way it works if you really want to be traveler.

umcRN, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2013

Not very helpful about companies or how to get started but if you have any interest in DC we have quite a few travelers on board at the moment. We moved to a larger unit last year without expecting to fill it, but you know, "if you build it they will come". We have quite a few orientations going through to get permanent staff but I'm pretty sure we'll be using travelers for a while longer. This is a free standing children's hospital in a strictly cardiac ICU (though we do have a large PICU & NICU and travelers will float first if their needs are greater). We do pda ligation's to transplants and everything in between.