guest2117

Thanks!

Hello! I was wondering if anyone could give me input on travel agencies that staff in Alaska. I know the state very well and would like to do an assignment there, but the agency I'm currently talking to doesn't seem to do a whole lot of staffing there. Thanks!

Yes! I save the printout reports in case I'm going to have the same patients for 3 nights in a row. I use Black for the first night, Blue for the second night, and green for the third night. Red is for important notes/important things to underline.

Lack of preparedness. When you work on the floor (or ER) with 6+ patients, you have to write notes down throughout the day to stay organized. Shoot, I keep a pen and small notepad in my purse and in my car just in case I need to write something down. I'm 28, but I don't rely on my Galaxy S8 for everything, lol.

So proud to see this!

Thank you NedRN!

OH I will say though, I have met a doctor or two where you would NEVER make suggestions to them. One was a CT surgeon, you strictly told him facts and let him give you his orders (he could be a serious richard cranium to you if you gave him, the doctor, suggestions). HA, then there was an intensivist I worked with, arrogant little man, if you made a suggestion to him he would order the opposite. *sigh*

I agree with this 100%. Those recommendations the nurses are making are based off of their clinical experience. This will come with time working on the unit.

My last job was on a cardiac floor. Our floor techs were required to have CNA licenses, and I'm not sure anyone really knew why the hospital used the term tech vs CNA. Anyway, we had two techs at night, and they had a pretty organized routine on what needed to be done during the shift: -Routine VS, blood sugars, patient weights -Assisting the RN in getting admissions/transfers: Getting pt's VS/Ht/Wt, hooking pt up to cardiac monitor, making sure pt had admit supplies (toiletries, non skid socks, appropriate bracelets indicating fall risk etc, ice water) -Around midnight techs would ask RNs if we had any AM procedures/NPOs, and they would place NPO sign on door -Techs would prep patients going for surgery/procedures in AM (shaving/bathing with hibiclens/making sure patient was only wearing gown/socks) -With last round of VS, the batteries in cardiac monitors would be changed, linen bags would be changed, ice water refilled Ultimately in my mind, it is the responsibility of BOTH the tech and the nurse to make sure these things are done on top of making sure patient's call lights are answered, patient's are assisted to the toilet, snacks and drinks are brought to the patient, patients get bathed/linens changed. If a patient needed a bed bath/linen change, I always tried to make it a point to be in that room helping the tech. Each nurse had 6 patients, and if it was a crazy start to the shift I would coordinate with the techs and let them know which of my patients I could grab VS or blood sugars on. I know the techs always appreciated how involved I was in helping out. Any time I needed anything from a tech they were always willing to help out. Gosh, to be honest, I preferred working with my fellow techs than a couple of RNs on that unit... lol. Bottom line: It's a team effort!

Thank you everyone for your replies! It is much helpful info moving forward. I left my last hospital mid January to transition to travel with HWS, so I really need to get a plan formed to get back to work. Fortunately, I made sure I had a little nest egg saved up prior to leaving my last job. I spoke to a past coworker who worked as a traveler for a few years and she absolutely reiterated this. My (ex) recruiter at HWS stated in the beginning that I could not work with any other travel agency while being employed with them. Has anyone ever encountered this? It seems upon reading further into Allnurses that many travel nurses work with 2-3 agencies at a time. Once again, thank you all for your helpful advice!

Awesome work!

Thanks, Swellz. That is helpful info. I am disappointed because this has cost me valuable time and money - money in hotel and gas costs that could have gone toward bills and my mortgage. I feel duped to have sat here in a hotel room since Sunday and given the runaround by my agency. Luckily I am only a few hours drive from home. I take this as a learning lesson going forward. My focus now is to get a plan formed so I can start making money. I am most certainly steering clear of HCA, also.

My last floor was designated med-surg tele. We got cardizem, heparin, dopamine, dobutamine, lidocaine, and amiodarone drips. Also insulin drips for our DKA pts. 6:1 ratio. Not particularly safe, these patients should be on a step down unit with a ratio of no more than 4:1, but alas that is the way hospitals are going.

Since you are a recruiter, is it common for travelers to have to pay out of pocket for their physicals and required items for medical clearance? I used the same clinic HWS sent me for my drug screen to get my physical, MMR titer, PPD, etc. The LPN asked why the agency did not send the information directly and why I was paying out of pocket. The physician asked me the same thing and said all of the travelers that have come through have never paid out of pocket for these requirements. Appreciate your feedback!

Thank you for your reply! I am giving them a deadline for tomorrow to give me word. Time is money and right now they are wasting both for me. I am researching new agencies, also.

Hello, I am a first time traveler with HWS (travel/per diem agency for HCA). My contract start date was for 2/25 (13 weeks, 36 hours/week guaranteed) with the understanding that I would be in orientation on Mon 2/26. The previous week I kept asking my recruiter what time I was supposed to be at orientation on Mon, and she said she would make sure I had all of that info prior to starting. Well, on Sun 2/25 I drove to my assigned city. I texted my recruiter before I left letting her know I was headed out and she replied "did my assistant send you your first day info?" I told her no. She stated she hadn't received an email from the hospital's HR department yet but she would let me know on Monday morning. She told me to just be ready to report to work when I get a call on Monday. So, Monday 2/26 arrives, I get up early, shower, put on my scrubs and patiently wait. My recruiter calls me in the late AM asking if I've received first day info yet. I told her no, unless she or her assistant just emailed it to me just now. She stated the hospital should have called me. She tells me to hang tight while she investigates what's going on. Later on that day I get a call from HWS's local staffing office stating they were trying to coordinate with the hospital to get shifts scheduled for me this week and that I should get a call back. I relay the info to my recruiter and she says this is great news. Fast forward to today. STILL NO INFO. NO CALLS. NO INFO from my recruiter. I have spent money on a hotel room for three nights so far not knowing what the heck is going on. Is this common in travel? I am frustrated because the onboarding process was difficult enough as it is, and now I have no idea if I am going to be able to work. I assumed I would be to orientation on Monday, get my badge, learn the unit, and work out a schedule with the unit manager right away. Any info on whether this is common practice would be greatly appreciated.

Sockwell socks and Sketchers Go Walks. I best combo EVER. I cannot wear any other type of shoe (mine have the "goga" mat material as the insoles).

Poor Aunt Slappy is bitter because the kid makes more money than her and has a higher degree. Good lord, my mother is a CNA and I ask her questions from time to time about patient care. Does that make me an idiot? I think not. I'm sorry to be snarky, but I can't really stand rude people like the OP. I hope the RN who asks questions flourishes in his career and finds a job where he doesn't have to work with arrogant people like Aunt Slappy.

Seriously, if you are tired of working for someone else why don't you get your act together and start your own business? I am 27 and have realized after 4 years of acute care nursing that I don't want to do this full-time long term. I'm transitioning to travel nursing for the flexibility while my husband and I start our own online businesses in 2018. I plan on travelling close to home so I can still drive home on my days off. Unless the money is exceptionally good, I am not working more than 3 contracts this coming year. Time to start living life outside of nursing!

Flight Nursing, maybe? Out there in the field working along side the medics.

OR, PACU, Endo, and Cath Lab have their own challenges. The hours can be brutal, as call is required. I have put in 38 hours one weekend due to my 48 hour weekend call requirement in PACU. After working 20 hours straight and having 5 year old lap appy at 2 am, the simple task of administering fentanyl to the child becomes incredibly dangerous. The call in endo, OR, and cath lab is even heavier than PACU. If you can deal with the long hours, it is much less back breaking than the floors!

These ratios are what is driving me frim acute care. I work on a tele unit with cardiac drips and have had up to 7 pts. 6 is our standard ratio. Why in the world are we taking patients on dobutamine drips when we have a med surg ratio?! This seems to be the trend with many hospitals, now. I am done, at some point in the new year I will be leaving hospital nursing for new ventures.

Hello all, I have been a nurse going on 4 years. I've worked telemetry, ICU, and PACU. I've come to the realization that I am incredibly burned out and I no longer have that same passion for bedside nursing as I once did. It's not the patients I don't think- I enjoy taking care of people and I feel like the majority of them really are appreciative of the care they receive. I think it's the way hospitals are ran and the unrealistic expectations they put on their nurses and techs. I think the trend of unsafe ratios is what gets me the most. 6:1 on a cardiac floor with drips like dobutrex and cardizem seems to be the trend with many hospitals, or having 3 true ICU patients. I am frustrated when I hear in the morning that we need to make sure that our communication boards are filled out, but there is no follow up with "thanks for all of your hard work!". I've weighed out my options- Either I can drop to PRN status while trying to find something outside the realm of nursing, find a job in an outpatient surgery center (and still find supplemental work as hours typically are not guaranteed in these facilities), or find a whole new speciality of nursing that is non-bedside. I am not big on having heavy on-call requirements, either. My husband and I only have one debt, our home mortgage - his salary alone can cover the monthly $800 mortgage payment. So I feel like the time is coming in the near future for me to make a career move. Taking a pay hit does not matter to me, anymore. I just want to start enjoying my career again. Any thoughts on career moves or nursing specialities to look into? Anyone else find themselves in this situation?

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate it I couldn't find any info on google!

Here is an example. I work for an HCA facility in the Southeast. We are grossly understaffed, and management keeps telling us they are trying to bring more staff on board. I work on a step down floor. What they've done now is downgrade is to a "medsurg telemetry" unit with a 6-7:1 ratio, even though we get cardiac drips (amio, lidocaine, dilt, dobutamine are the 4 main ones I've seen on our unit). I'm fairly certain this is to save on the budget. Many For-profit facilities don't get a crap about patient safety or employee satisfaction. All they care about is the bottom line (MONEY) and will stretch their staff as much as possible in order to make a profit while giving some crap excuse that they just can't seem to get any staff hired. Now, there are some places (like in Alaska in the small towns and rural areas - Anchorage and it's surrounding areas is well equipped with nurses) that are legit short on staff and rely heavily on travelers. If you work for a union facility or in California with state mandated patient:nurse ratios, then the **** staffing ratios shouldn't be as much as a problem. I miss my union job in Alaska and the 3:1 ratio on step down.