cvryder

Who knows anything about Onward Healthcare? I was just contacted by one of their recruiters who claims to have a lot of jobs where I want to go, but I've never heard of them. Are they reputable, good paying, easy to work with? Do they get good assign...

I've been a nurse for 21+ years, was a "late entry" who went back to school when my kids started school. Been doing travel nursing for the last almost 2 1/2 years and enjoyed it as I was divorced within that time and it was an opportunity to try my w...

I had a similar experience some years ago. I applied to COU after speaking with the manager and being told that yes, she *needed* more RNs, please apply for a transfer. A couple of weeks later I got a note saying there were no needs in that unit; how...

I took PBDS at Pitt in Greenville, NC, summer of 2006 and passed, but I think a couple of nurses in my group failed it. My biggest complaint was how it was handled...we were told we'd know first thing next morning and it was well along in the afterno...

Heparin protocols are CRAZY! Every where I go it's something different....Cruikshank, weight-based, some personal kind, just anything. What drives me craziest is the differing concentrations of heparin. I was always used to a 1:1 which makes the titr...

NO, and I'd have done exactly what you did. Sounds like she is about ready to buy herself a pacemaker!

It varies according to what they call PCU. Some are nothing but glorified tele floors and you get anywhere from 4-6 patients. Others are self-contained and just this side of ICU with a lot of really sick patients. Best ratio I ever got in PCU was in ...

I went to a MSICU about a year out of school, and it wasn't till then that I *really* got my assessment skills down. On med/surg you're too darn busy to do more than superficial assessments, and that was even more true that many years ago. I disagree...

That sounds like the Syvek patch we used at one hospital I worked at. I liked them a lot. We then switched to the Clo-sur patch which you wet with a small bit of arterial blood, then hold over the wound firmly while holding pressure on the artery abo...

Go visit the Travel Nurse forum here, or the ones on Delphi...you'll hear plenty about all kinds of agencies. Travel nursing depends a lot on your recruiter, not just your company. Some pretty good companies have the occasional awful recruiter. That ...

Oh my goodness...the first two were peds and it took me about 4 months in each place to figure out I didn't like it. Went to M/S and was hating it, but in that small hospital the ICU manager picked me out as "good ICU material." Since then I've chang...

I'm contemplating moving to another state--long story, but involves a divorce. I know there are a lot of travel jobs within 3-4 hours of the city I want to move to. I'm not quite ready to give up the joys of travel nursing, but I'm wondering about do...

We had to do that once with a morbidly obese patient whose brand-new trach came out before it had been in 24 hrs! He ended up keeping that ETT in until they could get a specially-ordered extra-long trach for him. Normally there should be an extra tap...

I recently posted a resume on a couple of job boards. It states quite clearly in the "Objective" section that I am seeking a PERMANENT position in a particular area. I am planning to relocate to that area, though the specific location is yet to be de...

It really varies with the unit, not so much the hospital, and I believe the attitudes come from above (usually the manager, who is either part of the clique, or is isolated/uninvolved/incompetent or all three). My last assignment was in a hospital th...

TNS has short term contracts also. I'm talking to them again for just that reason. Also you could consider strike nursing (Fastaff does that, and I just learned that On Assignment does too) but I don't do that, feeling that when nurses strike it's us...

Best hospital? Hands down, Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. The whole nursing atmosphere is different there. I worked M/S tele. Favorite place? Richmond, VA, for a variety of reasons...small enough so you don't get swallowed up, big enough to h...

I worked my first assignment with TNS, then for a variety of reasons went with On Assignment for the next 5. Now talking to TNS again because they can get me where I want to go, and also because they have short term assignments and I'd like to be her...

Not impressed with either one, after listening to other nurses for the last 2 years.

Yep...ended up changing agencies, and until right now haven't had more than 2 weeks unplanned time off. My only hangup now is trying to get my ACLS before I go again, since tele positions pay better. I just submitted my resume for a job which would ...

Does ayone have any experience with online ACLS renewal? There are several outfits offering it, and because of time constraints I'm contemplating the one offered by AMRG http://www.aclsonline.us/recert/pages/home.jsp My recruiter (I'm a traveler) is ...

Well, now I've been informed that my ACLS has been expired for too long (60 days) and now I have to do the 2-day class. AHA is the most UN-helpful outfit I've ever dealt with as far as finding a class. I'm basically having to individually call every ...

Good grief! What's your company? Remind me to stay away from them....

I've been to all that, and the problem I'm having is in finding a person to do my megacode through the AHA business. This is a small area and hospitals are pretty clannish. I can sign up for a class in a nearby city next month but that is going to me...

I'm told that AHA does not approve corses, only sells them through their franchise. AMRG states that their course is within AHA guidelines. Problem is in finding someone to run the megacode for me. I've tried some of the hospitals hereabouts and the...