baydogrn

I'M A TRAVEL NURSE AND NEED TO KNOW THE DOWN AND DIRTY OF WHICH COMPANIES AND FACILITIES TO DEAL WITH. ALSO WANT TO AVOID PERFORMANCE BASED TESTING AS CAME ALL THE WAY OUT TO TX AND MIGHT NOT HAVE HAD A JOB--STRESS I DON'T NEED. ALSO NEED TO KNOW HOW TO HANDLE PROBLEMS GERMANE TO TRAVELERS. WE ALL BENEFIT FROM SHARING OUR EXPERIENCES AND IF WE CAN HELP EACH OTHER AVOID THE POTHOLES, LET'S DO SO. WE WORK HARD FOR OUR MONEY!

I likws RNNetwork, very professional and excellent infrastructure, but the medical insurance was difficult to use in rural areas and at home where I had established providers. My husband and I are both 50 and have some significant health problems, thus I needed to switch to a company w/BCBS or other major player. I had a wonderful recruiter, but she left, and I didn't care for the advice the new one gave me, so I went w/Millenia. I didn't get a job I wanted there, and they posted my profile to a hospital in another city and I stupidly didn't ask enough questions because I was so worried about getting a job before my insurance ran out. What a mistake--this facility, affiliated with a prestigious university, expected me to be able to care for 6 geriatric ER patients w/no techs, no EKG techs, some really questionable medical practices, and I felt the care was incredibly unsafe. Millenia found me another slot, I have 3-4 patients and run my butt off, but the nurses and MDs are for the most part very nice to work with and I am getting some OT. This company is small, and lacks the infrastructure of the larger companies, and not a lot of contracts to choose from, but the pay is comparable, and if they have a place you want to go, it's not a bad choice. I do wish they had a continuing ed perk as many do, as I have had to absorb the costs of all the ER specialty courses that I feel I need to be able to get into the higher paying positions and also to feel competent in my field. I would say, watch Onward Healthcare, they misrepresented the pay on 2 jobs in FL after I had gone to the expense of getting FL licensure, and avoid Intelistaff as well. Fastaff has a reputation for strikebusting, but the money is good, just know whether you're going to be a scab or not. Traveling is cool, you get to meet a lot of nice other travelers and regulars, and you can see areas that you might not ever see otherwise. So go for it!

Hi, Texas Cowgirl, I worked for First Correctional Medical out of Arizona who had the contract forthe 9 Delaware Prisons and they paid $31/hr nights at the worst prison, the one where the inmate grabbed a counseler, raped and sodomized her for 7 hrs until the SWAT team capped him. This was RN pay, and these folks learned the hard way that they just couldn't pay the same as hospitals because the conditions were so dangerous. Corectional Medical took it over after I left, and they seem to pay about the same, but still probably better than the small hospitals in the state. They have been forced to staff with LPNs, many from Africa, and staff with per diem LPNs, who do not understand that the RN in charge may have to change assignments, have someone run to receiving, etc. and the amount of gross insubordination is shocking, and tolerated by management more than it should. There are some wonderful people within, but it's a shame the management doesn't value its nurses--they don't even pay more for a BSN than an ADN, or for years of experience! A real shame, because I liked that type of work.:balloons: BaydogRN