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PLEASE- ANYONE READING THIS- DO NOT 'Share with your buddy' your Hurst - or Kaplan - or ATI - or any of the review companies' online access!!!! That is stealing! You click an agreement when you register any of these review courses that offer online access stating you agree not to share. DO NOT be the one that gets prosecuted for such an offense!!! The material they provide for a fee has a copyright for intellectual property. DO NOT give your license away before you even get it! Think about it people! You are hoping to go into a profession where ethics are everything. Don't do it!

PLEASE- ANYONE READING THIS- DO NOT 'Share with your buddy' your Hurst - or Kaplan - or ATI - or any of the review companies' online access!!!! That is stealing! You click an agreement when you register any of these review courses that offer online access stating you agree not to share. DO NOT be the one that gets prosecuted for such an offense!!! The material they provide for a fee has a copyright for intellectual property. DO NOT give your license away before you even get it! Think about it people! You are hoping to go into a profession where ethics are everything. Don't do it!

Seriously??? appropriate?

I would recommend typing in some of your questions in the search field on the forum, and just reading thru a lot of the threads. There has been a ton of sage advice on this forum from some very savvy travel nurses. Good luck to you, and congrats on your upcoming graduation

Can't say what the facility would do as far as length of orientation for a new grad that 'passed' vs 'failed' pbds.... The purpose of the test (in theory) is to guide the orientation needs of the test taker. If you have a new grad that is a new RN, but has been an LPN on the same unit for 15 years, chances are the PBDS would direct their orientation needs to be different than a brand new nurse. The test reviewers give the facility information on specific areas of knowledge deficit. The facility then gives the designated preceptor areas to focus on when orienting the GN... The preceptor is the one using the information from the test to create a specific orientation tailored to the preceptee. That is how it is supposed to work. IMO...GN's don't really 'fail' the test...because they can re-take it, and they keep their job..... Travelers on the other hand, unfortunately do fail the test, sometimes as a 'weeding out' process....and that is wrong...unethical...dirty pool... I say to travelers...do your very best to prepare yourself... (or pick a different assignment that doesn't use PBDS) New grads...PBDS results may give you a more thorough orientation! and that is a bonus...

i wrote to the va regarding their travel nurse and this is the reply i received: this info may be old news by now...it has been a while...but here is a link just in case: www.travelnurse.va.gov the va travel nurse corps (tnc) is currently hiring rn's for staff positions at the phoenix and san diego va medical centers. these positions are temporary intermittent appointments which have a per hour salary with shift differentials and overtime if required. we also offer full federal travel benefits which include travel, lodging, per diem and incidentals while on assignment for the city in which you are working. the pay is based on a salary schedule for the va tnc. that schedule is only for the southwest region. we will have different salary schedules when we expand to other areas of the country. va nurses go through a boarding process which established their grade and step, which then establishes their salary. it is based on the individual's education and experience. that sets a per hour rate. va also pays 10% differential for night and evening shifts; 25% for weekend shifts; a combination of the two for 35% and overtime after 8 hours. salary is separate from the travel benefits. at this time, please note that the appointments are only temporary intermittent. in that way, we are like the travel nurse industry with 13 week assignments. at this time, we are working with each nurse and facility on the length of the assignments. we can go a little longer or a little shorter if needed. with only two sites (phoenix and san diego), we can not keep a nurse fully employed until we have more sites established. the temporary appointments do not have any benefits. if there are any changes to the program, they will be posted on our website at www.travelnurse.va.gov. we know that we have nurses out there that want to travel, but still need their benefits. we assist our nurse applicants with an online application process which creates an application form and at the same time, completes the credentialing portion of the application process. (i deleted bits that pertained directly to me, but included all of the general info in the email) hope this helps....

I started off in Florida with the 7:1 same nightmare. I ran...fast and far away. Got a per diem at a magnet hospital in Florida and that was 4-5:1. Currently, I am in California with state mandated ratios based on acuity... and have never had more than 4:1 on tele/pcu. Where I work now we have 52 beds with multi gtts that titrate to parameters. We do LVADS, and 12 hour post op hearts with chest tubes and wires and keep them until discharge... and of course we get all of the little old ladies that have any history of afib or HTN... : ) until we go on diversion...then granny gets transferred. We get post angios but the intervention caths go to the CVIU. We don't pull lines on my unit. We have a 'war room' with dedicated monitor techs. No LVNs, but our NAs have 13 patients on days and 15 on nights. We have 1-2 secretaries depending on the time of day (paper charting/orders...ugh). A charge nurse at all times... with no patients. An IV team, a Lift team and from 1330-2200 we have a resource nurse for breaks and admissions. The best part... we have dedicated open heart education nurses that work directly for our surgeons that are awesome! They go with the surgeon for informed consent, and stay to talk with the families. They update the families during the procedure. They round on the patients daily after... and best of all they do 100% of the discharge teaching. It's a beautiful thing!

Caifornia has state mandated patient ratios based on acuity. telemetry is typically 4:1, med surge is 5:1. Some hospitals out here combine MS/tele which means you can have up to 5:1 but the acuity should not be that high. My unit has 3 or 4:1 depending on acuity (LVADS, transplants, etc will be 3)... I love that about California!

Great advice al7139~ I will never forget my first week with patients as a new grad on a tele floor. Everything was high drama (from my perspective!)...I was not used to the different alarms and found myself running for anything and everything... One day as I was running past my managers office on my way to a bathroom alarm, she poked her head out the door and yelled "Run Forrest, Run!!" I had to learn to calm down a bit. I also had to learn to take care of myself...the "fifth patient" ... I had to learn there are twenty four hours in a day, and I'm only there for twelve of them. I still ask questions, clarify procedures, and seek the advice of the many mentors around me, and I try to offer the same for others. Look for opportunities to learn. Get yourself a good critical care or cardiac nursing resource book and keep it handy. If you know someone is going for a procedure the next day, read up on it when you get home. Prepare yourself so you can better prepare your patients. Best of luck to ya!

I really enjoyed Eisenhower in Rancho Mirage, CA. The Palm Springs desert area is great for exploring. The facility is 'well funded' by private donations... and that alone was a unique experience! The staff on the unit I worked was a blast! They were all so fun and funny, they were smart, and great team players. They enjoyed each other, and truly welcomed the travelers. They had going away parties for us when our contracts ended! wow : ) The unit manager was an effective leader. For nurses week, they included the travelers (rare!) and might I add, part of the special treats and treatments included a 30 minute relaxing massage in a spa like environment....WOW! I had to float to other units however, and they were not always so friendly... overall-favorite experience!

Hey...I think the California blend has not been taken into consideration which makes this an overall rate of $39.47 / hour which is a good so-cal rate. (Calirfornia law states anything over 8 hours gets paid time+half unless otherwise agreed to by all parties) If she were to work three 12 hour shifts for a total of 36 hours with 24 at the rate of $15.50/hr = 372 12 at the rate of $23.25/hr = 279 then adding the weekly housing and meals of $280 and $490 weekly total would be $1421 / 36 hours = 39.47/hr That is a typical southern california rate with stipend instead of taking housing. It is also a tax benefit to the traveler by paying taxes only on $651/week. (if she has a qualifying tax home base)... If it were me, I would have a 'special rate' added to the contract for any hours worked above and beyond the contracted hours. If you are contracting for 36/week and you work an extra 12 or 8 hour shift, then you would be giving your agency a ridiculous bonus and short-changing yourself, so I would ask for $40/hr for any extra shifts worked above the contracted 36. Also... this would be a fair rate if you were contracted for 36 hours per week. If the contract is for 48 hours per week, then ...nah...not so good. I would clarify these points with the recruiter and payroll department before signing the contract.

Take advantage of your days off...do lot's of getting out and about! Take a camera...start a photo journal of your experience! Share it with your friends back home! Be a sponge...it's such a great opportunity to learn 'other ways' to do the same old thing. With yours being a new facility, expect to find lots of mini obstacles, speed bumps, and disconnects...and staff frustration. It's nice when you have 'all new' equipment and such, but often times there is a lot of frustration when no one knows where everything goes...how everything works...and why! It's like doing 'go-live' assignments...when everyone is trying to learn a new computer system. Whew! Personalities on parade! Hope I didn't sound like a buzz kill, but just make sure you make the most out of your time away from the hospital...and do your best while your there.

Wow... Last year in SoCal (OC) the big companies were offering $30-$35 hour (after blending) with housing, medical/dental/life insurance, and travel expenses included. I know you get a tax advantage by taking more in stipend and less in hourly wages, but that is a different topic all together. I believe it all comes out in the wash...eventually. I was wondering if you were contracting for 36 or 48 hours at that rate. (Hoping for you it's 36. ) Good luck with your assignment, and I hope you enjoy the area...I did!

Sorry Goss, I called you Guss...Cheers to Goss (and Guss too! why not)

Thanks BagLady and Goss. I am a fair weather traveler for many of the same reasons. I wanted to advance my degree, and in my home town area, I found I would have to work one full time and one per diem job in order to afford it, and then I couldn't afford the time. I was able to venture out as a traveler while advancing my degree with online classes. I have had great assignments and awesome opportunities. I am now classified as 'temporary staff' with a 6 month contract (with an option to 'extend') at a respectable facility. I would not recommend anyone venture out as a new traveler at this time, unless they have seriously weighed their personal pros/cons. That said, I loved it, and will absolutely do it again. Loved the freedom and adventure... but I will wait for the turn around, knowing it will happen. In the mean while, I will leave it to the real pros like Bagladyrn, whose sage advice as a seasoned traveler on this forum has helped me make good travel nurse decisions for myself... Cheers to Guss and Baglady!