ljb

This thread has been helpful, but has raised some new questions for me on the topic. The agency I just signed with (first assignment--excited!) does NOT do the TA program. Does that mean then, that I should be saving all of my receipts (food--ie groceries, dinners out?, gas, shipping costs, etc) so that I may take them all as deductions at year end? Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that (rather than get the tax-free pay), you submit receipts and take upwards of $25K in deductions...that much? I guess my question is, as a new traveler (not getting any "TA" pay), what kinds of receipts should I be saving? What is deductable? What not? I know...contact a tax preparer. Will do... But what your thoughts/experiences on this as fellow travel nurses?

oops, now I wasn't being clear. When I typed SD, I meant San Diego. I'm looking to travel in CA! thanks again for your posts, and positive encouragement!

Oh, you think I sould go for it! I was surprised to see that your post was from the same person as your previous post, only b/c i sort of thought you were saying that i should get way more experience before trying traveling. I definitely want to get the experiene, learn the skills, etc., but I thought it might not be a good idea to try to get this experience on a travel position, where you're sort of expeced to know what you're doing already, and where you get only 2-3 days of orientation. I don't want to be the lame travel nurse who has no skills and needs help all the time!! At the same time, if I knew people were willing to work with me, help me with certain things, I'd go for it. It's hard to know from a distance, and I'm just afraid of getting myself into a stressful (more so than the normal stress), or unsafe situation. I do appreciate your encouragement, and believe me, I will seriously consider her offer. She seemed pretty sure they'd need a second travel in a few months and maybe I can learn more of a base of what I'd need to know to function on her unit and then I can take the job! (It's in Poway, Pomerado Hospital, outside of SD. Anyone have any experience at this hosptial?) thanks again

from the OP: thanks to everyone for your replies. All I can say is...I feel so inexperienced! We don't do VEs, FSEs, cultures, etc, and have residents around 24/7. Essentially, we are assistants to the docs and we chart alot. I hate to describe my job that way, but in comparison to most LD nurses, it sounds like it's the truth. We do have RNs on the floor who work in our triage area who do all of these things (ie the VEs, cultures, spec exams, etc.) but you don';t usually cross train in that area until about 2 years. I'm anxious to get the experience in these areas, but leary of having my experience be under the pressure of a travel position where I'd be forced to learn on my feet but at the risk of being seen as incompetent, or worse, making a big mistake/judgement error. thanks again for your responses.

Thanks for your response. I think you're right in that I need to gain more experience overall. I've begun to work with the residents at my hospital and started doing cervical exams with them to learn. I recently interviewed with a hosptial who was hiring for nights, and who said that they have hired travelers who hadn't done many cervical exams before, but who they had allowed to learn on the job. Sounds great, but it sounds a bit scary too, b/c as a night nurse, she said you'd be working with no doc, would do all the checks/fetal tracing monitoring yourself, and just call the doctor at time of delivery, or in case of need for a c-section. Also that I'd work in the triage area, and post partum, both of which would be new areas for me! Hard to believe that she'd even consider me, but she said I could take the next few months and try to get more experience at my current position before considering taking her travel position in SD. It's tempting, b/c I know I'd be forced to learn on my feet, but could go really wrong, and I'm not sure I want to take that chance. This was maybe more detailed info than I needed to post here, but thanks again for your response. I agree with what you wrote.

Hello all, I'm an L&D nurse looking to get into travel nursing, but have run into some problems in regards to my experience. I wondered what any of you might be able to offer in terms of advice or your personal experience, especially anyone who has been in my particular position. I have 18 months of L&D experience, just shy of 4 years total nursing experience (my first job was in a SICU--good experience, but not for me). I work at HUP in Philadelphia, a large teaching facility. The nurses here (except for a handful, cross trained for our triage area), DO NOT do cervical exams. My first choice of location to move to has been San Francisco. Large teaching facilities there, as I'm told, do not want to hire first time travelers. So I've expanded my search to outlying areas, other small towns. This is where I've discovered (as many are community hospitals), that all the nurses do cervical exams (and place FSEs and IUPCs), leaving me unqualified! So basically I'm stuck with the catch-22 situation of: can't get a job at a large teaching facility in the city (as a first timer), but can't get a job at a smaller or community hospital b/c of my sheltered existence at a large teaching facility! It's kind of funny really. Is my hospital as outside of the norm as it seems in that we (the RNs) don't do vag exams? (or place internal monitoring instruments) Just wondering if any of you has had this same combination of situations, and if they were ever successful in finding a travel job? I realize this may be more of a "travel nursing forum" question (and I did post there as well), but I wanted insight from L&D nurses in general as to where my facility stood on the spectrum. Thanks for any input!

Hello all, I've just begun looking for a travel position as an L&D nurse in the last couple of weeks, and am not having much luck. I wondered what any of you might be able to offer in terms of advice or your personal experience, especially anyone who has been in my particular position. I have 18 months of L&D experience, just shy of 4 years total nursing experience (my first job was in a SICU--good experience, but not for me). I work at HUP in Philadelphia, a large teaching facility. The nurses here (except for a handful, cross trained for our triage area), DO NOT do cervical exams. My first choice of location to move to has been San Francisco. Large teaching facilities there, as I'm told, do not want to hire first time travelers. So I've expanded my search to outlying areas, other small towns. This is where I've discovered (as many are community hospitals), that all the nurses do cervical exams (and place FSEs and IUPCs), leaving me unqualified! So basically I'm stuck with the catch-22 situation of: can't get a job at a large teaching facility in the city (as a first timer), but can't get a job at a smaller or community hospital b/c of my sheltered existence at a large teaching facility! It's kind of funny really. Is my hospital as outside of the norm as it seems in that we (the RNs) don't do vag exams? (or place internal monitoring instruments) Just wondering if anyone else has had this same combination of situations, and if they were ever successful in finding a travel job? Thanks for any input/ideas

hi, general concensus (save the last post) seems to be that 12 hr shifts are really bad (hard, tiring, undesirable, etc.) This has me worried! The hospitals I'm looking at working at all seem to offer only 12 hr shifts...even for new grads (which I will be). Is it that bad? (oh, and i'll be doing nights most likely...a concept I really can't imagine...working at night, sleeping at day? I know, "you poor little naive student nurse") Anyhow, I would think the 4 10s would be good. I know they offer at Jefferson where I work part time, at least on some of the floors. Sounds like people really liked it...maybe we can get back to that trend...

they're very comfy. I'm still a student, but I've been wearing dansko (closed back) clogs since before I started school. As a matter of fact, i need to make myself go out and buy some other shoes because I'm tired of looking down at my feet and seeing these! well worth the money, and you can buy them online at the dansko outlet. Several of my friends have friend new or close to new pairs on eBay too, for 60-75 dollars