dorie43rn

ALWAYS check for a blood consent and order before giving blood, trust no one when they say the order is in and the consent is signed, go look yourself! If the lab says the blood is ready does not mean there is an order to transfuse! I caught this very near miss on someone.

It is not unreasonable when you are on a "Epic" conversion. The pay is the best. I have a tax home, so Im covered. I still say finding your own housing is the best way

I like the money to much to have my agency find me housing. Heres what I do, I put an add on craigs list stating who I am,what I'm looking for, and how much I can afford. Also a little about myself and the possibly of facebooking. Depending the location, I get plenty of responsed that I can pick and choose. If I cant drive to view place, I insist on facebooking or sending of pictures. It is done very saftely. Right now I get a stipend of 756 dollars a week for housing. I found a great furnished garage apt for 200 a week. Thats 500 + added to my paycheck weekly! Only in a quick situation would I let them find me housing. Some nurses say they are to lazy to do what I do. Are you kidding me?? They probably spend alot of time on the pc doing other stuff, why not make the most money you can make on an assignment? Don't be lazy, it can mean 1600 extra in you pay a month.

Don't waste your money. I downloaded two of them and never used them once.

Policy and Procedures? What Policy and Procedures? LOL I don't worry about those one bit. I do ask on certain procedures what the policy is, and I expect someone to tell me the right way, but I do patient care and thats all I strive to do and do it well. Charting comes second and anything else comes after. Traveling is great, I don't have to go to meetings or anything! Less stress I think......

I'm at a Hospital in Baltimore Maryland that pays decent and the people are great. Its a ICU unit. Cost of living is cheap, and there are alot of things to do and see. Come East!

After 38 years of marriage, travel nursing is what keeps us together! He stays home and takes care of the pets and house, I fulfill my dream. Of course if it is somewhere interesting, he visits, but it is working for us. I say go for it while you are young.

I have been asked to re sign at the hospital I'm at. I like it here alot, and its a short drive to home. My question, do they usually pay you more money to stay? Should I use that as a bargaining tool? My recruiter is balking at me asking for more money, although if I didn't stay, I was going to look for a better paying travel assignment anyway? Thoughts?

I'm a travel nurse and the hospital I'm at uses meditech. I like it, but I do not like the "nursing note" aspect as I think it is double charting. If we work 12 hours, we chart a full assessment twice. As stated before, there are the q2hr and q1hr vitals, ect, or any changes.

I use Craigslist in the city, or near the city I'm going. I basically put in that I'm a travel nurse looking for a home. I put my needs, and what I'm willing to pay. Of course you have to be careful, there are scammers, but I found both my places in great homes for only 500 a month and pocket the rest. It may be harder with a husband and pets, but someone will give you what you need., I am a nurse practitioner who is seriously considering doing locum tenens work. My experience is four years as an RN and 1+ year as an NP. I would like to utilize a housing stipend to find my own living arrangements in lieu of company provided housing from the locum tenens companies as I have a husband and three pets (two cats and a dog) who will travel with me. One company basically told me if I do not use their housing they will not otherwise pay for living expenses. Any travel nurses or NPs out there willing to share their experience in finding their own housing or how they negotiated a housing stipend? Better yet anyone know a locum tenens company that offers this option? Thanks in advance!

I had to take one for the hospital I'm at, and missed 3rd degree block somehow. I was shaking in my boots! I went home and studied the blocks, went back the next day and passed. Hint, if you can't figure out between blocks, call them all third degree. You can miss a few points, but they fail you on the lethal ones. A few people in my class did that, and passed the first time. I didn't and had to retake it. But no, theres nothing funky on them, just basic and lethal. Hope this helps.

I waited until I had 6 years experience before I traveled. You really don't need that much time, but please be sure you are comfortable with ICU skills before you go. Nurses don't have time to teach you as a traveler, you are EXPECTED to know what you're doing and hit the floor running after a very short orientation. You don't get the 12 weeks most new nurses do, its at the most 2 12 hour shifts with a nurse, thats it.

If you go to a company and add up what it costs to train a new nurse, pay her insurance, disability ect, you will find that hiring travel nurses is cheaper.

Please get your recruiter to explain it better to you. I'm being taxed on 10 dollars an hour, but with all the extras, I'm really making 43 and hour. So you are probably being taxed on the 21 but will really make 41 with all the added extras that are nontaxable.

I'm on my second travel assignment. I work in the ICU and have found all the patients are bad, so I don't feel dumped on! LOL I have not felt "singled out" because I'm a traveler at all. At both places the only attitude I got was from young lazy nurses aides. The nurses have been wonderful. Take care of your patients well, help out, be friendly, ask questions and you will be fine. I did however wait till I had 6 years of ICU experience before I traveled and I'm glad I did. I'm in a Level one trauma unit right now and it is nerve wracking. Always ask a travel nurse travel questions to get the true story, not what floor/hospital nurses hear. :) Big FYI; what ever your company supplies; car, housing ect, it comes out of your pay, they GIVE you nothing! I find my housing therefore I get more money. If I let them find my housing, >300 a week would come out of my pay. Same for cars or medical insurance. Research and ask around about hospitals in the great places you want to visit. I had a friend who went to Hawaii and was treated so bad she is being sued for breach of contract or something. I am in Madison WI on assignment visiting a grandson, and its a great place with tons of things to do! Who knew? The hospital is A+ and I'm learning alot. Hope this helps.

Here is what I put in my add. Travel Nurse looking for a home. I am a travel nurse that will be working the the Madison area until Sept 4. I am looking to rent a basement apt or a furnished room. I am clean, neat and quiet. Please, no highpriced dumps. I'm willing to pay a fair price. Must be willing to Facebook or send pictures. Thats about it. I got a very interesting call from a guy who said I could live rent free if I did 8 hours of office work, and 4 hours of cleaning a week. When I asked more specifics, it turned out to be in a Frat House! LOL If I was a little younger maybe........:)

I agee, research is needed, thats why if possible facebook the person. I also put in my add that I didn't want to look at any highpriced dumps, so the people sent me photos of their place. Facebook is good because the person renting needs to know if we are kooks or not also. I told the nice older couple I didn't rent from to be super careful on who they rent to, and that travel nurses are a good bet because we have backround checks done for every assignment. Im renting the basement also but my roomie has to come to my space to wash clothes. So what? I have nothing going on in 13 weeks that the owner of the house who is so gracious to me can't see! Like the previous poster, my roomie is gone all day, and most weekends, so it works out. I hope I'm as lucky with other states as I was with this one.

I waited until I had six years as an ICU nurse before I walked into another ICU as a traveler, and I'm glad I did. You HAVE to know your s..t to have only 1or2 day orientation and hit the floor with everybody watching you to make sure you can do your job. My advice is to get a few good years of steady experience at one job, then take off. For example, my hospital I worked at for six years was a small town small stuff ICU. On only my second travel job, which is now, I was handed a liver transplant pt and am expected to take care of him. Its a huge Level one trauma unit and I was very nervous to start here, but now I'm feeling more confident. If I had only one year in nursing, I would have run!

Just an FYI for travelers who are sick of paying 300 and up a week for housing. I not only looked on Craigslist, but put myself out there as a traveling nurse who needs a home. I put what I wanted, and what I could pay. It worked, I'm staying with a very nice young woman for 500 bucks a month!! I am fully aware there are nuts out there, but I became friends on facebook with this woman so she could see my life, and I hers. I also had another very nice older couple contact me. You can look up the Craigslist in any city in the country and take your pick. I will do this from now on. I looked at my share of crackpot places before deciding to put my situation on there and let them contact me.

Thanks for all the very useful information. I guess I will give up the idea of a lawyer, mainly because, IM BROKE! Thats why it is so unfair to me. I did nothing wrong, but i'm now out of a paycheck. I know you are supposed to save for this situation, but I've only done it 5 weeks! I had bills, and things to buy! I still want to know what stops all hospitals from doing this if there is no consequences? I'm awaiting a call from my recruiter on the verdict. I let you all know when I found out. This hospital, after realizing their blood pressure thing was dumb, went on to say I forgot a blood sugar check,(I didn't) and 15 minute after the first 15 minute vitals after hanging blood. Never taking in the fact I was off the floor taking a patient to CT scan because there was no help there. BUT, I did the JACHO listed blood vitals needed. And how do I clear my name? It is the computer generation, and this could be out there on my record.

Ok, but why should I let a legal contract that they broke unfounded go? If I broke the contract you can bet they wouldn't let it go. After talking with my companys nurse, they are most definately going to find I was not at fault. I understand now that my company should pay me the rest of the contract, and go after the hospital, which is what they might do, and not staff that hospital anymore. A contract is a legal binding paper and they have no proof I did anything wrong because I didn't. What would stop any hospital from canceling if we let them just get away with it? Sounds dumb to me and I will not let it go even if I get another contract. I worked very hard at that place under dangerous cicumstances, and they are not going to nit pick me out of a contract, sorry. I may give up traveling if it is that easy to cancel a contract.

Wow, what do I do now? What are my legal safegaurds? I was canceled 6 weeks into my contract for what my travel company has pretty much found to be not my fault. I know I did nothing wrong, and am tempted to get my own lawyer for the hospital breaking my contract. Another travel nurse "mentioned" to another nurse i forgot to record a set of vitals, (I didn't) and she took it on herself to write them in for me. I came back the next morning, she told me about them, and I explainded the situation which explained my side. I get a call from my recruiter the next day saying not to go to work! I was shocked and devestated! No one was harmed, I had my vitals charted! This place threw us travelers into a horrible situation with hardly any orientation, 4 hours tops, and I did a good job. No complaints about me what so ever until this one situation. It boggles my mind. I want them to pay what is owed to me! If it is found nothing wrong was done, who pays me??? I am already being submitted to other places, but I'm not letting this drop.

I am on my first travel assignment. As a first time traveler, why do I understand that I am not going to be walking into the best situation at the hospital, or they wouldn't need me, but a couple nurses that have traveled for a while dont get it? The hospital I'm at isn't any different then where I gave up a full time job, only now I get paid more to put up with short staffing. But one of the travel nurses I met is going to all the other travel nurses and ******** about the hospital and even went to her recruiter about the place. What about the place, that its short staffed??? Thats why we get paid to come there! That you only get about 8 hours orientation, again, thats what we are supposed to be able to do! If you are so unhappy with these situations, go back to regular nursing. As much as they ***** about this place, I can't wait to see how easy things run in any new places I go! LOL

I am on my first assignment and was worried about all the things you are. If you are going out of state, get your licence's before you take an assignment. I had exactly two weeks to give my job as a notice. When you pick a company, get a recruiter, talk about where you want to go, and all the paperwork they need, you have plenty of time to get your job ready for your departure. I'm actually staying casual at my job because I'm only three hours away. I have six years in ICU and let me tell you to be ready to take on a patient load after only one to two days of orientation .

I'm a new traveler also and I'm using Medical Solutions, an up and coming company mentioned on Highway H. So far so good with them. The pay is good and my recruiter got me the exact place I wanted to be. I would like to try a bigger company just to compare them, maybe RN Network or something, but right now I'm happy.