Fancifulmist

Glad to hear you didn't take the CCTC position! I'm also working with the recruiter from a different company and she has been very honest and upfront with me. After dealing with the other run around, I am so much more appreciative of honesty now!! When will you start your new assignment?

Lemme guess, this is a CCTC contract correct? I was offered the same per diem crap, medical insurance and housing for another New England town. The problem is thus, I have been a nurse for about 12 years now and for many of those I was a traveler. When I worked a traveling contract back in 2001, I was paid $9 MORE per hour than the rate I am now being quoted for the SAME hospital. I am being told that "with the Tax-advantage plan your hourly rate will be equivalent to --.--/hr." Unfortunately, I have NO interest in taking a tax advantage plan. I'll get that ANYWAY at the end of the year when I file my taxes. I want the market wage salary (without any tax-advantage plan or other nonsense thrown in), a 1-bedroom apartment and medical coverage. End-of-story, period. These companies have really been screwing over nurses!! Makes me so mad!

Hello, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your father. I lost my mother in 2003 while on assignment with CCTC. I was actually in report at the beginning of my shift when I received a telephone call that my mother had died. Needless to say, I was in shock but the hospital and my traveling company were phenomenal. The hospital wouldn't hear of my staying for the shift and sent me home to be with my family. I then had another 1 week off. When I returned, the hospital's nurse manager was shocked and said that she had planned to allow me another week if I needed. I was not charged for missed days or housing stipend deductions. I did not receive any pay for that week, but that is completely understandable. While I was on bereavement leave, my recruiter sent a bouquet of flowers to our home. They were truly wonderful and I am forever grateful for their kindness. I have no trouble relating that the company was: CCTC and the hospital was: Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, NY (Unit: Acute Ortho/Neuro/Spinal Rehab).

Am re-entering the travel nursing field and am researching different companies. I am currently talking with a recruiter at CrossCountry (have traveled for them in the past without any problems) but feel I am getting a "lowball" offer to work in NYC. I have also applied PHP, Fastaff and Valley. Fastaff has posted some great pay rates, but availability of assignments for med-surg seems slim. Applied to PHP and Valley as they have been listed as some of the best on Highway Hypodermics. What is the going rate for NYC positions (hourly)? Has anybody here had any experience with PHP or Valley? Would like to know how they truly rate in a "real" traveler's eyes! Thanks, Lois P.S. I have 12 yrs experience as an RN: Med-Surg/Ortho-Neuro-Trauma/Step-Down/ICU/OR

Hello All, Thank you for all of your advice! I did accept the position with the HH agency today and am excited to finally be leaving the hospital. I did make an error in the cost of the "lease" of the vehicle. It is actually $90/week, which sounded pretty steep at first, until my DH and I sat down and figured out home much we spend on gas/insurance/maintenance on our own vehicle. After that, it seems like a pretty good deal. The insurance is provided by my agency and covers both my hubby and I (the car can be used for both business as well as personal needs). I've submitted my resignation to my current supervisor. My orientation at the agency will last for 4 weeks and I'll be salaried during that time period. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted about how things are at this agency.

Hi HMarieD, Thank you for your response. I will be working full-time at this agency. We reside in western Cook county here in Chicago, so our cost-of-living is very high. Also, we have the dubious distinction of having the highest tax rates in the country. I really would like to try home health, as I've always been interested in this field. Patient care and my assessments are where I shine. I could be very happy in this specialty, but some of the threads I've read frankly scare me. Some I've read talk about people not getting to bed until 12:30 am and 1 am and then having to get up in the AM and start all over again. I would love to have the flexibility and autonomy that I feel this could offer me, but I don't want to be entering into a situation where I'm worse off than the hospital unit I'll be leaving for this job! Since I've had to return to straight nights for the past 2 years at my hospital and the constant stress of the acuity levels and low-staffing, I'm constantly ill! The stress is killing me, literally. I will be switching to home health, but I don't want to make a bad choice by choosing a subpar agency. Just trying to make sure that I'm getting overly screwed over by the agency before I accept this position!! :)

hello all. i am an rn with 11 year experience in a hospital setting. i am considering moving into home health care and am really excited. as i am the sole breadwinner in my family (hubby is a stay-at-home dad with 4 children under the age of 7), i am most concerned about pay rates and benefits. i interviewed with a suburban chicago home care company today who offered me $44/visit, $77/admission visit, company car with paid gas/repairs/maintenance that i may also use for private use and that my spouse may also drive (i will pay $90/month). bcbs ppo with $1500/year deductible (the company pays for the 1st $1000 (so you only responsible for $500 out-of-pocket per year for family coverage). this plans costs about $80/week. guardian dental/vsp vision, another $20-30/week. you are expected to see 6-patients per day (30 per week). all supplied are included. completely paperless charting. portable pt/inr, glucometer and pulse ox devices included. hours are from 8am-5:00 pm mon-fri. i have to work one weekend per month and take call one weekend per month. i also have to work 2-holidays per year. they only offer 120 hours pto time though (15 days for sick/personal/vacation time). the pto seems really low. every hospital i've worked for has given me 2-weeks paid vacation per year plus sick days (at the very minimum). the pay will work out to be about the same as the hospital job i'm leaving. however, my hospital job offers 3-weeks vacation/yr, 2-personal days per year and 3-sick days per year but with much more expensive benefits ($700/mo for bcbs family ppo with a $1200 deductible). so, my question is to the home health rns out there, is this a good offer from the home health company? should i expect more $$ per visit (some local friends have suggested other companies pay much more but they didn't know about benefits)?? are any of these terms negotiable (pay per visit/pto time)?? new to this so i just want to be sure before i leap! also, generally, once i see my 6 patients/day, am i "done" for the day besides paperwork? or am i expected to continue to see more patients until 5pm?? not sure how this works... fancifulmist

Hi, I currently work on 5-tower at Loyola. What would you like to know? We have a 32-bed unit, all private rooms. Once you are off of orientation, you will be expected to care for 5-patients (sometimes, you luck out and only get 4 but it's RARE). The pt acuity level is very high on this unit and you will care for pt's who are post-heart/lung transplant., post angiogram (some with the sheaths still in, though this is rare), post CABG, post defibrillator insertion, post ablation procedures, etc. When the census is low, you will also take care of many general medical patients. Loyola offers 3-weeks vacation per year and 2-personal days. No matter what they promise you in recruitment, you will not have more than 3-sick days per year. If you use those 3-days, you WILL be written-up. The sick day policy is Draconian at best and if you find you have been too sick to work more than 3 days per year in the past, you would be best to look elsewhere. All shifts are 12-hours long, from 7P-7A, or 7A-7P. If you choose to work the day shift, you have to rotate to nights for one month every now again. If you prefer not to rotate, you will have to work straight nights. They tell you that you will only have to work every 3rd weekend, but in reality, if we have low staffing, you will work more weekends than promised. Another thing the management likes to do is to schedule people for 1-day of a weekend (i.e. you work Saturday but not Sunday) instead of giving them the whole weekend off. When you request your vacation time (and it is approved), you will still be expected to work "YOUR" weekend if it falls during your approved vacation time. That means, even though you have been approved for your vacation, you will be expected to WORK on the weekend of your vacation if it falls on "YOUR" weekend. If you cannot come back from vacation to work your weekend, you will be expected to find somebody to "cover" for you and work your weekend. Even though we are considered a "Progressive Care Unit" we have one (1) set of monitors that are at the FARRR end of the unit that displays only 16 of the 32 patients at a time. Many things were not well-planned for this unit but the staff is great. The nurses really support each other and work well as a team. Hope this helps! Not trying to be a drag, just trying to honest in my assessment of what you can expect. Trust me, I wish someone had told me beforehand! :)