azariasRN

I am currently trying to get on at one of the ICUs at Brack. I am a Trauma & Surgery ICU RN with a bulk of my experience coming from Level 1 Trauma in Louisiana. Any advice how to navigate the hiring process? I have tried to go to HR in person and call the nurse recruiter, both with no luck at contact or a call back. I know how competitive Level 1 positions can be and how valuable advice is to the process.

The consensus I have received from fellow travelers and strike nurses is they prefer Fastaff or US Nursing (which is the strike portion of Fastaff) over Healthsource Global. The reasons are vast, based on personal experience and rumor. From my personal experience with US Nursing, they are excellent employee advocates. There are other companies out there too. Nurse Bridge is the strike division of On Assignment. ACES Nurse Travel is out there, which is a nurse driven company. And recently, I have discovered Huffmasters. Most require the same paperwork to be hand carried, so make yourself a folder with document protectors to HAND CARRY ON YOUR PERSON WHEN YOU TRAVEL. Other than that, just enjoy the experience, be flexible and understand that conditions will not optimal. If they were, the staff nurses would not be striking. If you can keep a positive attitude you should do well.

You have a valid point. It is about the money. We all go to work to be paid. Just some areas of the US are paid better than others. Hence why people travel many miles from home to go to work, whether it is 30min to several hours on the interstate everyday or flying to an assignment periodically. I agree that the time frame from when a notice is given, the hospital has the opportunity to come to the bargaining table to work things out. And yes, patients can be transferred or redirected to other facilities if a work stoppage occurs. But when 8-12 hospitals within an area go out on a strike, what does a community do then? How far does one have to travel to get urgent or emergency services? Yes, measures could have been put in place ahead of time to avert the strike all together. But once the strike notice is given, wheels are set in motion. And as I have said before, after reviewing why the nurse are striking, I often agree. But I am there to help out, while being compensated for my time and skills. I am not there for a permanent job, it defeats one of the purposes I traveled there. I am there to just provide temporary coverage until the strike is concluded. And for me personally, it keeps me in practice for Army deployments. But at this point, we agree to disagree. Thank you for the discussion and for helping provide views from both sides of the issue.

Your argument is interesting. For myself, I work strikes for a few reasons; 1) the area of the US I live in has a lower cost of living, so working a strike does present a nice influx of funds, 2) it presents an opportunity to see how things are done differently from one region of the US to the next, and 3) it helps me stay in practice of being able to travel on short notice as I am an Army Reserve Nurse. Personally, I have encountered several nurses who work as PRN, local agency or registry which affords us the opportunity to travel since we have extremely flexible work schedules. And as far as the generalization regarding southern nurses are paid horribly, one must look at the cost of living for an area before claims for pay is "really bad". Also, before one claims that anti-union sentiments are close to religious doctrine, one must note that there are segments of the workforce that are unionized, such as maintenance, electrical, etc that are unionized in the south despite have "Right to Work" legislation on the books empowering employers to let go of employees without a probable cause. Additionally, several northern states, such as Michigan, have recently adopted similar "Right to Work" legislation, such generalizations no longer southern exclusive. Personally, if I'm not happy in my work environment, I relocate to one that I am happy at rather than try and change the upper management's business practices. Remember, this is a business. If the consumer doesn't like the product, or the hospital, they can take their business elsewhere. But let's be clear, in order for nurses to walk their picket lines, someone qualified must be brought in to permit union nurses to fight the good fight. Otherwise, hospitals close, patient care is delayed and people die. It's a simple as that.

Hello. Saw the thread and wanted to ask some info. I'm a RN with my CCRN, CEN, TNCC and 2 years level one trauma S/TICU experience with plenty of Neuro overflow. I have been nursing for 6 years total (2.5 years as LPN/LVN) with the rest as a ICU RN at a private LTAC. I am looking at relocating to Austin with the next 6 months. I would ideally like to go beck into the trauma ICU, but am finding from research that this maybe a miracle. I am thinking of delaying my move to pick up pre-hospital experience with an EMT-B, leading to EMT-P. I am an Army Reserve nurse so I want to remain adaptable, but also keep my practice relevant to what I'd do both home as in theater. First question, other than Brack, what options out there would possibly fit? I have thought of Starflight, seeing how the physical requirements somewhat follow what the Army already asks. I just want to reserve that option until after EMT-B at least.

Hello. Jeckrn is pretty close to info. I am a direct commission RN as of November. I am currently pre-BOLC. There are 2 options to BOLC. Full course usually is active duty & ROTC cadets. Split course is usually for the Reserves because of cost to Army. Split BOLC is broken up into 2 phases. Phase 1 is strictly online and must be completed before you can get a class date for Phase 2. Phase 2 BOLC is 4 weeks, mainly FTX. I am prior service, 101st ABN DIV. Seeing a combat unit versus medical unit and active versus reserves has allowed me a unique perspective. Basically, each unit and unit commander can make military life a breeze and even enjoyable or make you feel like you are in prison breaking rocks and counting down the days until your out. As an FNP, you'll probably be assigned to a Combat Support Hospital and possibly attached to the APMC (AMEDD Professional Management Command) depending how far displaced you are from the nearest unit that has an eligible and open slot for you. Hopefully this helps. BiGGEST thing! Find a Healthcare recruiter who is on the up & up. ANY remote sense you're trying to get a car sold to you and hit the bricks. And by all means, get any incentives/ promises in writing. If you have done any travel contracts, it the same thing. If incentives go away, you are guaranteed them with you contract.

P.S. start pulling in some OT hours. I've ready on here about BOLC and other nurses I've talk to locally that you usually don't get your pay until after BOLC because the system is slow to catch up. I'm pulling hours now to prep for BOLC. I commissioned last November, so kind of have a good pulse of the back end of your situation. BTW, they give constructive credit for every 2 years civilian RN time to 1 year Army. One you have sworn in, it's 1:1. That's important because you may be able to advance to 1LT. RARELY do they direct commission to CPT because you need the learning curve and room to make mistakes. As a CPT, there is little as you are being looked at for a competitive promotion to MAJ.

Currently BOLC for direct commission RNs is broken up into a online course and 4 weeks of resident training. It is mainly the field portion. You can't even get a class date for phase 2 until you are done with phase 1. Get your incentives in writing. Most of them closed for critical care after the new fiscal year. Regardless of the changes in demand, once you sign the contract with incentives written in, they are yours. Public Health nurses are needed, so you may have incentives out there for your particular field. Do you have your Master's yet?

Contact the nearest healthcare recruiter in your area. Be sure you aren't getting the "used car" sales pitch though. They try to find what your primary motivator is and use that to sell the product. Figure out what you want first AND STICK TO YOUR GUNS! Remember, you're signing up for a job they need. 9/10, you won't be able to "reclass" without a lot of headaches and hole jumping. If you're lucky, you'll find a recruiter that is on the up and up. Luckily, mine was excellent. Told me the truth, even if it wasn't the answer I wanted to hear. In the end, he turned out to be Mine turned out to be a GREAT friend. We still stay in touch. Good luck with your search.

I'm happy to receive the answers! I have a question regarding working at one of the Army's Level 1 trauma centers. How as a Reservist could I make that happen? I am CCRN, CEN, TNCC and have 2 years Surgical/ Trauma ICU experience at the areas only Level 1 trauma center. Advice? What hospitals would afford the best experience to step up my experience and skill set?

Thank you again. Is there any military education I should fast track doing? I was told by the healthcare recruiter any classes were on hold until I finished BOLC. I have thought of working on my Master's once I in-process and have the military education discounted tuition. I still debate if I want to pursue Clinical Nurse Specialist, ACNP, healthcare administration. Regardless, I want to have the option to maintain a competitive edge in my profession as well as the Army. My core RN experience has been Surgical/ Trauma ICU, which has given me a comfortable edge in the market here.

Thank you JECKRN for the response. My apologizes for not specifying that my prior service was enlisted; 3yrs, 9mths, 2 days Active Army & 2 yrs, 5 mths, 16 days National Guard. I was told that my 2 years 7 months LPN time won't count since it was not professional experience in the Army's eyes. If understand you correctly, it will be 4 years before I am TIG eligible for CPT? I assume that the total 6yrs, 4mths, 14 days will count as my total TIS? BOLC will be scheduled as quickly as I get scrolled and in-processed with my new unit. Scrolling will have to wait until the Senate reconvenes.

I have a question similar to this. I am a BSN RN with 2 years, 5 months as RN. I am CCRN, TNCC & CEN certified. I have 6 years, 2.5 months of prior service Army. I am in the last steps of commissioning as an 8A. I am wanting to confirm what rank I will commission in as? What might be the promotion time line to CPT? What can I to make myself a prime candidate to be promoted below the zone once I reach CPT to MAJ?

Ok - I have learned more about this program on here than what most recruiters know. I am a nursing student with 2 semesters left before graduation. I have been looking to use this program to pay off my student loans, but can't get an answer if prior service are eligible for the program? I have served 4 yrs Active Army and 2 years Guard. I have long since exhausted my MGIB funds, so i need to see how I can get the $43K in students loans forgiven.