chakranurse

I was recently in a 13 week contract in South Texas. Raymondville to be exact. My housing, along with the very large roof rat, was in Harlingen/Palm Valley Country Club. Hurricane Dolly had just rolled thru and Ike was about to hit, until he turned north. So, the roaches and rats were plentiful!! I started traveling last Spring, with my 17 year old son who wanted a change in his life too, in an attempt to see what the rest of the world was like and from a nursing standpoint, it's the same everywhere. My first assignment was in Maryland and I was sent to a facility that didnt like nor did they have RED BAGS for bio-hazard. One of the nurses who I worked closely to was hospitalized for MRSA and during her 7 week course of being in Easton Memorial, I got sick as well with an unexplained fever (almost 102), severe abdominal cramps and got to where I couldnt work. I couldnt get anyone to help me either. Went to an in and out clinic and they told me to go to the ER at Easton. I sat there with my symptoms for almost 4 hours..and they were not busy. I finally packed it up and came home just 2 weeks shy of the end of my contract. I found out I had lost 19 pounds while I was there vomiting with fever. I was never so glad to see home! Then about 3 weeks later I got a call from a company I was signed up with..while waiting on my Vet Pro to clear for Tuscon VA. So I took the position in Texas while waiting on my Vet Pro. South Texas just doesn't seem to follow any rules, except their own in healthcare and I belive that is how a lot of these lawsuits are accomplished. I worked in a 120 bed facility with 70 beds filled and 2 nurses. It wasnt a nursing home, it was a SNF. So the load was heavier. I was cussed by the ADON for calling on a Saturday and asking for gloves, not once but twice, I was left with no batteries for a fingerstick on a Saturday morning. Do you know how many Hispanic are diabetic? Have you seen their diet? OMG help me! I was in such a panic from the 3 week until I left. I was offered a perm position as treatement nurse but when I asked about ordering Arginaid, which is an over the counter wound supplement that words miracles, they ordered me a box of 12 for 5 patients who had it ordered BID. There was NO KEY for the nurses to get into the supply room at any given time and the weekends especially seemed to be chaotic. The DON drank so bad that you could smell it on him over his cologne the next mornign. I liked him a lot as a supervisor but I had to think of who my license was under. I was wrote up for getting into the supply closet with the administrators "permission" but I was trustworthy enough to be preceptor to their new hire/graduate lvn.????????????? The patients were hostile to me because I was a female caucasian and if they werent trying to pinch me on the *** they were cussing me and calling me a worthless jack a*S. I was told I didnt have God in me becuase I didnt speak Spanish fluently and I was lazy because I never learned Spanish. I was instructed to kiss a** while I was there; which I dont do well at all. I was under contract for 40 hours a week. I never got those hours and wouldnt have if they had not fired a nurse for diversion and I gladly took her shift and my shift. So I was workign about 56-60 hours a week and my son was at the hacienda alone and became deprressed. He finally felw home early. During this time I found out I had a heart condition, was having panic attacks and found out I was a severe sleep apneatic. I finally had enough and when I made a little scene (diplomatically I might add), my hours were cut to 16 a week and I was put on 2-10. Thats when I decided to pack my bags. My company had not done anything to this point and I felt alone, abandoned and alienated. So, South Texas? I dont think so. Not in my lifetime. I came home, got a regular job at a hospital where they want to get rid of their travelers so their relations with the community are improving. I got the floor I wanted and the shift I wanted. Not exaclty the pay I wanted but I am goign to give it 100 % and pray its my home in nursing. If not, Im Tuscon bound. Right now, I cant travel because I trust NO ONE out there. Maybe that will change.

Any comments on RTG?

I also received the email and mine was from Valley Healthcare Systems. They pay 23.00 an hour with 14.00 of that money taxable. They dont offer housing so tey give you a stipend of 400.00 a week. They refer you to an extended stay hotel and I have a feeling they cost more than 400.00 a week. I personally cant live off 14.00 an hour. But its one way to get your foot in the door and see California. Valley is located in Sacremento if anyone is interested. Ask for Amelia. By the way, I had posted my resume on Monster.com and that is how they found me, monster.com sells your resumes. They didnt find me on monster.com. They found me thru a bulk of resumes they bought. :heartbeat

Valley out of Sacremento does contracts for LPNs and RNs in state prisons.

Hi. I am a travel LPN assigned in the Chesapeake Bay area. I have been an LPN since 1996. I have worked in Ortho/Neuro Rehab, Hospice, TCU, LTC, Skilled, Med Surg and am accredited to work with Alzheimer's patients. I love geri-psych. I love Transitional Care. I love Neuro. I guess anything to do with the brain. This is my first travel assignment. Its hard because you float CONSTANTLY. Never seem to get my bearings straight so far. My son travels with me and I home/internet school him. We do love it. I do have my RN pre-reqs just dont have my clinicals...my company offers a bridge program with tuition reimbursement after 3 assignments and I plan to utilize that. Always looking for a mental challenge and to better myself. Nameste

I am with American Mobile out of San Diego and I love my recruiter. She is always available to talk and listen. They have done me right. They have been generous. I hear a lot of people say they aren't good but I disagree. Having a good recruiter is the first step. If you "click" with someone you know it.

I am an LPN on my first assignment. I have a great recruiter. I am on the Chesapeake Bay and 45 minutes from the Atlantic and right in the middle of a ton of history. I was placed in a very ecclectic small town in Maryland. Love the area. The job is not exactly what I "interviewed for" but I am thankful to be in travel nursing..it was my dream for about 9 years and I finally just woke up one day and said, its time...and here I am! If you have any questions, let me know. Its not all glamour and glory..its nursing..different place..different people..with the chance to travel. I think..know, I know when I get to a certain place, I will call it home and I wont travel anymore..I am on the East Coast and am a West Coast person. Nursing is a burnout job and I see it approaching for me within the next 5 years. Anyway, yes, they do hire LPN's and if its your dream..go for it.