adzam08

Hi! I am getting ready to take on my first travel assignment and am at the point of having recruiters send me possible jobs to submit me for. I have 4 companies/recruiters I am working with. In the past two days, I have had two different companies/recruiters send me details of the same hospital/same unit with totally different offers. One was 36 hrs, the other was 40hrs and the packages for housing/stipends were pretty different. I tried using the calculator on Pantravelers to try and compare apples to apples. Do I tell the recruiters about each other, or do I not mention it? I think I can only have one submit me for the job- Is that right? Any advice if this similar situation has occurred for you and what you did? Thanks so much!!

I just recently applied for my CA License by endorsement and it took just under a month to process. I submitted all the required components along with the hard copy fingerprint card at the same time. I applied for my temporary also which was not even necessary because the only thing processed was the permanent one in under four weeks. Good Luck to you!!!

The only new policy our OR has adopted is the cloth jackets. They prohibited us from wearing them and after a while of allowing us to wear nothing, they have provided us with disposable scrub jackets. Long term, they have said they want to get matching fabric ones and have them laundered like the scrubs. The issue is some people will change out and dispose of the jacket every few days, others every few weeks to the point they are dirty and falling apart because they are meant to be disposable for limited use. I don't think the method we have right now is drastically decreasing our infection rates and only increasing unit cost! Our hospital does not police cloth hats, hair hanging out of those hats, shoe covers etc!

If it is a very low volume case day, they will try to ask people the day before if they want the day off. Then as the day progresses, they will allow people to leave early if they want. If it is just a regular day and my room finishes before the end of my shift, I will do many of the same things as stated above by another poster. (Re-stock my room with supplies, look ahead to the next day and possibly stock the room for the mornings case and equipment, look for case carts/put away empty ones) There is always little "busy work" things to do!

I would suggest you just apply to any positions you see that interest you. HR will be the ones who decide if they want experience or not. Sometime even when it says Peds experience required/ preferred, you still may be considered depending on the amount of applicants. It doesn't hurt to try! Good luck! I made the switch and love, love, love the kids! I did stay continent at my old job just to keep my foot in the door.

I am wondering if anyone can give advice on traveling as an OB nurse. I have my most and current experience in a high risk high delivery L&D and less experience but more recent in pediatric OR. I am just trying to decide which to travel with, (level of comfort, ease of that specialty as a traveler)? I have many friends who are all doing travel nursing but all in ICU, ER, Med surg; I have no one that can actually speak as to L&D travel nursing experiences. I am looking for any personal accounts and advice as L&D travel nurses!! 1. Is it difficult to learn each hospitals system for Fetal monitoring charting?( I am pretty good at picking up normal main charting systems for assessment and MAR charting) 2. Do the other nurses help you when in need and not ignore the traveler( huge decels needing intervention, crash c-sections)? 3. What about teaching hospitals vs. not, and autonomy of nurses? ( At my current hospital residents place internal monitors, I wouldn't want to be expected/forced to do something I do not have experience/training in ) 4. What is your overall experience traveling as an OB nurse? Would you recommend it? Do you have any suggestions to best prepare myself- ( extra Fetal Monitoring certifications?) THANKS SO MUCH! I appreciate any and all advice!

I am wondering if anyone can speak to this previous post as a traveling OB nurse. I have my most and current experience in a high risk high delivery L&D and less experience but more recent in pediatric OR. I am just trying to decide which to travel with, (level of comfort, ease of that specialty as a traveler)? I have many friends who are all doing travel nursing but all in ICU, ER, Med surg; I have no one that can actually speak as to L&D travel nursing experiences. I am looking for any personal accounts and advice as L&D travel nurses!! 1. Is it difficult to learn each hospitals system for Fetal monitoring charting?( I am pretty good at picking up normal main charting systems for assessment and MAR charting) 2. Do the other nurses help you when in need and not ignore the traveler( huge decels needing intervention, crash c-sections)? 3. What about teaching hospitals vs. not, and autonomy of nurses? ( At my current hospital residents place internals, I wouldn't want to be expected/forced to do something I do not have experience/training in ) 4. What is your overall experience traveling as an OB nurse? Would you recommend it? Do you have any suggestions to best prepare myself- ( extra FM certifications?) THANKS SO MUCH! I appreciate any and all advice! I love these boards!

I prefer the classic. I would second the previous poster by saying to get it engraved. You would swear that stethoscopes have feet the way they will disappear in the hospital. Between doctors, residents or fellow nurses, someone is always asking to borrow! Also, if you are not afraid of standing out, I would get a fun unique color too! I bought the basic black one during nursing school and regret it to this day!

Thank You so much for the detailed personal experience! I am excited to embark on this crazy journey and just trying to get as much information as possible to best prepare myself!

Thanks so much! I appreciate the advice!

Thanks for your great questions! I am in the same boat as you, and could benefit from the answers also! Looking to travel within the next few months and have talked to a few agencies but have not fallen in love with any. I feel flooded with information from all the research I have done but still feel confused at the same time!

On the weekends we do two 24 hour call shifts, Saturday and Sunday. That consists of one nurse and one tech for the main OR. Some specialties have teams, in which they also take their own 24 hour call. On night shift and weekends our OR is only staffed with one nurse, one tech.

I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on their experience as a travel nurse in the OR? I have only worked in one OR and curious how others are run for ease of being a travel nurse. I am interested to hear any personal input as to positives and negatives or travel rn in OR? - With only a day or two orientation, have you felt comfortable in the OR alone? - Is is difficult to fit in/make friends, as you will have much less interaction with other nurses unlike floor nursing? - How different it circulating in every hospital? Is it difficult to learn surgeon preferences?Will you be expected to learn/know them immediately? I feel like a lot of learning to circulate successfully in my current job is not only learning the specific supplies, instruments and set ups for each case and service specialty, but also each particular surgeons personal preferences. With basically little to no orientation, would I constantly feel like I am behind or completely lost. In my current job, we have pick tickets for each case/surgeon that gives a short description of meds, supplies, instruments and sometimes a brief note on positioning or case specific info. Does every OR do this or something similar? I feel comfortable as a circulting nurse where I am at currently, and am very eager to travel and ready for a difficult challenge, but worried I will feel like I am drowning underwater in another OR?!? Is travel nursing in the OR more difficult then traveling in floor nursing ? I also have Labor and delivery experience and could try that too. THANKS

Thanks for all the advice! Driving my lease car cross-country is not an option due to the overage of miles I would have on my car. I like the idea of Zip Car if I am in an area with decent public transportation to supplement it, I had never heard of it! If I were to do a long term rental car, I would certainly fly out there then rent the car for the 3 months I was there and fly home. At this time I am only anticipating doing one contract but who knows?!?! Anyone have input on which California cities are easier to do without a car?

Hi! I am looking to start travel nursing soon and have a question regarding car transportation. I currently have a car lease so driving my car cross country to California is not an option. I am looking at either shipping my car, but have not heard the greatest experiences with that and it is costly-Or possibly doing a longer term rental car? Does anyone else have suggestions or car options in the California area for a 13 week contract( not sure of city yet)? Thanks :)