mrdoc2005

depends on where you go and what kind of demands you have. I have been a nurse for 3 years and I tell my recruiter not to even tell me anything below $35 + housing and insurance and most of those had better have some kind completion $ attached. But, I will be the first to say in return I normlly don't have the best apt among all the travelers there and that is where the extra cash comes in

does anyone use these people or know anything good or bad about them. they got my contact number somehow and keep calling me. Kinda annoying but at the sametime I understand the recruiter is just being a recruiter and trying to get as many people as he can. He even sent me a txt on Christmas day. All I can find is they are localed in Fla but nothing on any of the sites giving them anytype of a rating.

I have just started traveling myself so I may be wrong here but I don't think LVN travel or atleast not to most places. Again I will be the first to say I can be wrong on that. I know most states require RNs to check/take orders and RN do vasoavtive drips where LVN normally cannot. I think it mostly depends on the state. As far traveling outsie the US. Some nurses do. From what I have read it is normally a 3 year assignment and can extend it to 5 years. After 5 years they have to return to the US for 1 year to keep US citizenship. The article I read on this was traveling with the department of defense working mostly in military hospitals. If anything I said above is wrong pls do not send flames. I am not lokking at making this an RN vs LVN debate. thanks

always float travelers, watch out if you have a dayshift contract, they are known for giving you a day contract then putting you on nights about a month into it just to bring in more travelers to work days then pull them to night. this is their way of getting travels. the charting system is very bad and not user friendly, they have so may "safe gaurd" AKA cover there butts, it is hard to do your job. one of the worst places I have ever traveled and when my contract ended I was out of there

Hello everyone!!! Hope you all had a great Christmas. I need some help with tax deductions. I am new to traveling, just started traveling in Nov., and I am not sure what I can count for deductions. I am keeping my home state in TN but for the current I am traveling in WA. Since I have a home in TN am I allowed to count my travel to my assignment. Also, one of the travelers on my unit told he he counts $60 for a food deduction and stated that was the expected norm. Is this true? Anything you can tell me would be great. Also, is there a tax person/ group that specializes in this type of taxes. Thanks for all your help in advance. Mrdoc

check the handbook very carefully. most of them state you must float if asked. Now with the hours I am not sure but again make sure you know what the handbook/rulebook states. Keep in mind knowledge is power when dealing with these people

depending on states but most of the time you have to pay both states. Your resident state is much less than the other. I working a mill job in GA. when I was in school and lived just inside AL. That is where I am getting this from. I had to pay state taxes to both states. However most of the time I got a small refund from GA. Maybe because I was in school???

Izzygal-- I finished my BSN and started working in May. So far I like it. I think a lot has to do with where you work and who is around you. For example the hospital trained me on days then moved me to nights. The day shift was always complaining and was starting to turn me negative. But, since going to nights I love it. The night crew has a very positive outlook and enjoy my job again. Also, how important is money to you. You can live off of nursing pay. If you want that BIG house, nice car and designer everything to be happy then nursing is not a good choice. That kinda danced around your question. Just like all the others said, there are happy/unhappy people in every job and not just healthcare.

One thing I don't understand..... Why are you against a peer making more money than they currently are. That is what you are saying by saying NO. If nurses do not start pulling together that we are providing ammo for the other guy (hospital, corp, insurance co. ,....). Think of it like this, healthcare is a corperate business today. When you go to a store you expect the one with the most training to be payed more. Why isit not like that in nursing. And yes, you should be payed more for years nursing. The only thing that I see in my area: My hospital hired about 100 new grads this summer. Of us new grads about 5 or 6 were adn, everyone else is bsn or higher. So, the only benifit is job placement. Yes, I agree education is an award. Still though most professions pay more for more education.

I second that!!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- You will find that all nursing programs are required to have x number of clinical hours in their programs. This number is the same no matter if it is ADN or BSN. (atleast that is how Alabama is setup). The differance is ADN does the hours in 2 years and BSN does the hours over 4 years. Example: Gadsden State Community College and Jacksonville State University. GSCC students and teachers always (the ones I talked to) say they do more hours than JSU. However, when you look at the programs side by side JSU does a small amount of more hours. I am a JSU grad. To end this post....ROLL TIDE

BSN should make more than ADN. I know I am going to get yelled at for that statement, but more school should equal more pay. I am not saying that a BSN makes you a better nurse. That all depends on the nurse him/herself. For the BSNs out there. It is no wounder we do not make more since most of you are saying no or you don't care. Sorry, you asked for a reply, I gave mine.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- My school changed insurance comapanies between semesters my last year. We went from doing almost anything to not even able to touch an IV med. We were not even allowed to go down to the blood bank and pick up a unit, much less give blood. The idea that an LPN cannot give blood but an RN can (Speeking for my state) I never was allowed to start blood during my BSN program just seems wrong. My school did not even talk much about giving blood. I learned most of what I knew about blood transfusions from Kaplens NCLEX review. Also, my school spent more time majoring on the minor things like bedmaking and bedbaths. Don't misunderstand I know we needed to know these things, but with all there is to learn these things fall short on my list.

Thanks for the tips

When I was shopping I went to littmans website. They have a study published on there that says the length of there tubing will not effect the sound quality of there scopes. However, they did say that a longer tube would make deep bass notes more pronounce.

Hey guys, I just finished school and took a job at Vanderbilt on a stepdown unit. I did not learn much about ekg in school. I am looking for a good book to teach me about how to read them. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for your replies.

You can go to LPN school. It is around a 1yr. Then there is ADN RN which is around 2 yrs. Or, the BSN route which is around 4-5 yrs depending on the school you go to. I am don't know anything about your education but you may be able to do a bridge/step program to receive a BSN in about 2years. Hope this helps.

A little off subject but I just had to say: When doing my preceptorship in March I had a nurse inform me "It is YOUR JOB to get the pts family and doctors coffee when they come in". I mean the women got mad when I said no it is not my job to do so but if I have the time I may or may not do it. Also note that we had a coffe station outside of the desk for the family to help themself.

My two cents: There is nothing wrong with saying I worked very hard, went to school (while my friends played and bragged about their new 30K car while I had a piece of crap) and now I am being rewarded because of all of this. In short, no manner what you do there is nothing wrong in saying money played a factor in my choice. However, those that do things only for money will learn to hate what they do and in most cases quit.

most of the new immunizations state that but that is all I have seen

thanks for your replies......although not what i wanted to hear. I am just really shocked by this because most of the companies around here do (mills, ect...).

WHen you retire from a hospital do you get to keep your insurance like most professions do? I am just a student (until the end of this month) an I was doing my preceptorship last night when the house suppervisor, my preceptor and I were talking about retirements (401Ks 403Bs, Roths ....) and one of them said that she did not know what she was going to do when she retired, refering to medical insurance. She said she did not get to keep her medical insurance and then told me that she knew of no hospital that allowed you to do so. Is this true? I had always thought you got to keep it as long as you had been with the company for x number of years. This is really bothering me because I do have a medical condition which is nothing now but could be in the future if I make it to retirement.

I have worked in LTC and hospitals as a tech/cna and I personally thought it was easier working in the hospital. Mainly because you will normally have a lower ratio and when you do ADLs you normally only put a gown on them. To me one of the hardest things I had to do as a cna in LTC was dressing a total care patient whos family refused to believe that mon or dad needs to go up 1 or more sizes in clothes. I say all of that because you said your little experiance was not in the hospital. Hope it helps, Good luck

I live in NE Alabama where the start pay in $17.50-18 depending on the hospital. My brother (who has a two year electrical degree) works in a box mill in Rome, GA (about 30 mins from here) and he makes $19.00. Don't mistake what I say, I am very happy for him, but if he screws something up it is just a box not a life. High School teacher in this area makes $30-35K per year. Keep in mind they get 3 months off in the summer and 2 weeks off at Christmas plus other holidays. Also, weekends off (if they do not bring it home). Auto mechanic makes around 30k. Get my point. Just like everyone else has said....look at what we do and compare our pay to others.