bae54

I have been talking to one of the recurieters about San Diego and what hospitals they service and she submitted my profile without asking or telling me. That ticked me off and I let her know that is not acceptable, then I find out they have called for a reference at the assignment I am at now. I was not happy to say the least but then she goes on vacation for a few days and her replacement calls and wants to talk about the "profiles" they have submitted. Now I am steamed because of course I cannot get in touch with her until Monday. I will not be going with them because of this. Plus you have to pay a fee for private housing. I do not think so- I have been all over the US and I have never paid for private housing and I am not going to start now.

I am soon to be 52 and I have been traveling since 2001. I made up a list of places I wanted to go to and I have done most of them. I have been East&West coast of Fl, New Orleans (before Katrinia), Las Vegas, Los Angeles,San Francisco and now Honolulu. It has been a blast to see all the places I have only read about. It also gives you the opt to see how different areas of the country's hospitals operate and believe me it is different depending on where you are. Fifty is an age that you can apreciate the experience instead of trying to party every where you go. As the saying goes you are only as old as you feel and age is just a number. Go for it, it is only for 13 weeks if you do not like it and as nurse we can generally put up with anything for 13 weeks. You can always get old later.:chuckle

I agree with the post about pts. talking to long dead relatives. I have been a nurse since 79 and I cannot tell you how many times a pt that was stable would start talking to "Mom, Dad, Sister" and they are in their 70-80s and there is no one there. Alot of times within a few days they pass on too. Also, I would like to ask how many of you have "felt"someone standing behind you or looking over your shoulder during a code situation???

I am sorry that you have burn out so quickly. I have been traveling for two years now and have enjoyed it with the exception of one assignment. It sounds like you need a new agency. Are you signed up with more than one agency because if you have several agencies working to look for an assignment for you, your chances of getting something you like increases. I have worked in Fla, New Orleans and Las Vegas. Ca does seem to offer better pay and pt ratios, but alot of assignments in Fla also pay well. Check out Clinical One and HRMC because both of them will take care of a nice apartment assignment and utilites, you only pay phone and cable without a roomate. Also New York has some nice rates. Good luck. :)

I was at the same hospital for twenty two years and decided to try traveling after several travelers came thru and I talked to them about the places they had worked. I have done two different assignments in FL, one in New Orleans and I am presently in Las Vegas with Los Angeles on the planning borad. I have enjoyed traveling. You do not get caught up in the political junk and if you hate the assignment or the area it is only for 13 weeks and most nurses can do anything for 13 weeks. I do not have children , but I do have family back east and I fly home several times a year. I do know of couples with small children traveling and the kids get exposure to all types of areas of the country and the people that live there. School age children could be a problem but there is all home schooling. It is a great way of seeing the country. It is kind of like being in the service except that when you get tired of it you can say I am going home now. The service would get upset about that.

I did an assignment there in Oct 01 and stayed for nine months. I was on PCU and the staff was very friendly and helpfull to travelers. The only drawback was that you float all over the hospital; ER holding, L&D , anywhere. I know for a fact that several travelers out stayed their limit which was at that time 2 years.