tookdaddy

I am considering a travel ICU position at Desert Springs...have you heard anything good or bad? I'm at Renown in Reno right now in the CVICU getting off a 6 month assignment.

Michelle - what was Desert Springs like? I am considering a position that was offered to me there...I will be in ICU, though. Anything you can tell me would be great!

If you work in Arkansas, your starting pay today (2011) would still be just $17.75 hourly. Arkansas is a state with little nursing fraternity, it seems. Positive change will only come with a unified nursing voice and all of us sticking with each other and to our guns.

I was extended on this assignment, already, but the hospital I am at only allows nurses to travel for 6 continuous months, so I have to switch. What is everyone else getting for overtime? I just didn't feel like it was right for me to get less in overtime per hour than my regular times works out to be per hour after all the stipends, etc...is it taboo in this forum to discuss pay like that? I think Nomad has the right idea! We should totally stick together to make the most of our pay/contracts. I feel I can say that after having been tripled up in the CVICU every day for the past three weeks!

I'm about to take my second assignment....I'm trying to figure out if I was "had" on the first. I don't really like my recruiter with RN Network. Have you heard anything about them being sheisty? My base was $18/hour plus $2600/month housing stipend and $35/day per diem. It ends up being $1420/week after taxes. However, my OVERTIME pay and holiday pay is only $40/hour! He had originally tried to push me over on time and a half based on the $18/hour, and then I could only push them up to the $40. The recruiter tried to tell me it's because that is all the hospital will extend for overtime, but I don't believe him. We were in a tough financial spot when I first accepted the position. I feel like I was screwed on my first assignment. I am looking at working with American Traveler, Intelistaf, and TRS. Has anyone heard anything about these? Does my package seem abnormal?

Apparently I don't have enough posts to PM yet....is there another way we can get in touch? I'm fairly new to the forum.

Reno1978 - I'm thinking about taking my first long-distance travel assignment in SICU at Renown, but I will be taking my family, and I guess I'm just looking for some kind of reassurance that it isn't an awful place to work. I've read some good and some bad about it. Is it strange for a travel company to avoid letting me talk to RN's they currently have placed there, or is that pretty normal for privacy reasons? The position I'm deciding about is in Roseview on day shift. Thank you so much for your help!

I am looking at taking a travel position at Renown in Reno, but I have read good and bad things. I am an SICU nurse and will be moving my wife and two baby daughters with me, so I don't want to make a huge mistake that I will regret if the facility is as awful as some people have posted on this and other sites. Also, my travel company is trying to get around letting me speak to anyone currently on assignment there - is this normal (a privacy thing) or are they trying to hide something? Anyone have any input on Renown or Reno in general? This will be my first travel assignment more than a few hundred miles from home, so we are throwing ourselves out there! Thanks for any input.

I am considering taking a travel job at Hillcrest in the ER. Does anyone have any experiences with Hillcrest (particularly ER) they can share? I did a short stint in ICU at Muskogee Regional and it was AWFUL. I do not want that to happen again!

I work in SICU and get lots of overflow. We constantly take floor patients that require "baby-sitting" or just plain overflow. We also get all of the pediatric overflow because MICU RNs don't have to carry PALS at my hospital. I think this ICU dumping happens everywhere.

And as far as how long you can survive with a high temp... It depends on your health and metabolic status before the disease process set in. Some people are able to compensate better/longer than others. I have seen super high temps last for days, and I have seen them last for just a few hours (before pt dies).

I do this really cool "jumping into my pants" thing where both legs go in at once. But anyway..... Rarely do I start out by asking the doctor for something. I usually tell them what assessments are concerning me, and then I tell them what I think is going on. Doctors usaully end up giving me what I want when I do this. When I start by asking for a specific order, I am less likely to get what I want (especially with surgeons).

Nurses have options for where they work. Let your manager know this. If nothing changes, find a place to work where you can enjoy what you are doing. -Evan RN

One of my friends graduated from nursing school in August 2009. He has still not found a job as an RN in California. He has applied to hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, you name it. He has even been turned down for CNA jobs. They attribute this to his "new-grad" status. You may not want to start in California. Also, you can't realistically expect to get these amazing salaries as a new grad. Hospitals don't want to pay you $$$ to train you. Get some experience and the healthcare world will be your oyster.

Sounds like you were being a good RN and looking at your patient instead of fixating on the monitor. Also, your pulse ox monitor is reading only the saturation of that one finger that your probe is on. An MD can almost always talk you into feeling foolish or into believing his/her rationale if you let them (even when its not right). Stick to your guns.