daisybsn

Hi there! I have a friend who is a new traveler.She had to have dental work done in the day & she had to work that night and she had an allergic reaction to the mess & is worried the hospital won't accept her sick note from the dentist. Bc if they call out it has to be a doctor's note. I've never called out so I don't know if a dentist note will work or not. Anybody been in this situation?

I worked at Kaiser in San Diego. Great facility & I LOVED San Diego!! So much to do there & such a fun city!! You're going at the perfect time of year.

Glad to hear you loved it there! Unfortunately there were no openings there in the timeframe I needed. So I decided to go with Kaiser West LAMC bc I wanted to be more so in that area of LA & close to Santa Monica. Fingers crossed that I have a good experience there.

Hi! I just wanted to see if anyone has run into this issue. I was planning on taking AMN housing bc my next assignment will be in West LA. I hear traffic is horrendous & I wanted to live in the West LA area & near where I will be working. My recruiter called to tell me my stipend is only $2400/month & with the stipend & meals & incidentals my take home would be a little over $1500. She said all their corporate housing apartments are charging well over the $2400 budget & closer to $2900 bc she believes it's summertime. She asked if I wanted to do my own searching for a place. I've been trying to look for guest houses but not having much luck. Don't want to rent a room out in someone's home bc I've run into issues before w/that. Couldn't AMN still be able to go over their stipend budget & still pay for the housing?

Hi there! I'm an L&D travel nurse, and was interested in working at UCLA for my next assignment. I've heard good things about it and how people really liked it there. Just curious if anyone else has done an assignment at UCLA, and what their experience was. Or if anyone has done an assignment at other hospitals in the LA area, I'd love to know where you worked and how your experience was. Thanks!

I worked as an L&D staff nurse in Dallas, TX at Baylor University Medical Center for almost 2 years, and even went back to Irving, TX to work at Baylor Irving for a travel assignment. Yes, Texas does not have any unions, and you do work really hard when you're there. However, everyone I worked with was really helpful, and some nights could be busy and rough, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. You're bound to have hard/busy shifts no matter where you work. Several of the travel nurses I spoke with who traveled to San Antonio and Austin didn't have anything negative to say about the hospitals they worked at. Only negative I heard was that the city of San Antonio itself didn't have enough things to do on an off work day because the ones I spoke to are in their mid to late 20s, and wanted to do a lot of venturing out and exploring the city. Everyone's experience is different. I think you should give Texas a chance because if you take a 13 week assignment, 3 months will fly by and as nurses we can survive anything for 3 months.

Hi there! So I'm an L&D travel nurse with AMN, and I'm currently doing my 3rd assignment in San Diego. I personally would like to go to Seattle in June for 13 weeks, and then the Phoenix area afterwards. I was just wondering if anyone had any recommendations for hospitals in the Seattle area. I'm also torn between working in AZ at either Chandler Regional Medical Center or Banner Good Samaritan because a few travel nurses I've spoken to said both hospitals were great. Just curious if anyone else had any input from their experience working there.

Actually I took the stipend which is why I didn't completely understand why I would be charged that amount. I agree $18/hr is a lot.

Hi there! I just had a quick question regarding my travel company contract. I'm working with AMN for a short 9 week assignment. There are 2 different weeks I could only work 2 days for that particular week. Reason being was the current hospital I'm at has the 1st day of the week start on a Monday, not a Sunday because of that the week of Thanksgiving I could only do 2 days (I had a 5 day long wedding I had to attend), and my last week there I can only do 2 days b/c I have to make it home in a certain timeframe to make it to my next assignment. I didn't realize that even though the days off like that were approved by the hospital, I would have to still reimburse the travel company at a rate of $18/hr for the hours missed. I thought that only applied for calling in sick. Just curious if anyone else has run into this issue. Is AMN the only company who does this? Are there other companies who don't penalize you for needing 1 extra work day off for the week? Thanks!

What exactly is the NCC certification? Because I may look into that if it makes things easier than worrying about doing both intermediate and advanced.

Hi there! I know this only will apply to Antepartum/L&D nurses, but I was wondering if anyone else was having these issues. Certain HCA facilities are requiring nurses to have intermediate fetal monitoring every 2 years. I have advanced b/c when I first started travel nursing I was at a disadvantage b/c most hospitals wanted advanced, and all I had was intermediate. Even if I worked as full time staff somewhere, it would be expected of me to do advanced 2 yrs after my 1st time of taking intermediate. Well apparently even though advanced is higher than intermediate, these HCA facilities will not take advanced fetal monitoring; they want intermediate. My recruiters were incredibly angry about it b/c they felt that it made no sense at all. One even said he and a few other people got into a huge argument about it the other day because his nurses were having the same issue as me. So there were 4 different hospitals I couldn't apply to b/c of that. Because I'm in a smaller town the closest facility to take the intermediate course would've been almost 2hrs away for a 2 day class. Luckily I was able to find a hospital that only wanted advanced. I just wanted a few other nurses' opinions on whether they feel as though it's worth it to have both advanced and intermediate at the same time. It's just frustrating to know that you may have to take both for essentially learning the same exact thing.

Hi there! I have a quick question regarding RN license renewal. I'm a travel nurse, and applied for licenses in Washington State and California. My California license will expire in 06/2016, but my Washington license along with my home state license will expire in 05/2015. I know that each state has its own requirements for CEUs. Washington State's is 45 CEUs over a 3 year period. So does this mean for Washington State I need to accumulate my CEUs from the date it was issued to me (05/2014), or can I use CEUs from 3 yrs back in 05/2012? Also can CEUs from renewal courses in NRP count? I earned 6hrs from that alone.

So yes I understand from what you're saying that I will burn bridges with this company. However, I know for a fact I will not be returning to this company for various reasons that are too long to even tell. Personal issues I've had with the recruiter, and this is the 2nd recruiter I've had to use with this company because the 1st one was very rude to me when I did not accept an assignment I had interviewed for. You say a low pay is not worth turning down an offer, and I understand that but I've also had several other nurses who have traveled there, not just one, give me vital information that are causes for major concern. Like I've mentioned before a few recent events have happened with my family causing financial concerns, and $24/hr will not help very much, and is going to leave my take home pay at a very small amount for a travel nurse. Even though I knew the assignment in TX had a low pay I was willing to do it b/c family and friends were nearby. The financial issue came up within the past few days, and I need to do something about it which is why I want to go with my other option. I know I'm definitely putting the company in a bind, but guess what I'm not the first to do this and there are numerous nurses who have cancelled a contract for worse reasons. I do feel bad, but I also feel the last comment made about my unprofessionally titled topic was pretty irrelevant in itself. Now you're just choosing to vent out your frustrations rather than give me any helpful advice.

I had a job offer in TX, but unfortunately the pay was terrible. I hadn't seen pay that low since I was a new grad w/zero nursing experience. I toyed back and forth w/going ahead and taking the position or taking another assignment that was to become available and offer much better pay. I know it's not all about the money, but I was hoping to earn quite a bit to help out my family financially. The other offer I was waiting on went through a week and a half before my job was to start in TX. I left a voicemail and email for my recruiter, but she had already left the office for the long weekend. I took company housing, but now she's saying I may have to pay the 1st month's rent for the apartment, and was trying to push back my start date to October. She was almost trying to push for me to start later rather than just letting me go of the assignment like I wanted. I haven't signed my contract either, so I don't know if I'm bound to it or not. Another thing is I've cancelled at an apartment in Houston before for a personal emergency the week before I was to move in, and was told I could get out of it, but would just lose my deposit. Keeping my fingers crossed I won't pay out of pocket for anything. I just didn't know if anyone had this same issue before.

Hi there! I've got offers from separate companies regarding working L&D at St. David's North and Seton Main in Austin, TX. Curious as to what other's experiences there were as a traveler, and if one facility would be better to work at over the other. Any advice would be helpful so I can decide which company to go with regarding each facility.

Thanks so much for all your advice. I know it's gonna be super busy, but my main thing is I want a good team working with me. My current assignment I feel like you're pretty much left out to dry, and don't get much help when it comes to admitting a patient and getting them settled. I appreciate all that you've said.

Hi! I just accepted an 8 week assignment at Seton Main in Austin for L&D starting in September. I just wanted to know if anyone else has worked out there, and what it was like? I know it's going to be busy, but I've worked at a hospital where we did 400 deliveries a month so I'm used to that. Just wanting to know if it's a good facility to work for. My recruiter from CCTC also said that they may put me in an extended stay b/c it was only an 8 week assignment. Debating whether to take their housing and save myself the headache of looking for a place.

Ok thank you for letting me know that. That makes more sense as to why everyone was being cancelled, and having their contracts cancelled. Hoping there won't be an issue like that once I start looking for my 2nd assignment in August.

Ok thanks for the advice. I was a little hesitant about what to believe when the recruiter from AMN said they very rarely work with hospitals in Austin. I didn't know if she was trying to tell me about the cancellations to deter me from Austin, and sign with AMN for a contract in another city.

Hi there! So I very much so would like to start my next assignment in Austin in September after my current contract in NC finishes in August. Ive been talking to my recruiter from CCTC and spoke with another one from AMN. The recruiter from AMN said that she had heard several nurses were being canceled in Austin as well as some having their contracts cancelled all together. I was wondering if anyone else knew about this. That way I could figure out if I should rule out Austin as a travel assignment option, and look elsewhere in Texas.

Sorry. Unfortunately, I don't start my assignment until 5/19 so I can't really be much help to you as of now.

Hi there! I just accepted my very 1st travel assignment, and will be working in Matthews, NC in L&D at the Novant Med Center there. Just wanted to know others' opinions on the hospital as well as the area. I know Matthews is pretty small suburb town, but I've lived in a town that size growing up so I'm used to it. I did, however, like the fact that certain things were close by like Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, etc.

Thanks a bunch for the info. I am leaning towards a hospital in Matthews, NC that does about 100 deliveries a month through CCTC, and am also going to see what AMN has to offer as well. I just don't think right now I want to be at Dartmouth. More of a personal choice. I think right now it would be good for me to just get one assignment under my belt and go from there. Hoping the 1st one is a good one and doesn't taint me. =)

Hi there! So I've been a nurse for 5 years and I worked at 4 different hospitals where I know yellow/red flags when I see them. However, I keep hearing a lot of nurses say with the 1st travel assignment you have to just take whatever comes your way, but still also trust your gut. I turned down an L&D offer for Rex Hospital in Raleigh b/c some things sounded a bit sketcy, and may turn down the Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon, NH b/c Lebanon is a rural city and that's not exactly the ideal location I want. I wanted my 1st start to be somewhere in TN, MO, KY, VA, SC, or NC. I didn't really want TX b/c I lived there for 2 1/2 yrs, but at the way jobs are looking; I'm more open to it now. I'm sure my recruiters are getting a little frustrated with me, but I've had bad experiences of just getting excited to have a job offer and taking it and not being happy with it at all. Ben Taub in Houston offered me a job w/o an interview...never a good sign. I more than likely will turn them down b/c my friend said that place is not good at all. I'm also applying for Aurora Med Center in Kenosha, WI (just to have an application out b/c I know that's a random city). I've applied to Memorial Hermann in Houston, Medical City Dallas, Johns Hopkins Bayview in Baltimore, and Christus Santa Rosa in San Antonio. Does anyone have any opinions on these hospitals? I'm just trying to still remain optimistic, and not get discouraged. I'm just hoping Memorial Hermann, Christus Santa Rosa, and Johns Hopkins Bayview are very good hospitals and something comes up from either one of these places.

Parkland is a different story, because I've heard plenty of horror stories about that hospital is.