Travelswithmutt

Hang in there, things will get better. I remember going through nursing school and wanting to put my head through a wall on a daily basis. I was relieved on the day I finally graduated thinking all the BS was over (ha!), then when it was time to take the NCLEX and *whew* thinking finally all that BS was over (haha!) and then it was time to start looking for jobs I was overcome with a sense of dread. I was turned away from my first interview at the facility I had poured all of my dreams and hard work into. After wanting to become a mental health nurse and working at a group home for schizophrenic women for 3 years and turning in my resume I left the interview with a big, fat "NO". What?! I had worked so hard and now I was forced to put my application in at all these places I had never wanted, never considered. It was sickening. If I wasn't a MH nurse then what was I? That was a bittersweet learning experience because I ended up not going to work in mental health (well in the psychiatric sense, we ALL work in mental health I suppose even if you aren't even a nurse!) but now I work in the OR and I can't imagine having done things different. My point is that it is all a long winding effed up road and like Viejas says, you are going to feel like a failure, a fraud but don't turn your back on this. You have come this far and one day you are going to wake up and all of this is going to be years behind you and there you will be, a real nurse. Getting paid for all of this stuff you are putting up with in nursing school for free! There will be many times in your life where you will need to remember to take that road trip, visit that museum, take a deep breath and get back in there and do your thing. Remember: nobody is born knowing how to do a darn thing, you have to learn to walk, to feed yourself, to ride a bicycle. Don't be so hard on yourself, put your game face on, and give yourself a chance to learn how to do this too!

Hey, you're a med tech, not an EMT. Your job is to administer medication not know to perform this maneuver or to even perform an assessment, this is the RN's job. Hold your head high and take it as a lesson learned. It sounds like you took the fall for the mistakes of others, employers will be scratching their heads over the actions of your superiors, not the fact that you did what you could to wake this person up.

Confront her the next time she does something. Imagine the scenarios playing out again and what you truly wish you could tell her in the most professional and assertive way possible (read don't be AGGRESSIVE, passive-aggressive is fine ). Reflect her overly-concerned inservice type demeanor right back to her. Tell her plainly, "Look Sally, I know you were probably trying to help with Mrs. B in 204 but now she has received double the dosage of acetaminophen and given her history of elevated liver enzymes I am concerned that she might develop hepatoxicy. I am going to have to write you up and you know how much I don't like doing that, especially since you were trying to help. How about in the future you let me take care of my own patients? I know you are worried because I am here on contract but I have plenty of experience and went through the same channels to receive my degree that you did." Step up your game by being prepared and make this woman fear that she might have over-reached her bounds.

*Be quick, agile and a good memory of where things are. *Know your stuff. Know the cases, what you need and extra items for those just-in-case moments. Knowledge of OR policy and procedures. *Ability to roll with the punches. *Snake handling, learn how to do it! Bring your finest flute but prepare to get bitten! *Good sense of humor, don't be too uptight about things. Learn to laugh. *Be helpful to others, clear off the top of the case cart for your scrub, answer the resident's pager when you can even if you don't have to, be conservative when you can. *Accept help from others and give help to others. Don't be one of those people who can't be helped because you'd rather do it yourself. People love watching these people fail and grovel for help after you've tried offering several times. Also, if you never help out, people will resent having to help you. This makes you look much better than drowning in a CF case and having to beg people to whom you have denied help in the past. We are all a team, sometimes you have to suck it up! Develop a safety net of your peers! There are a lot of strong personalities in the OR and you have to learn to be one yourself. Don't get walked on, you have to be able to stand up for yourself and your patient's. If you have no backbone and the surgeon is barking at you to do something unsafe you can't just do it without question. You have to be able to swallow your pride and do what is right and in the long run the OR team will respect you for being a professional nurse. It is hard to balance out all of these qualities sometimes but the best circulators I have ever known had all of these qualities. :redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe:redpinkhe

Yes, it is hard to eat healthy in the OR! I bring 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day and a bag of grapes or a banana. It's too hard fighting for real estate in the fridge so it's easy to keep these items in a locker, they are healthy and then if the OR does supply food you can pick one or two things without having to nosh on a trough full of garbage/junk.

Yep, every single time but I don't always extend. Extending will cut down on cost but you have to consider why you took a travel position instead of permanent. For me, it is all to see the world. I'm not discriminatory though, some hospitals deserve an extension and my current job has been great but there are places I've been that have had me checking my "Time Counter" app every hour, counting it down to the minutes that I can leave. However, if you really need/want to stay put on your game face, tell all of your colleagues how much you enjoy the hospital, NEVER complain even if they have you doing the crappiest work in the department, you have to keep your priorities in order.

It sounds like you already know what you need to do, you just need validation that you are making the right decision. That's what I love about these boards because we are here to high-five you and let you know that you ARE doing the right thing. Stick it to the urology place (eww on that anyways!). No job is worth being made to feel terrible about yourself and your performance. The LTC facility wants you there and that would be the job I would take, the one that makes you feel wanted and appreciated. :redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe

I agree with everyone's postings. You will ALWAYS have to serve somebody. You are in this role temporarily so just take a deep breath, make the most of it and if you find that the expected end of this assignment comes and goes and here you are still in the gopher role (as in, go fer this and go fer that) then apply elsewhere. Take it as a lesson learned. Everyone has worked a crap job but that doesn't mean you have to let it become who you are or stay there forever.

Ok folks, so basically I am pretty sure I know what I need to do here but need validation/vent time. I have been with my company for nearly 2 years now but my satisfaction has waned with each new contract. My recruiter has always taken forever to get back in touch with me which I can overlook to some extent. The newest problem is that my assignment is coming to an end (3 weeks left) and another hospital in the area with the same group wanted to take on two of us travelers as our contracts expire. I spoke with the director of the place and told them who I was contracted with. When I told my recruiter about the new job and asked about the pay she blew me off and said that she would have to contact her account manager etc but my friend with a different company got pay details the same day. That I can even overlook. What I can't overlook is that after looking over my travel company website today (one week after finding the job and hearing nothing from my recruiter) I found where they posted this job to all to see, so obviously they know the pay details but rather than keep their existing employee they use this job to hook new recruits. I know, I know, it's all business but folks I have poured my heart into this company. I have done nothing but make this company look good and words cannot describe how disappointed I am. Let this serve as a reminder that loyalty in this business is synonymous with naivete.

Yikers! So, I have to say traveling is very "bitterweet". I did a lot of venting at one assignment to a seasoned fellow-traveling nurse that was not fun at all. He gave me some advice that felt like a kick in the pants but was very good advice about our position as a "visitor", advice that I have to remember when things do not go the way I think they should (which is everywhere, all the time) he said, "Just remember, as a traveler you are here to adapt to their way of doing things, not to change them. As much as you know, and as simple as some changes may be that would make things run so much smoother just remember that these people have worked very hard to make this place the way they want it. They did not hire you here to tell them how to run it. You are here to adapt." That stung, but it was very true. You have to remember that if everything was perfect at their hospital, they probably wouldn't even need a traveler. When all else fails, remember this: you are only there for 13 weeks. You can stand on your head for 13 weeks if you have to and those b****es will still be working there!

Scrub techs not opening their stuff, definitely up there. Scrub techs who don't think the circ has anything better to do than work for them, hates seeing them talk to the CRNA, surgeon, etc. Scrubs who drop everything so there stuff has to be flashed or more stuff opened. Basically all passive aggressive scrubs with RN envy. CRNAs who are very anal and give inservices on everything as if you are a retard. "Hold cricoid until I say let go" but then another one says "Look, when I inflate the cuff you need to let go!" The patient tries to tell you something while you are holding O2 on induction so you lift the mask a little to hear them and the CRNA starts screaming like you just ripped out an art line or something. Chill OUT!! There's more than one way to wash a pot. The way some people count can be confusing. Why, why, why do people insist on writing 1 + 2 = 3? An "=" when sloppily written can look like 1 + 2 + 3. AORN needs to set a rule on this mistake which is made universally! We should know how to add so stop adding already unless there will be no more sutures used on the case! And last but not least wanting stuff not on the preference card and then getting ****** that it wasn't there to begin with. I am a traveler and I don't know what they want if it ain't on the menu! I am working on my ESP but it is taking a little longer than I would like. Be patient. (steps down from soap box)

I had a friend who worked with Nightingale and loved them!

Sounds like community health nursing

I am currently working a travel assignment in Virginia near Richmond, but have worked in NC, and NE and have NC, CA, and FL RN licenses. You should submit all your paperwork to about 2-3 agencies so when one contract comes to an end you can easily transition into another job with another company if need be. I travel with Trinity and have really loved working with them. I will say that the HCA hospitals hear use All About Staffing here to get in touch with the travel companies, so if you got an HCA job the travel company might use them but you would ever know. Look at this: http://www.highwayhypodermics.com/travel_nursing_companies.htm It shows tons of travel companies and their benefits. I notice that you say that you are in FL, which could be a problem since it isn't in the compact. If you want to travel to you might want to start the licensure process early so you aren't waiting for a piece of paper. Travel companies won't submit you for a job until you have this so select a state, get the license and then travel. It isn't cheap either, so choose your state wisely. Notice, I have 2 state licenses I haven't even gotten around to using, but it takes forever (sometimes months ) to get them in these two states so better to have than to wait. Hope this helps, feel free to contact me if you have other questions.