sarahc331

Thank You! Can you by chance provide me with the link where you found that? I've been thinking about this...if the granules are activated by a neutral pH, how does it ever become activated once reaching the gut where the pH is even lower than that of the apple juice? And if it does indeed still break down in the gut (which we presume it does, otherwise what's the point), wouldn't adding it to the apple juice initiate that process, rather than delay it? Forgive me if I'm just being dense, but I'm not getting it.

Has anyone used the Pantoprazole granules (extended release suspension)? The packet says to mix with apple juice or applesauce only. I've asked a couple other nurses I work with, and the pharmacist, and none of them know. I tried doing a quick google search and the only thing I can find says to mix with one of those items & do NOT mix with water or other liquids. But I can't find out why. What's the reason? Thanks!

Minimum requirements are one year in the specialty in which you are looking to travel in and usually two years of experience as a nurse. Some hospitals will have higher requirements. My FIRST suggestion to you, do not even consider traveling until you are extremely comfortable with your nursing skills & the specialty you are in. As a traveler you will be scrutinized by every person you meet and will be expected to be able to hold your own and hit the ground running. It's a huge challenge jumping in at a new facility, learning your co-workers, how the system runs, who the doctors are and how to contact them, where supplies are, etc that you do not want to have to worry about your own skills & nursing knowledge on top of it. Most core staff don't take kindly to a traveler who doesn't know their stuff.

I'm looking into taking an assignment at the Henry Mayo hospital in Valencia, CA. Anyone heard anything about it, or traveled there before? Any input would be greatly appreciated!!

Freemont Rideout in Yuba City is the facility they tried MULTIPLE times to push me into, each time coming back with a better offer after I'd turn them down, always saying "the hospital has just authorized us to offer 'xyz...'". It sounds like the hospital itself isn't a terrible place to work based on your story. I would never take the contract thru Trustaff but if it was ever available thru my agency I may reconsider. At the time, it would have been my first travel experience and I was looking for something that sounded a little more similar to my staff facility. You said "I probably wouldn't have taken the trouble to write all this down but I saw you mention 'Chuck' ". I just want to let you know that this is exactly the type of information people are looking for (me atleast) when they come to allnurses.com and I really appreciate you taking the time to do so.

I also carry my own insurance and have worked with four different agencies. Up until just recently flexibility in location and pay was my top priority and it didn't really matter to me who provided the contract as long as the details fit my needs. That is until I finally connected with a recruiter who is amazing. It's true what they say...the recruiter is the person who will make all the difference. It doesn't really matter what the name of the company is. For the first time I have a recruiter who I have developed a sense of loyalty to because I know he will do everything he can to work FOR ME.

There are two major points you need to consider. The first is your desire to work overtime. I've had contracts that provide for a separate OT rate and others that go based on the standard time & a half rate. The lower your base rate is the lower your OT rate will be (if based on 1.5x). If you like to work OT then I would recommend taking a higher hourly rate or requesting a separate OT rate. The second issue is retirement. Keep in mind that social security is based on your 3 highest earning years. Your "tax free" money doesn't get reported to the IRS and therefore does not get factored into those calculations. So yes it means more money in your pocket NOW, but will potentially influence your later years. My recommendation: there is a calculator on pantravelers.org that will allow you to compare the different offers and help you decide which is better for you. Oh, and having the right recruiter helps too. There is more room for negotiation than they will lead you to believe.

I am currently on contract at Peacehealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver WA and am enjoying it quite a lot. I also just finished a contract at Mercy Medical in Redding CA which I MOSTLY liked as well (had some floating issues related to poor communication but overall experience was good). I've done assignments also at Stanford and Good Samaritan in San Jose (neither were my favorite). I don't know what your specialty is but I'm sure it could affect the experience. I can only speak to ICU but let me know if you want more details on any of the facilities.

I've not worked for them but I've received calls from them DOZENS of times. I spoke in depth with a recruitment manager, Mike, who was trying to sell me on a specific facility in CA where they have loads of travelers. After researching the details I told him it did not seem like a good fit for me and turned it down. I received at least 3 follow up offers for more money. I've been contacted I would guess by no less than 10 different recruiters. I told one of them that I felt like they were fighting amongst themselves to try to recruit me and was told, "we work as a team, that means you have multiple people working for you". A couple months later I received an email from a recruiter who said, "if anyone else from Trustaff calls you, tell them you're working with Chuck". To me that doesn't sound like team work. I feel like they are kind of underhanded. I've had an amazing experience with a recruiter at Totalmed and would be happy to provide additional details if you email me. [email protected]

Fastaff just staffed the hospital I work per diem at during a strike. I spoke with several of the nurses and not one of them had any complaints about Fastaff and the pay is amazing. I finish my current contract Feb 9th and will be looking to start a short contract with Fastaff then. The pay rates you see in the charts they give with openings DO NOT include housing. Housing is over and above that which is HUGE. Most of the rates you see are $1500-$2200+ / week and then housing is still free. Right now I'm taking home about $1300/week which includes my housing stipend. That's with AMN who I do not recommend if you're looking to earn a decent paycheck (though they are one of the largest travel agencies and therefore have the most locations available if you're particular about where you go which is why I'm with them currently...I wanted one specific hospital and they got me there).

I understand that I am temporary and fully intend on doing it the way they ask but still would like to know the rationale. I just don't understand doing something for no reason, particularly if it just delays patient care, as this does. How often do you have someone with a low K, Mg & Phos? All the time! Why delay supplementation of one of those electrolytes without a good reason? Especially since they aren't even able to tell me the reason they do it other than "we just do". That's not a good enough reason to do anything, in my book.

Just to clarify, I was intending to run the supplements thru two separate IVs, so it wasn't just a compatibility issue.

I just started my contract at Stanford last week thru AMN. There were a couple dozen travelers starting the same day as me and I think pretty much everyone was there thru AMN. The people leading the orientation even referred to American Mobile by name so I don't think there are really any other options. And from what I've learned, I think everyone essentially makes the same amount with the only difference coming from whether you took housing or the stipend. I can confirm that the pay does suck but you can't really look at an hourly rate, you have to look at the net weekly pay because your pay can be broken down so many ways with the taxable/non-taxable portions that just looking at hourly rate would be comparing apples to oranges. My take home, with the housing stipend, is a little over $1400/week. Compared to my last assignment, also in the bay area, it's $600 less per WEEK! However, if you are specifically interested in the Stanford name you'll have to make sacrifices. There are a ton of travelers there and many of them extend so they must be happy. And as NedRN said, a lot of the permanent staff were first travelers. Here are the rumors I've heard...Stanford likes to hire travelers because they don't have to pay for the extended orientation period and because they have an agreement w/ AMN they can get away with the crappy pay because people just want to work there. If you want to take a permanent position you have to complete 2 contracts otherwise they have to pay AMN a "finders fee" which they won't do. My understanding is that once you hire on into a permanent position the pay is upwards of $60/hr plus huge night & weekend differentials and great benefits.

Good Morning! I want to preface my topic with the following: I am a relatively new traveler, just had my first day of orientation at my second travel assignment but have been a nurse for 9 years. Admittedly, 8.5 years of my experience is in one facility (a Level I trauma ICU) so my experience is fairly limited in terms of facility protocols. Anyway, I just heard for the first time this morning that you should NEVER administer two electrolyte supplements (such as KCl & Mg) simultaneously, even if it's thru two separate lines. Now I do not like to take orders like these at face value...I question everything I don't understand so that I can make sense of it. And that's what I did...I questioned the nurse orienting me, of course it came across badly as though I was discounting their policies. She couldn't provide me any rationale so I did as she said but then went to pharmacy who confirmed my knowledge (or lack there of) that this would be an issue. He didn't seem to have any idea the nurses followed this "policy". So then I went to the nurse educator who essentially said this was policy and I was to follow it regardless, even though she wasn't able to show me any such policy or even knew if one existed. It's just "the way we do it". The charge nurse told me, "It would be like writing a policy to 'not jump off the roof'...you just know not to do it." Well apparently that isn't true since I've never heard it in my 9 years of nursing. Just to be clear, this is also a level I trauma ICU so they are both similar facilities and are both held in high regards. So, my question to you...what's your knowledge & experience with this and if it's something you've always "known to be true", what's the rationale? Thanks in advance for helping me understand since the facility could not.

It would definitely stand out but they look particularly difficult to read to me. Put yourself in the shoes of the person sifting thru resumes...you might potentially have hundreds of qualified applicants on the desk in front of you...are you going to spend extra time trying to read thru the resume of just one applicant when you've got so many others? I ended up in a forum discussing resumes when I was helping my husband write his and read from at least 2 people who do the hiring for their respective companies who both said NOT to be overly creative or to stray too far from the norm. You get used to reading resumes and know what to look for & where to look and when you get that one odd-ball one thrown in it is not more appealing.