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.

I was wondering if anyone has any RECENT travel experience w/ Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA? I'm interested in getting a contract there and have learned that American Mobile is the only agency that carries a contract with Stanford. I know my current agency tried and couldn't get one for me. Of course I've heard all the negative feedback about American Mobile and wonder if it's worth it to get into Stanford. I was hoping someone might have a recruiter with American Mobile that they've been happy with or if you know something about getting into Stanford that I don't? As an alternative, has any one worked at a different level I teaching facility in CA that they enjoyed, and which agency/recruiter were you with? Thanks in advance for your help!!

I have to agree with those who say RUN! NEVER jeopardize your nursing license and all the hard work you put in to acheive that (especially while raising a family) just for a paycheck. No one deserves to be treated the way they are treating you and putting you into a situation where you feel overwhelmed & unsupported puts all of your patient's at risk. It also goes against everything a nurse stands for to ignore changes in patient conditions by not reporting them to the physician and any facililty that discourages you from doing a thorough job is definitely not one that you want to work for. And you do not owe them anything in terms of notice. On a new application...reason for leaving: unsafe working conditions. And I would think that any new manager doing an interview should be able to appreciate your reasons and be able to overlook the fact that you are not currently employed. I have been a nurse in a level I ICU for the last 8 years and we have definitely seen our ups and downs in terms of staffing and I can tell you that we are certainly heading in the direction of another nursing shortage. I know that new grads have been struggling to find open positions but trust me, there are more and more coming available. And you WILL NOT end up in a similar situation in a hospital. LTC is a whole other ball game and it's not one you want to be in. There are better options! Good luck and I hope everything works out. You sound like you will make a FANTASTIC & conscientious nurse. You just need to find a facility that will mentor you properly.

I am just beginning to make arrangements for my first travel assignment and have a lot of the same concerns because my husband and I own a home that we pay $1500 for between mortgage & taxes. We don't want to sell with the current market and then risk not liking the travel experience and have no place to come home to but we also don't want to have to continue paying so much that we aren't benefiting from the extra income that traveling provides. I wanted to hire a property management company to rent out our house for us but had a lot of questions about how that would work in the eyes of the IRS so I contacted the guy at www.traveltax.com and did not like what I learned. Even if the house & utilities remain in our name, collecting rent changes our home into a business property rather than a principle residence and would no longer qualify for tax advantage programs. So I asked about using my mom's address as my "permanent address" for tax purposes and how much rent I would have to pay in order for it to qualify in the eyes of the IRS & he told me: "You need to maintain a home/dwelling that you use for your own lodging when home and when engaged in away from home assignments" and in terms of the amount of acceptable rent: "look at the classifieds". In other words, I need to have two homes & using my mom's house will only qualify if I pay rent in an amount equal to what a similar room rental would go for on craigslist. The whole point of tax advantage programs is to relieve the burden of double expenses. If you aren't paying bills on a permanent home then you don't have double expenses. He also told me that the IRS would be looking for evidence that you are maintaining contacts at this permanent address, for example returning there between assignments to do per diem work or doctors appointments & things like that. Something else he told me: "You can work at home to maintain your tax home, but that work and income need to be significant. Eg 3 months along with three 3 month contracts elsewhere". My interpretation of this comment is that if you are not paying expenses throughout the year on a permanent residence that you need to earn at least 3 months of income from that location. JSJones, I would be a little skeptical of the CPA you saw because of the comment he made "that it doesn't truly matter where your permanent address especially if you don't have a home in your name and bills in your name there at that permanent residence." Unless there's more to it than what you're repeating then that contradicts everything that is on traveltax.com about what qualifies for tax advantage programs. It matters very much from what I've learned. The reason I say this is because of the ties you need to maintain. My husband and I discussed selling our home after a year or so of traveling and buying property further north (vacation home) but from I've been told that property will not qualify, even if we're paying expenses, because I've never worked in that particular location. I also asked this guy if he could recommend a CPA in my state (WI) and he said: "We have 750 global clients and deal with most long distance. This is normal. There are only 2 people that specialize in travelers that I am aware of and there is no one I know in WI". I for one feel like the entire situation is far too complicated to fully trust someone who is not specializing in travel taxes. Just my $.02.