mmills63

Looking for some experienced travel nurses to weigh in with opinions. I'm considering leaving my full-time position with the hospital I currently work at. Pay (or lack thereof) is a big issue, as well as a lack of trust in upper management. I'm 30 years old, married, have a house and a 6-year old, and all that jazz. I'm an OR RN at a Level 1 Trauma hospital in Indiana; it's been my only nursing job, and I've only been there for 14 months. That's not a lot of experience, I know, but I catch on quickly to new things. I left a VERY well paying job to go to nursing school, and now I'm suffering because I make more than 20k a year less than my previous job, and racked up a lot of debt during the two years I was a student and unemployed. I talked to a recruiter with Aya yesterday; he basically told me that getting local travel work would be limited, because I haven't hit that two-year point of experience (I'd be forced to only take the jobs that no other traveler would fill, which I imagine would be terrible). However, he said there was a lot of work in Louisville, making around $1500 - $1800 per week. Louisville is 2 hours away, so I'm considering it. He said there would be no call, and if I could get a contract with 3 12-hour days in a row, I could crash in an on-call room or nearby motel for 2 nights a week, and be back home for my 4-days off, all while almost doubling my pay! It seems too easy... Like it's too good to be true. It also seems scary to leave the safety net of full-time job. I'm in the military (one weekend per month, two weeks per year), so I get all my medical/dental benefits through them, instead of the hospital I work at anyway, so I'm thinking about going where the money is; that being said, what if I hate it and I just blacklisted myself from my current hospital network (I will be breaking contract and leaving early) and find myself in need of a job with bills piling up? Or what if contract work isn't as steady as some of the recruiters make it sound, and I end up without work after my first contract ends? I have a family to provide for, and I want to make responsible decisions that are in their best interest. I guess this post is more of a rant, but I'm open to feedback of anyone with this type of experience. Thanks!

Apply through the major hospital's websites; sell yourself to the recruiters and the nurse managers... Preach teamwork, communication, and customer service; that's what they're looking for. You don't need to know anybody; my wife is an RN, so is her sister and my cousin. The none of them work or know anyone at the hospital I got hired into.

I like to come back to these threads and give updates; maybe it'll help someone else searching for information. I graduated in December, took NCLEX two weeks ago (and passed), and yesterday I interviewed at IU Health (Methodist) for an OR Internship. The recruiters called me back today with a job offer! I can't believe it; it's a dream come true! I'm signing the contract tomorrow, and start the 6-month orientation in Feb! I actually did it!

Took the NCLEX on Wed. (I got ALL 265 questions) and I PASSED! I still can't believe it's over... Seems so surreal.

UPDATE: I figured if come back here and post an update. I just took my last final exam on Friday and am proud to say, I AM DONE! I PASSED NURSING SCHOOL! I MADE IT! It was rough, it was long, but it was worth it. I'm a rough dude (deadlift 500 lbs, 10 yrs in the military), and there were times when I cried and thought about quitting. I passed up multiple free vacations to avoid missing clinicals (only missed 1 clinical the entire time) and went to every single lecture. I said goodbye to friends and family and only visited on breaks (luckily, my wife is an RN, so she understood). I have NCLEX review next week and official graduation is on Friday. My 2010 ATI Comp predictor gave me a 96% chance of passing the NCLEX on my first try. Here goes nothing! Hopefully, I can get a job soon; this unemployment stuff is getting old! Thanks to everyone for the advice and support!

Hey NC nurses! I'm starting my last semester of my ASN program in Indiana. My wife is an ICU RN and I want to start an OR training program after I graduate in December. We just visited Charlotte for the first time this weekend to visit my mom, and we fell in love with this city! Any advice on how to get into the OR in Charlotte as a new grad? If I can get some sort of conditional job offer we're pretty sure we can relocate here.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that IU Health was seeking magnet status and wasn't hiring ASN nurses...

I'm in my seconds semester of my ASN program (graduate December, 2013) and I'm very interested in working in the OR after I graduate. I've seen the Community Hospital offers a training program for RNs with no OR experience, and the job posting says they will consider new grads. Has anyone had any experience with this program? If so, is it hard to get accepted? Competitive, etc.? I'd love to work at Community, but I'm also open to just about any hospital... I just want to be in the OR. Are there any other hospitals offering this training in Indianapolis? It's discouraging to think that this is the only entry-level program available with all the hospitals and schools in this city. To think that I won't be able to get the training if one particular hospital decides not to hire me....

OMG; that's genius! Thanks!

I'm trying to find out some information about how much an R.N. makes working in a physicians office vs. working on a hospital. I'm in my 1st semester now, but I'd like to be well-informed before I enter the workforce, and my wife is an RN working nights on a Med/Surg floor, and is looking to try something else. She provides primary financial support for our family now, since, as you all know, it's difficult to work full-time while in nursing school, so I don't earn that much; that said, we can't afford a very drastic pay cut form her salary if she were to get a different job, but nobody EVER talks about pay. How can you make an informed career decision if you are not informed?!?!?! If anyone has some info on what RNs are making in physicans offices (like, through Community physician's ofices, or hatever else is out there) these days in Indianapolis or the surrounding areas, I'd love to hear your insight!

Thanks everyone (almost) for the help. @mclennan - ill def check out TatJacket; thanks for the recommendation @jt43 - yes my school requires me to cover them. @canadiandude - that's about the stupidest ******* comment to an honest question I've ever heard. I'll just get my two sleeves of tattoos removed an have giant scars covering my arms because I don't like sleeves.... Don't you think it would me more probable to bring an extra shirt incase I get something on it so I'm not passing around infections all day? Thanks for the "help"; sorry I'm not tall enough to reach your high-and-mighty soapbox.

Hey everyone, I know this subject has been talked to death in other forums, but nobody seems to be getting to the point, and I have too much med-surg homework to read to be messing around for hours on these forums! My tattoos were awesome when I was in the Army... now I'm a nursing student and I have tattoos on both of my arms. They are NOT offensive, and can be covered by a long sleeve shirt under my scrub top, or by wearing a lab coat, which I have cleared with my clincal instructor. I find it to be very uncomfortable to wear a lab coat all the time, and wearing a white cotton undershirt seems kind of gross.... wiping pts and whatnot, it seems bulky and I feel like I'm getting stuff on it that's staying there (in contact with my skin) all day. I'm thinking about getting something skin-tight, like underarmour (or a cheaper, knockoff). What's everyone else doing???

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm in the thick of it now... got a B on my first Fundamentals exam; next one is coming up fast! I bought a digital voice recroder and started recording the lectures to listen to them again over the weekend (doen't make my weekend any more fun, but I htin kit will help with learning material). I learned quickly that I wasn't going ot be able to read the entire assigned reading (300 pages of reading in one week.... seriously Professor?), and even when i tried, I didn't retain much of it. I'm studying from the PowerPoints, and going through the chapters with emphasis placed on the portions that were discussed in lecture. At least I enjoy studying nursing and patient care.... Otherwise this would suck!

I just took my first test last Wednesday too; the "check all that apply" questions really got me. 10 out of 50 questions were in that format, and I missed 6 of them. Part of you gets discouraged, thinking "this is supposed to be the easy part of nursing school and I am doing poorly" but another part kicks in saying "the first test is actually the hardest because you have to learn a new way of thinking and studying." Out instructor assures us our grades will go up towards the end of the course... they always do.

Hello everyone, I'm currently a SSG in the Indiana Army National Guard. I received my B.S. in Nutrition Science last October, and JUST resigned my AGR position to attend Nursing School (just revived my acceptance letter a few days ago!). I'm in somewhat of a different situation than others... I feel like I need to Commission, and FAST! Since I'm already in the military (9 years total, 7 years active duty), I feel like I'm wasting time towards my 20 by not becoming an officer. That being said, I also have a permanent profile. I have completely collapsed arches in my feet an get a lot of knee pain from running. I stay is GREAT shape (been doing CrossFit for 2 years), but recently tore my meniscus and had knee surgery last December, so running is now WAY out of the picture... I've already been told that I cannot attend OCS or participate in ROTC with a perm profile, but I can accept a Direct Commission... If only I was qualified for one, lol! Anyone out there with a similar experience? I'm assuming that a profile isn't going to hinder my ability to direct commission once I become a RN. I'm coping with the fact that, even though I already have a degree, I'll probably have to wait until I get a BSN before I can commission (hopefully without being deployed as a finance or infantry Soldier, my only 2 MOS's in the mean time.... Wouldn't THAT suck? To be an RN on the civilian side, but then deployed as Finance?). Any tips or advice would be very appreciated!