anchorRN

I am looking for some advice from someone who is currently enrolled or has recently completed NIFA's RNFA program for APRNs who can give me an idea of the pace of the program and how clinicals work using surgeons that I work with. I am currently an FNP working in Cardiothoracic Surgery for the past 1.5 years. I do endoscopic vein harvesting and assist the surgeons in the chest for cardiac and thoracic surgeries. I'd like to have the RNFA certification to make my job more portable, as the hospital I work at is very rural and does not require it, unlike other hospitals in the country. Feel free to DM me or comment here. Thanks!

Hey all I'm nearing my 1 year mark as a practicing FNP and am feeling the need to stretch my legs again. Are any of you currently doing Travel/Locum work? I've looked into a few agencies but haven't filled out any information forms just yet to avoid the deluge of phone calls. Barton Associates and NEXTLocums are two that I have browsed so far but certainly open to others. I'm a little nervous doing this, since the market for FNPs is so limited in many areas seemingly due to oversaturation. Are there enough travel jobs for NPs out there to keep me working consistently? That would be my main concern. Any insight into this type of work would be super cool ?

100% WelchAllyn. I bought an offbrand from Amazon during school and it lasted literally about a week. The WelchAllyn brand is a bit expensive but can find deals on eBay. I think I paid like $200 or $250 for mine but well worth it. Will last forever.

LOL Not true at all, I actually really like your tactic for finding seasoned recruiters. However I don't think that asking another forum member's opinion is in any way a bad idea. I get that there are incentives for someone recommending another traveler, but I also have been around the block once or twice and can hopefully smell a rat if thinks start sounding dicey. I'm happy that others are engaging on this discussion and will welcome anyone's advice!

@NedRN Yeah I was expecting crappy insurance, I remember that from before. Luckily I am in good health and rarely go to the doctor. I mainly just need a policy to protect me from catastrophe, which can happen to anyone. I'm already paying $250/mo for my premium at my current job and its not the greatest of coverage. When I was staff at the hospital I worked at prior to becoming an FNP my insurance was BOMB. I paid a very small premium since I am single with no kids (it was free up until the last 2 years I worked there). I miss that coverage but not the job. As I said above in my reply to @allstarnurse1 I am taking these next 4-5 months to find a company and a recruiter who are ideal for me. I'm in no rush, although I do hate my FNP job. A $500/mo health insurance premium is a tough pill to swallow, especially for someone like me who rarely uses it. But I get it. Even if I am offered a small premium by a travel company, I have no doubt I'm paying for it in other ways such as lower weekly pay, etc. I'm definitely glad there are still a few people still active in this sub-forum! I still have yet to find a forum that is super active. That facebook group I joined is very active, but again, I prefer the anonymity of a forum, as I'm sure recruiters and companies watch these pages that have your name all over it. Not for me. LOL

@allstarnurse1 The stress really isn't comparable. It's hard to explain, but I'll be 100% honest here - keeping up with labs, diagnostics, etc while seeing 30+ patients a day is a bit overwhelming. And then there are those patients that you see pop up on your schedule and think NOOOOOOO WHY ARE THEY HERE???!??? The ones that come in for every ache and pain, broken fingernail, stubbed toe, etc. And then want you to look at a spot on their back. Then want you to write them something controlled. I just hate it. And I'm nearly done with it. I'm starting my travel nurse research now because I'm giving this job another 6 months and after that I'm done-zo with primary care.

@allstarnurse1 Yeah 60hrs/week would be a no-go for me LOL. I'm really just looking to get out and see the country some more. I've traveled before, am familiar with the typical "thrown to the wolves" scenario, learning computer charting in 1 day, etc. My main concern right now is finding the right company and recruiter. My main needs are a company that offers decent health insurance (that will let me take time off between contracts and keep that coverage), and decent life insurance. Interesting that you should bring up MSN-FNP. I finished my FNP program (Eastern Kentucky University) in May 2020 and I am currently working as an FNP and I HATE MY JOB. LOL. Seriously its awful. I haven't been at it quite a year yet so maybe I haven't given it enough time, but seriously I'm ready to go back to bedside, hence why I am looking at traveling again.

@allstarnurse1 Wow thats amazing! It does sound like you earned it though. I'm absolutely NOT looking to work OT, I'm over that these days LOL. So I would say my hopes of a crisis contract will go out the window due to that fact. But it does seem there are some 36hr/wk contracts out there (I'm sure the pay is much less), but still worth looking into imo, especially if it is a good fit for me ? Do you recommend any companies to look into? Or those I should avoid? TYIA!

@NedRN Thanks again for the awesome detailed reply ? The process you described for finding more seasoned recruiters hits the nail on the head and that is exactly what I am going to do. Makes complete sense! Now to find a company that will let me take a month off and still keep my health insurance HAHA. Any other advice you want to toss my way would be appreciated also! ?

@NedRN There needs to be more Travel RNs like you online giving advice haha. I have searched online for some Travel RN forums and none are really active right now which I found odd. Maybe folks have moved away from forums and use more social media now? When I traveled before I found a wealth of information on travel nurse forums and reached out to several users and found a pretty decent recruiter who got me to the cities I wanted to go. This time around I have looked around on Allnurses, Delphi, Ultimate Nurses, etc and none of these forums (including this one) seem to be very active. I did request to join a "Gypsy Nurse Travel Nurse Network" facebook page that seems to be active. What's funny is when I started looking at the forums on Delphi the most recent answers came from none other than - NedRN! haha But unfortunately you seem to be one of the only ones offering advice on forums these days and I couldnt even create a profile on Delphi because the registration page keeps bugging out. I prefer the anonymity of forums vs facebook but I suppose thats just the culture we live in nowadays. I know I'm a strong candidate for wherever I choose, I've done bedside ICU for 17 years, have my CCRN, worked mostly in CVICU (including when I was a Navy nurse) but can work any ICU and run just about any device (although when I traveled before travelers got the less complex assignments and didn't really run the CVVHD, ECMO, etc). Pay is not my single most motivating factor, although lets be honest - if I didn't care about pay I would just get a staff job locally. In fact before I took my NP job I was making $43/hr +$4/hr nightshift diff with awesome benes, but the hospital was crazy understaffed and gave the employees no say over schedule/time off, you were basically at their mercy for everything which I did not care for. I want to travel, I miss areas of the west coast (PNW specifically) that I lived in when I was in the Navy. I have a home in Kentucky that I want to retire in, but don't want to live here full time now in my mid-40s. I feel like I'm missing out on life and I want to get back out seeing the country! With that being said, I know that travel nursing isn't all rainbows and unicorns. I distinctly remember having to take the less desirable assignments, being first admit, first to float (although I ensured I would only float to other ICUs or ER), first to be called off, etc. And yes I did deal with a recruiter who was a bit difficult at times. I was a baby nurse, barely had 2 years of experience at the time, so it was slim pickin's. I think I might have a little more leverage now over the type of assignment I can get. My biggest problem right now is finding the resources online to help guide me in my decision-making process when choosing a company. Right now I am totally out of touch with which company offers the best pay, insurance, and 401K's. I'm also out of touch with which company would be best to keep me working. I'm also nervous that the bottom might fall out of travel nursing all together once COVID cools down (if it does..) I have alot of research and decisions to make. I'm really in no hurry, although that crisis pay looks pretty darn tempting right now LOL. In the meantime I'll continue to scour the internet and hope to find someone who is willing to point me in the right direction as far as company/recruiter. I realllllly don't want to just start randomly contacting companies/recruiters right now just to start receiving 100's of phone calls/voicemails daily. So until then I'll take any and all advice anyone is willing to give regarding online resources for travel RNs right now ?

@NedRN What process do you recommend in selecting a good recruiter? Don't most agencies just assign you one randomly? I don't recall being able to choose one, but it has been a while and I don't fully know the process these days. Again thanks for your awesome responses!

@NedRN Thank you for the awesome detailed reply! Honestly at this point in my career I'm only looking for 36 hr/wk. Those younger motivated nurses can have that OT LOL And I definitely remember American Mobile and Cross Country. I have a compact license, so I'd be mostly looking to go to one of those states. Do you have any companies/recruiters you would recommend? Feel free to send me a PM!

I keep getting emails and ads popping up on social media that are offering crazy weekly pay rates for Travel RNs. I am a former travel nurse (2006-2008), have 17 years of ICU experience and recently got my MSN and working full time as an FNP. I hate my job as an NP and I am making way less than I could traveling. I'm a single guy (no kids, etc) so moving around isn't an issue. Are these pay rates for real? (I've seen some offering like 6K per week), and is this pay projected to be around for a while? I'm so far removed from when I last traveled that I don't even know which companies are reputable anymore and which offer the best benes. As I inch towards my mid-40s I'm wondering if getting back into the travel industry vs staying an FNP would be worth my time or if these assignments are going to dry up soon. It appears a substantial amount of money could be made. Any insight??

@babyNP. @djmatte thanks guys for the recommendations! I definitely already use both of those references like every single day. I have UTD on my phone and I have the hardcover version of 5min clinical consult. I'm looking more for suggestions quick-reference pages to put in a binder like dosing children's tylenol, CPT codes, anemia labs to order for workup, etc. I have a pretty good one already started, but looking to add some stuff I may have not thought about. I appreciate the input!

I'm a new NP. I began working at a nursing home and wow was that a mistake. There are a lot of problems at that facility and I didn't think it was safe for my license/liability to stay there. Im starting a job at a family practice job in 2 weeks and I want to be well-prepared. What do you guys have in your NP reference binders? I've saved little things along the way thorough school and I'm looking to add to mine. What do you guys suggest? Just simple little "cheat sheats" that might help me along the way