nyck76

Also does anyone know how much SIUE's program total cost is for the 3 years? Thanks!!

I have a question. I have been hired at the VA as a nurse 2 step 1. I swear that the RN recuiter told me that they only go up steps every 2 years. Is that right? That sounds a little slow to me, considering there are 12 steps in a Nurse 2. I cannot image it taking 24 years to get to the top of a nurse 2 pay scale. Thanks!

Hello everyone. I interviewed and was offered the position nurse 2 step 1. The salary they quoted is my is pretty good as well, considering St.louis area hospitals pay very crappy unless you do weekend option. My next question is: 1) How long and what do you have to do to go up steps? I know a nurse 3 is like management, but I did not know if every year you went up steps or if it is like the "clinical ladder" at the hospitals. 2) I am going to be taking my CCRN and did not know if they give you anything extra at the VA for that. Or maybe it applys to going up a step. 3) Are the raises there annual or every 2 years? The nurse recuiter told me the salary she quoted me would actually be higher than that because tehre was a raise in January. I wasn't sure if this was every year or every other year. 4) What is E qip and do I need to get a password from HR to complete it? Any info is appreciated. Thanks!!

I have an interview with the VA next week and wanted more info on the nursing levels. I have been an ICU RN for 7 years (8 years in May) and have my BSN. I also wanted to know where I would find the salary ranges for the different levels in St.louis. Thank you!

Well I have been working the EICU now for 2 months since I started this thread and I really do enjoy it. I am currently part time but work more than that because I like it. I will be going full time in October simply because they will pay me more than the hospitals as a staff nurse. It is sad that as a staff nurse we work hard and get very little thanks for that work from the hospital, let alone the crappy compensation. The one thing I do enjoy at the EICU is that the physicians there appreciate the nurses and they are always knowledgable about new techinques in medicine and not afraid to implement it. I have been a travel RN for 6 years and have worked in more than 20 different hospitals, and I can honestly say there has only been 2 that I actually would have considered going staff at, neither in the place I wanted to live. LOL. That is sad. I am glad I found a job that I not only like but pays better than I could make working at a hospital I do not like. I am sorry for those of you who do not like the EICU, but they are all ran differently. But like I said before, they do not seem to be going away. Maybe the ones a certain hospitals will, but the one I am working at is definitly doing well and getting ready to aquire 2 more health systems, and we already monitor 5 in 5 different states.

Hello. My first choice is always OA, since they do all inclusive housing, cable, flight, rental car, etc and they pay the best (besides fastaff). Bur sometimes they do not have where I want to go. I like National, but they don't always have what I want either. If it is money that is driving you into traveling, I would go with OA, Fastaff, or MSN. If you just want to travel for the love and fun of it, check out National or Favorite Nurses. Right now I am working with RTG Medical ( who I have worked with in the past) and they are good as well and do inclusive housing and rental cars. Hope this helps!

I DO think that hospitals need to give nurses more value and better compensation. But I do not think that is ever going to happen, which is why I have been travel nursing for the last 6 years. And no has said that an EICU takes the place of a real nurse, I do not know where people keep getting that from. We as nurses are always quick to think that someone is underminding what we are doing, geez. But like I said in my previous posts, this EICU HAS NOTHING to do with helping nurses, it was developed and researched to acquire intensivists (Some nurses just use it as a resource, which is fine if that is what you need). I only called the EICU for electrolyte replacement and drips usually, never to ask for a nurses advice on something. Some of the EICU's however annoy the nurses with calling for petty stuff, which since I am a nurse, I would not like either. The one I worked at in Miami was not like that. And also like I said before, the EICU nurses are there because there are way too many monitors for 1 MD to watch them all and the nurses go through the orders, trends, and protocols set forth depending on the levels of the patients. Every EICU is ran differently. These have been around since 2001, and all I have seen is more created. The more research that the medical journals and AACN do, the more I have seen a new one opened. Since I have been travel nursing all over the US I keep seeing them pop up. I may not work in it forever, but since they are going to pay me way more than any staff hospital in St.Louis will, I am going to try it out for awhile. I am tired of traveling so I am ready to settle down at home. And let me tell you, I do not do anything anymore with out an order or a standing order after working in Miami. Florida is the #1 medical lawsuit state for a reason, and most of the nurses I worked with had been in court more than once. And they were good nurses. So some times it is not about twiddling your thumbs, it is about keeping your job, home, andproviding for your family. We are in a recession, and losing the license that keeps food on the table makes me think twice about remembering that there is not "MD" behind my name. I would rather call a code if a doc won't call me back so I can get what I need verses practicing medicine without an order. If you have a protocol established, thats fine. But if not I am not risking it, seen good nurses fired due to the doc trying to save his own butt.

That is not even how they work. They monitor way too many patients to call about petty PVC's or stuff like that. I had one in Miami and I loved it. They only look into the rooms once a shift, so they are not calling you about turning your patients or spying on you. You can hear when the camera comes on in the room anyway if you are in there. Like it or not, this is the wave of the future since intensivists are in short supply, which is why eicus were developed in the 1st place. More of them keep popping up every year and the AACN already has a special CCRN just for EICU RN's, so you might as well get ready for it. Nurses do not like change, but this is not going away. Lots of medical and nursing organizations have done research on the effectiveness of Eicus and they all have done well, so they are not going stop developing more because people who have never even worked with one do not like the idea. If they can prove that patients in a hospital with one have recieved better care with less infection or complications, then it will stay. Being unhappy about it doesn't help, and if the nurses who think that they are perfect in their practice do not need them, then that is ok too because they should never have to call you about anything anyway.

Does any one know the payrates for working as a nurse for EICU? I am considering it, but did not know what it paid. Thanks!

I am a black ICU nurse and there are few places I have traveled to where there are more than 3 of us it seems. And yes they seem to think I am a CNA or something other than a RN. LOL. It is kinda of sad really.I have never worked in Memphis but I friend Erica is from there and she worked in Trauma for years there and loved it.

Hi. I worked at Scripps Mercy last may and it was 34/hr BUT that was a rapid response position. It is going to depend on what you need for you to get an accurate rate. I spoke w/ HSN about going to Scripps Green and it was $21/hr w/ $2200 housing stipend. But I don't want to find my own housing and it is expensive out there, especially in LaJolla. Nurseextra pays $30/hr at Sharp hospitals w/ housing. I live in STL, and when I travel I don't take my car(it is 6 years old and paid off and I don't want another car payment just yet), therefore I only go with companies that do housing/rental car when I travel away from home. On Assignment pays $26/hr w/housing/car/airfare at Scripps LaJolla. I ended up signing a contract w/ RTG medical to go to Sharp Chula Vista for $27/hr w/ housing/car. I will just pick up some per diem w/ MSN while I am out there to make up the difference. But San Diego is a crappy pay rate city because the climate sells itself

I travel with On Assignment mainly, but my next assignment is with Trustaff since I wanted to take 1 assignment in my tax home state of MO each year to help off set my taxes.

You need to look at the date on the orginal post, it was April 2005. I am sure Jaycrue has heard of AMN by now and has ran the other direction, as this post is has been going on for almost a year. Plus by asking questions here jaycrue HAS been doing his/her homework by asking the pro/cons before persuing to work for them. Smart to ask first, since I worked for them for 2 years and didn't make crap. I wish I would have asked before selling my skills for $25/hr.

Try PPR and Clinical One. Cross Country has some M/S Skilled nursing facility openings on there website. The one PPR has that is a LTC is in Honolulu which would be awesome. Good luck

On assignment, World Health, Trustaff, Advantage RN, Nursextra; there are quite a few that do.