acuriousLPN

It wasn't a kindred facility but, yes I know and I'm looking at this as an opportunity to work with other companies and recruiters with other options. I've already applied to two new companies, now it's a waiting game

Thank you, I will do that. Like the post says the DON and I had a very nice conversation today so, we will see. I will be touching base with my current recruiter tomorrow and will get the final say on whether I can no longer work with that company or not. I should have taken the out earlier in the assignment instead of trying to stick it out. I now know next time to leave when I see problems that are effecting me and my ability to do a job.

I don't want to put the facilities name out there but, it is in Massachusetts

I have been a traveling nurse for a little over a year now, on my fourth assignment. This assignment has come with many obstacles. The facility is LTC and very large, 254 beds. When I interviewed I was told that I would be primarily on one unit due to the facilities size. When I arrived to the facility I was floated to every unit, no complaints from me and just kept my head down and did my job. Weeks had gone by and I found that the facility is extremely unorganized. The NP/PA yelling at nurses, the facility calling my company stating I no called, no showed on my scheduled days off. I had a unit manager get in my face and yell at me for calling and asking who the other nurse was when we weren't sure who was working on the unit. Then again when I assisted a patient into a straight back chair this same unit manager started yelling things at me from down the hallway because I didn't clear the transfer with her first . I had reported these things to my company and they acted appropriately. Yesterday I was scheduled to be on a rehab unit with 20 patients, 4 large dressings, 2 admissions and having worked on that unit many times before I knew that it would be an unsafe situation for only one nurse to be on the unit. Also, there was no management in the building to assist with anything if a situation occurred. I felt that taking that specific assignment it would be unsafe and would put my nursing license in jeopardy as well as patient care and safety. I went to speak with the supervisor telling her I felt it was unsafe and that I wanted to be switched to another unit or she could send me home. She told me if I refused to take the assignment she would report me to the board of nursing and make sure I lost my nursing license among other things. I asked to talk to the DON and was also met with much resistance. She absolutely refused to allow me to speak to anyone in management. I called my recruiter and company where no one was available because the company was closed with no emergency contact. The supervisor ended up taking the other cart and I stayed for my shift. Today I called out of work related to a personal matter. I was contacted by my recruiter who read me a statement made by the DON of this facility. The statement said that I left mid shift (I stayed well past my shift tying up loose ends), that I told other staff to not work there (which is untrue), and that I said I would not be coming back (I did say that out of anger after the supervisor threatened to call the BON and make sure I lost my nursing license). I explained this to the recruiter and called the DON to see why she would say those things. The DON and I had a good conversation, she said I'm a good nurse and she thinks the facility could be too large for me. I explained that I think the facility it too unorganized. She stated that is how ICU and acute care hospitals run however, LTC is different. The conversation ended fine and she said she would contact my company and let them know I did in fact finish my shift. I called my recruiter who told me that if they cancel my contract (I have two scheduled shifts left) I would be unable to work with that company anymore. I haven't heard anything back from my recruiter who told me to sit tight and we will see what comes of it. Now i'm worried I can't travel anymore because of this. I can only be responsible for myself and do not feel that I did anything wrong with sticking up for myself and protecting my license.

Looking for some help or tips about finding housing if it is not provided by your company. I have done some research but am very lost and can't seem to find any real numbers. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Look into other companies that utilize LPN's as travelers. In my personal experience with traveling the pay they are offering is a bit low including all of the expenses that they state they cover. The best thing to do is educate yourself and find a company that is going to work best for you.

Can an employer mandate a traveling nurse to work an extra shift (totaling 16 hours) due to callouts? The current facility I am at as a traveler has a policy to mandate a nurse if there is a call out and other means of finding coveraged have not worked. I have been at this facility previously and was told by my recruiter and company that the facility would have to use their own personal staff before mandating me to stay. Currently, my contract does not state anything about mandatory overtime hours. Also, the assignment is in Mass. which I know that there is a law for when problems like this arise. I would like to add that I was called into work for 7 pm (I work 11-7) due to callouts and was told by the scheduler I could not get mandated come morning. I also know I can't exceed 24 hours. The supervisor is trying to tell me that I need to stay and I have explained this to her. She obviously doesn't want to stay either but, I will have been here for 12 hours already compared to her 8. Having me work another unseen 4 hours is unsafe and I fear I may make an error due to lack of sleep. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. P.S I cannot find any paperwork stating their policy on mandating staff. The only person I am getting information from is the supervisor who states that the nurse on the unit where the call out is, is the nurse that must stay regardless.

No injuries were found on the resident and the facility does not seem to have an elopement policy in place. I had looked on their on-line database for a policy form and also asked other nursing staff that has worked there for years and they do not know of anything. Also, there have been numerous elopements prior to this one, but they did not manage to get as far away as this particular incident. The wanderguard system has not been working properly as many have told me. Luckily, I found some information that states if a patient is found under 15 minutes that it does not need to be reported to the state. That makes me feel a little better. I have to go in for my questioning tomorrow and am afraid. I know I did not do anything wrong and did everything I could to keep everyone safe and indoors.

I currently work in Vermont and had a resident elope on my shift, I was at lunch and was not in the facility at the time of the incident. Upon return, I was notified about what happened by my supervisor. The resident was already on 15 minute checks with a wandergaurd in place. This is not the first time that the resident has been successful in leaving the property. A few hours later the Administrator was called and came into the facility to question people about the incident. I was also brought in for questioning. After I had sat down, the Administrator immediately starting what felt like attacking me and almost trying to pin the blame of the elopement on me stating that the resident must have left the facility at the same time as I and they were hiding so I could not see them. I obviously became defensive with these statements and actually waiting a moment when I left the facility to make sure that the doors had shut so I knew that they were secure. The administrator continues to tell me that I will end up losing my nursing license because of this incident if I do not "cooperate and work as a team with us (them)". I was not being uncooperative and was more fearful of losing my nursing license over something I literally had no control over. I did not cause harm, I checked to make sure my residents were safe before leaving for break, I notified my staff on the unit, and I also saw said resident on the unit as I was leaving it. I was also told that if I called out of work the following day because of the incident it would be suspicious of being guilty of causing the elopement. I have been a nurse for two years and have never had anything like this happen to me, I was and am still completely shaken up. Now, I am afraid to work in the facility for fear of retaliation or losing my nursing license. Once the conversation was over the Administrator wrote down my statement, which I looked over, agreed, and signed. I made sure to get a copy for my records of the incident. My question, has anything like this ever happened to someone? I feel like every time I've heard of an elopement situation the nurse on duty ends up getting fired or losing their nursing license over it. Also, if anyone has any information where I could find what Vermont's laws on something like this are that would be great. I have googled things but have only seen case studies or facility specific guidelines. Any input would be great!

I currently am on assignment 19 miles away from my home. I get housing but it is taxed. But, even with that I am making more money than my previous assignment with housing included!

I currently work for Core. My recruiter is ok. This is my first travel assignment and am still new to the whole travel nursing world. My housing was provided where I am currently contracted, which is a beautiful, full furnished home. My pay is decent, although I probably could have gotten more money. My only problem with the company is when i contacted my recruiter to start talking about my next contract he continously told me "we still have time" when i was 6 weeks away from my contract ending. Finally, at 2 weeks until my contract was up I had enough. I found that very frustrating and made me uneasy about my jobs future. Long story short, I felt pushed to extend and when I decided to was told the facility did not contact the company for my extension, which the facility told me otherwise. I ended up signing with a new company and got a contract closer to home with a much higher pay rate. They are a good company to work for but make sure your recruiter has the time and skills to do what you want. I was pretty much told I would only be able to get jobs in 2 states, the one i'm currently working with and one in New England.

I currently have done a lot of research and have talked to many companies and have found one that I am going to sign on with. They are bigger than my current agency and have more opportunities that I am looking for. I still want to work with my current recruiter and agency, but do not know how to go about telling him I have signed with another company and am taking a contract through them. What should I do? I want to be upfront and honest with my current recruiter and not keep him in the dark. Any suggestions would be lovely!

Thank you everyone for your input. Again, I am NEW to travel nursing and am still trying to figure everything out. I have started to look into other agencies but there are so many, and so many that do not take travel LPNs, that it's been a long process. I would ask if anyone knows of agencies with numerous LPN jobs but, I see other people posting them and comments of people telling them to make their own opinions.

Hello, I am a new travel nurse (LPN). I am currently coming to the end of my first assignment and was offered an extension but have decided to not stay. When should my recruiter and I start talking about my next assignment? This contract ends on March 8th. I am afraid that I will not have enough time to apply for my endorsement license if I travel to another state (which is what I would like to do). When I contact my recruiter I sometimes feel that I am being a bother and he doesn't have time for me. Any advice would be extremely helpful! Thank you!

Has anyone traveled with this company? I have searched for reviews on google and have no been able to find any. The have recently contacted me and I am very eager to start my first travel job so any input would be great! Thank you