melosa08

My union consists of 33,000 union members, but only 27,000 in good standing. Earlier this year, we went through (controversial) bylaws vote that included a dues restructure. The dues restructure involves gradually raising the cap until 2027. In 2027, the cap will be phased out and it will be the full 1.8%. Our current cap is $90/month. Starting this fall, our dues cap will go from $90 to $115/month. 2025 cap will go from $115 to $140/month. 2026, cap will go from $140 to $160/month. 2027, cap will be eliminated and it will be the full 1.8%. My dues is estimated to be about $180+/month in 2027. It'll increase with every raise. Nurses at the top end of the payscale with years of experience, their dues will be about $230+/month. My union represents ALL occupations within the hospital dietary, evs, nurse, techs, radiology, pharmacy, etc. Pharmacist at the top end of the scale, their dues is estimated to be about $350+/month. I'm frustrated with my union due to the lack of transparency and poor communication from the union. Even after the vote, things to me have not change. We had town halls with the Executive Board of our union to voice our frustrations. My union doesn't hold regular general membership meetings for us to get information about what is happening within our union and to voice our opinions. I'm trying to think, with the increase in dues, do our benefits match what we will be paying in dues? They stopped the pension plan about 18 years ago. Hires after that are offered 401k with 5% employer contribution. If you make less than $60,000/yr medical PPO premium is free. Otherwise, we pay the premium for medical, dental, and vision. No employee discount for cafeteria. Parking is $17/day. Tuition assistance available. We do get a discounted transit card. I don't take public transit to work cuz I take a lot of call, so I drive to work cuz I need reliable transportation. Also, sometimes I get stuck in a case due to staffing or an emergency on my non-call workdays, so I need a way home when it's late. I do like that we have 10 hour guaranteed rest period for those who take call where after getting called in, work cannot call you back in until 10 hours later if they still need you for the day. My question to you all that are in a union, what are your monthly dues and what benefits are you guys receiving? Is our new dues structure reasonable for what we are receiving in benefits? This is my first union hospital. We are in a HCOL. My old hospital back home was non-union and I didn't realize how used and abused we were. I enjoy the protection of being at a union hospital. But, I'm just particularly frustrated with this union. I'm planning on moving next Summer out of state to a hospital with better pay, strong union, reasonable dues, and better housing options.

I moved out about a year ago. My only complaints are if I don't do xyz, xyz will never get done. If I don't go grocery shopping, I won't have any food (thank goodness for delivery *Shout out Domino's Pizza*). If I don't do laundry, I'll run out of clean clothes. If I don't clean my apartment regularly, it'll become a mess. It would be sooo nice after a long day at work, to come home to a home cooked meal. If I don't feel like going to the store, I wish I had a significant other that would go for me. If I don't feel like cleaning (I'm never in the mood to clean), it would be nice to have somebody else do it this week. Etc, etc, etc. Plus, it would be nice to unwind with someone there. But, for now it's just myself and my cat. You'll survived doing everything yourself. Just make note of when bills are due. I've worked 8, 10, and 12 hr shifts. 12s are the best for more days off. 8s are the worst, you have to play catchup on the weekends and then you truly don't get a day off. I've always been the independent type in terms of accomplishing goals and such. It's just when it comes to day to day living, I wish I could share those task with someone instead of doing it all myself.

If you have at least 2 years of nursing experience and feel comfortable in your skills, you can travel nurse for a while to help save up for grad school. You will have the opportunity to make anywhere from $1500- $3000 NET PAY WEEKLY depending on your specialty and state you will be working in. There are some travel nurses who travel to save up for NP and CRNA School. Bonus, it's like a working vacation and you have the opportunity to learn new things and develop your skills that you otherwise may not have the option to.

The current Trustaff recruiter I was talking too, on a personal level, could be my best friend. We have soo much in common from hobbies to tv shows, etc. HOWEVER, when I was debating between two locations of where to go next, I was surprised by the pay packaged offered. I was also talking with other companies as well. With each location, the pay package he would quote me was $500 less per week vs what the other companies would offer. It didn't happen once, but twice. I would ask if he could match, but couldn't. He would "get back to me" but never would concerning that package. Maybe it's happening because I might be getting to friendly with my recruiters, but I just like to get to know a person. Maybe he thinks because we are "buddies" that I wouldn't question his offers. I don't know.

I wished my orientation included more scrubbing. I feel like it would make me more well rounded and marketable nurse. When you are scrubbed into the case, I feel like you get a better understanding of the case and the supplies needed. Whenever I get the chance, I ask if I can go scrub in. Since, we have been sooo short staff lately, I haven't gotten a lot of chances. The times I did, I was able to scrub in on lap appys and gyn cases. Plus, you don't have to worry about charting hehe.

I'll be starting my first travel assignment in Dallas, TX depending on how the phone interview goes. My recruiter emailed me the following numbers base on a 40 hr work week: Taxable hourly: $22.68 x 40 = $907.30 Weekly housing: $692.84 (about $98.98/day) Weekly M&I: $311.78 (about $44.54/day) Total gross: $1911.82 I showed these numbers to my traveler friend. She is a traveler of four years. She went on gsa.gov to see if they maxed out the per diem. We type in the zip code and got different numbers. From Jan-April, housing was listed as $138/day. M&I listed as $64/day. The new numbers calculated would be: Weekly housing: $138 x 7 days = $966 Weekly M&I: $64 x 7 days =$448 Taxable hourly: $22.68 x 40 hr =$907.30 Total gross: $2321.30 I emailed my recruiter the numbers and he called me the next day. He told me that they have a certain budget to work with and can go up to the per diem max dependent on what's leftover after the hourly taxable rate is calculated. He told me in order to max out the per diem, he would have to lower the taxable hourly rate. The lowest his company would allow him to go is $22.68 to prevent the potential of being audited by the IRS. My question to you guys is, do you always max out your per diem rates? My traveler friend told me she has never taken an assignment where she didn't max out her per diem. I'm happy with the numbers he quoted me, but if I'm suppose to get the max per diem rates, that would be even better :)

Thanks for the feedback! I'm just trying to think about the future for those "what if"moments. I feel like traveling would be the next step for me. Just nervous, yet excited.

When you guys took your first traveling assignment, did you put in your 2 weeks or ask for a leave of absence for those 3 months until you were sure traveling is what you truly wanted? Curious to hear your responses.

Haven't heard anything yet from the hospital. Been getting emails from the travel company that they keep pushing, but haven't heard back yet. Not sure if the hospital is waiting to see what their needs are next year.

Great idea! Thank you!

Hello! I'm talking with a recruiter and I'm thinking about taking an assignment in New Orleans. This will be my first travel assignment. I've Google New Orleans and Ochsner and can't find any current reviews. One traveler that I spoke to at work told me it's a "dirty" place to be. Hmmm... I'm 25 and pretty excited about this new chapter in my life. My question is, can any of you guys tell me your experience in New Orleans and Ochsner? Every and any response welcome! Also, has anyone worked for Blueforce healthcare staffing?

Confused, combative, and or non-compliant pts with over bearing family while being tripled. Anybody who rides their call light. I use to work in ICU. The above always seem to guarantee you a long, exhaustive night with little charting done timely. I didn't mind the pts on the vents, multiple gtts, etc at all.

I've never worked in peds, but I imagine that the parents are probably at bedside and concerned when their child could have something to eat or drink. Since the orders are written as NPO without any "advanced as tolerated" orders, I would of kept to the NPO status. I would, however, swab the inside of their mouth with those pink sponges to keep their mouth from feeling soo dry. Swabbing is okay when a pt is NPO until it can be addressed in the morning.

What I would of done is waited til lab drew the trough, especially since it was to be drawn at 1600. That way if they need to hold or adjust the dose, the ordering physician can be notified of the results as well unless there was a order written to hold within these parameters. In your case, I would of called the lab to see how soon someone could come as it was already 3 hours late. I hope the person that gave you report keep checking in with lab because it was to be drawn on their shift. I'm not sure what area you work, but I use to work in the ICU and lab always called to see if the pt a stick or line draw so I know when they are there. In my experience with vanco, I'm use to seeing orders to hold if greater than 20. I agree with those above, pharmacy shouldn't of sent that med especially since trough results were not in.

68-73°F with the humidity between 30-60% is standard. Depending on the individual case and hospital policy, those numbers will vary.