jillhall

has anyone worked in st. croix, virgin islands? i just accepted a position there. i am a nicu nurse.

bad deals come in many ways. first of all the pay rate is important. for specialty areas, i thinking the lowest pay rate i have seen is about $26. however, i would not accept that low of pay unless i decide that i want to go to a particular place for the fun of the particular area and my ability to go there is based on finding a job. another words, i would take the low rate for a "working vacation". i prefer a company that breaks down the pay so that the government only see's a portion of what i get paid. it saves me tax work at the end of the year. some companies do that and other companies don't. the conditions of your work assignment are important. for example, my current assignment is the first assignment that i have not been happy. in fact, the assigment was grossly misrepresented. :angryfire i'm struggling right now to decide what to do. i am two months into the assingment and it is a 17 week assignment. i accepted lower pay for this assignment because it sounded so wonderful. we can't really control what we don't know and some things we just don't know until we arrive on site. but, the contract is something that we should look at and never sign until we know for sure everything is in place. i think it is important to sort of journal the steps you take in making the contract. if someone is giving you different quotes, that is not acceptable in the industry. there are a lot of travel positions out there and many many companies. there are so many companies and choices that it can make us a little leary of which ones are good. but on the flip side of the coin, it gives us lots of choices. if you are interested in an assingment but you aren't in love with the agency, you can always just call angencies and see if they contract with the particular hospital you are looking at. good luck

jax, sounds like a good fit for you. i sometimes used to complain about "having to go to work". my son looked at me and said, "why mom, how many people get to go to work and chill with the babies". "you should feel lucky". ever since then, when i get tired or get picky about things, or feel like it is a grind, i put a smile on my face and remember what my son said to me. it always makes me chuckle and feel grateful i am a nicu nurse. i usually work level 3, but sometimes, it can be relaxing to just go care for those little grower feeders and hold them and help parents learn to take care of them.

:heartbeat has anyone heard of needs for a nicu nurse when it comes to medical missions?

i know suzanne. i just don't know what constitutes a good plan. thanks for the response. you are so great to respond!

i begin a new travel assignment the middle of next month. this will be the first time that i am taking insurance. i don't know much about what is in a good policy. i have had the same health insurance for the past 18 years, so i have taken it for granted. however, the insurance policy doesn't have out of pocket coverage. my assignments have been a quick communter flight to home, so i know if it is any big deal, i could come home. any snags out there with insurance with travel companies? anything to look for or ask? i would love some input! :heartbeat

i haven't seen any hospital policies for this issue. i can only share with you what i have done. i have been in this circumstace three or four times. the first time it happened i was a fairly new nurse, and so i remember this incident the most. i took the infant and wrapped it in blankets. i put a little hat on the head, and sat in a rocking chair and rocked the baby until he/she passed on. actually, those moments are quite memorable for me. very soreal.

lol... i am responding to a post that was sort of midway in this discussion. an engineer posted about how people assume her to be male. she said, "sorry for butting in". i responded to her post cause i live in utah too, and her comment reminded me of my daughter in law. i will apologize too.......i replied to sort of a lost link? does that make senes? i think i need to go to bed too. :lol_hitti :selfbonk:

lol... i am responding to a post that was sort of midway in this discussion. an engineer posted about how people assume her to be male. she said, "sorry for butting in". i responded to her post cause i live in utah too, and her comment reminded me of my daughter in law. i will apologize too.......i replied to sort of a lost link? does that make senes? i think i need to go to bed too. :lol_hitti :selfbonk:

i am a nicu nurse of over 20 years. i went straight from nursing school to nicu. lol, my duaghter did the same thing. she has been doing nicu for two years and cannot imagine doing any other type of hospital type nursing. it has been good to both of us.

lol.....its fine to butt in. i live in salt lake city. my duaghter in law is a computer engineer. what she hates is getting together with her "peers' (male, white, caucasain, middle age) and when she talks, they don't look at her face......their gaze seems to be between the floor and the top of her head. if you get my drift. :angryfire jill

jennie, you are sooooo welcome. please make a post and let us all know what you are doing and how you are going about it. it may just help someone else in your situation. good luck. hugs

wow, $55,000 dollars in nyc doesn't sound like much. it is so expensive to live there. i live in utah and pay rates aren't very high, but not as low as $25,000 to begin as a new grad. my daughter is 2 years post new grad and makes over $50,000. since i do travel, i'm not sure what i'm worth as an oldie here in utah. :melody:

jennie....i think it is great that you want to be a hospice nurse as well.

i am happy to help. i think it is interesting to get isnights from others. salary versus what one love's can be tough. my husband, as i told you, taught 4th grade. he loved it! he was lucky. most males don't last in elementry education due to the pay. however, for him being content was fisrt in line. of course, there are other things you give up. my mainstay in nursing is newborn intensive care. that would be my speciality. i worked for procter and gamble for five years as a nurse consultant. it was more of a "corporate american" type job. i loved it. i owned a nursing agency. i liked some of it. however, i dropped it to do travel nursing, which i do now. i am at an age where it works perfect for me. when and if i get grand kids, i may feel more settled. i always go back to my babies. i love the babies i take care of in the nicu. it by itself has been quite rewarding. i have complained a lot during the years about nursing. but, when i look back on my life, being a nurse has really been pretty good to me. oh, and i understand about concentrating on one effort. i'm past the time in my life where i can have too many things going on at once. sometimes i wish i could quit work and go back to school. i'm thinking that is the only way i would or could do it. i love business. perhaps if i were to do it again, i would go into business. but on the flip side, a business degree doesn't make you an expert on owning a business. generally owning a business comes with having a skill, or having knowledge of a particular industry. if money is the real issue, i think nurse anethestist are one of the highest paying jobs. so, if you really like that sort of thing, it may be perfect. education and nursing and business is a great threesome. maybe we should go into busines. lol...... tell me how the interview goes. :) :) if you need any interview tips, i have all kinds of information from corporate america on the interviewing process. :flowersfo