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

suzanne, you are so right. :wink2: the huge red flag on this issue is no signed contract. i was attempting to address the orginal post with a little feeling in it for what she went through. however, i was clear that we need to act professionally. i'm beginning to laugh....you and i are spending more time with this issue than the issuer. i have enjoyed reading your different posts to this issue as well as to other issues.

you may want to refer to the post that jennifer posted about wanting to be a nurse. i made quite a long reply about nursing. everyone in my family are educators. my father was a professor at a university for 45 years. my husband is a retired teacher. my hubby had his masters plus 60. his ending salary after 34 years was about mid fifties. i am the only one in my family with a degree in the health care area. pay depends on: 1. the hospital 2. the area of expertise 3. the area or where you live. nursing used to be about synonymous with teachers as far as pay. however, through the years, i have seen the nursing profession go leaps and bounds above our teachers. i live in utah where teachers are paid quite low. however, as i mentioned in my post to jennifer, my daughter made 50 grand her second year out of school. you will find a way to get accepted. you are smart. very smart. that is another good thing about nursing, is there are always options. i vote for you to go for it. you will have more options than the rest of us in the end. i have known some teachers that are nurses. they take a nine months contract and work at a hosptial prn. they may work a shift every other weekend. when school is out for the x-mas holidays, they may work one or two shifts. then when summer vacation comes, they work full time for two months or even three. although nurses are paid more in our area, as a whole, teachers get a better compensation package. they have more retirement benefits. you should consider that as well. is $41 an area good pay in miami? is it a job you like? what type of advancement. maybe take the job while you do pre-requisites in nursing. wow girl-friend....you have options galore! good luck. you rock! i am a former teacher of 5 years with masters in education and preparing to switch to the nursing career. with a m.a. my salary is in the $30s while in most other careers if you have an advanced degree you get paid much more. i am completing prerequisites and hoping to get into an accelerated option one-year program (for people who already hold a ba in another field) but my worry is that in big cities like miami, it is extremely competitive to get into! as i rack my brain studying for chemistry and anatomy and doing all these things to prepare for a career in nursing it is scary to know that i might not even get a chance. i don't know. can anybody advise on this? also, what is the general starting annual salary for an rn? i just got offered a position working as a humane education coordinator that pays $41 but i don't know if i want to get into another "job that i'll love but make little money." ughh!

dont let the curriculum in nursing intimidate you. some people i have known want to be a nurse, but they are so afraid of chemistry, physics, math and other science classes. let me ease your worries if this is a concern. once you get into your career, it will never be as gruesome as trying to ace a chemistry exam. sometimes you just have to suffer through something difficult to get what you want. i believe many great, compassionate and bright individuals could be part of our health care system. however, they let a few years of grim nursing school get in the way. if you want to do it, you can. if there is a will, there is a way. :balloons:

so you want to be a nurse. congratulations. don't think about it too much. begin applying for nursing schools. some are more difficult than others to get into. as you apply and wait, then you can get more and more information on what it is like to be a nurse. i laugh at why i became a nurse. my whole family was educators. i was the baby in the family. they all had phd's masters ect, taught college, were principles, you name it. i thought they were all so brilliant that i could never be able to educate myself to that level. i thought it was too difficult. so, silly my.... i knew i needed an education. i thought to myself, what would be the easiest way to get an education, just so i could feel par with my family all they way feeling it would have to be "an easy" major. i thought to myself....ok...nursing. for some reason, i equated nursing to a course in basket weaving 101. dah! long story short. i did nursing school. i have been a nicu nurse for 25 years. benefits of being a nurse are: flexibility variety always a job no other job can you work part time and make as much money (so if being a mom is in the forefront, you can always choose to just work a couple of shifts a week, be a good "stay at home mom" and also have a social life and make decent money. nursing can lead into business careers as well. you can work for companies in corporate american as a nurse consultant. you have the ability to make a difference. you have the ability to show and feel compassion you can always change your area of expertise in nursing. it can develop into multiple careers if you like. i give nursing a thumbs up. my daughter is now nicu nurse. she graduated two years ago. she loves it. it took her forever to get through college. i was adamant that she not be a nurse. so she kept beginning majors and then feeling trapped into the job market after graduation, working part time due to being a mom (which was something she desired) and making decent money. she swictch careers after three years of other majors and she hasn't regretted it one bit. she made 50 grand last year. that was her second year out of school. she probably worked about 10 extra shifts a year, but tell me where else can you do that so quickly working for someone else. disadvantages: certain nursing jobs you are committed to nights, holidays, weekends and everything inbetween. that would be hospital staff and such. if these issues really bother you, then you can choose something in nursing or within the field that isn't that way. some will argue pay. but it is all reletive. nurses work hard and are professionals. sometimes pay and benefits don't seem always to compensate for the pay. but that can be argued in any "service" type job.

i don't believe it is all such common knowledge to have it written in the agreement that you are responsible for apartment rent if you get fired. i have only seen two contracts that make reference to that. first of all, the circumstances of a nurse being fired have to be taken into consideration. some thing may happen that is really beyond the responsibility of the nurse. i questioned one company about that and they said that they consider it on an individual basis. that is why now; i make an addendum to the contract that if this happens, it be discussed and negotiated as to apartment fees and responsibility. i do this to protect me. i don't know what kind of fluke out there is going to happen. nothing is cut and dry, and i won't sign it. the incident that i spoke about in the earlier post, i didn't pay any apartment penalties. but that is another discussion in itself. :) i agree suzanne that it is important to act professionally about how you engage in conversation or net posts when talking about a hospital. if we want to be treated like professionals, we certainly need to act like professional. i am just grateful that i have had great experiences on the road.

i am beginning to feel somewhat like a seasoned traveler, however maybe it is cause of my age. lol. :chair: as i have worked with different travel companies, i am beginning to find that i don't want to sign some of the things that are in the traveler agreements and in the contract itself. i have found, that most companies are pretty open to making changes if you aren't comfortable with the conditions of the contracts and agreements. i would like to begin a thread of travel nurses input on contractual items that they don't want to sign. i will begin with one thing. this isn't in the actual contract, but it is pertaining to getting paperwork ready. i have found some companies want to check your consumer credit report. i feel strongly that is a very private matter. i have good credit, but i don't want everyone snooping into it and possibly lowering my scores by their inquires. i know have my own sheet i created giving permission to request information, back ground checks etc. on the things i believe are pertinent to my job i have had changed a number of things in agreements, contracts and paperwork. do any of you have contract and agreement issues?

thanks. always nice to get a pack on the pack. i was going to add one thing more. go to the site on allnurses where you can rate your agency and the facility. the more people who rate both will give all of us better statistics as to what companies to go with and which hospitals to interview with.. keep us posted. there are lots of things for all of us to learn from this scenerio. :balloons:

hi, i hope you can see how i responded to your post. i basically just responded to things as you wrote them. i'm hoping the color menu works, since i tried to color code your comments and my comments. :) i did not send in a signed contract because it was not correct and the recruiter said she would send a corrected one. in hindsight, that contract has to be signed. that is the only legal recourse you have if corporate lawyers get picky. i thought i had to start work because i had a verbal contract with travel com and with hospital. that demonstrates you have good integrity to show up based on a verbal contract. i wish we lived in the days where a handshake had meaning. :angryfire however, in a profession that is as regulated as nursing is, we all need to be very careful to protect ourselves. i would think that perhaps the hospital itself could potentially be exposed if they knew there was no signed, sealed and delivered contract. the contract with the travel agency states that certain things have to be done before a nurse is allowed to work. i asked for another recruiter because i felt she was less than honest but i never got one. demanding a new recruiter is a good thing was a good step and an act in faith that you could work through the problem, but it seems like the agency did not respond according to their promise. (most recruiter i would think would jump through hoops to save the relationship since that is how they make money themselves) i have evidence that the original contract was not correct in part because i have evidence they refunded me money. that would definately be something only a lawyer could help you with. the hospital eventually terminated me because of issues i brought up on an internal web site about improper staffing ratios , meal periods and rest break issues. how did they find out that you turned to the net? this is a little bit advice that i could give you. the advice might be up in the night. but hear i go. as a traveler and as a perdium agency nurse for years, i feel that when i enter a facility i am like a guest. i feel that my behavior should reflect that. of course if a feel a real concern about a staffing issue, safety or whatever, my best bet is to work with the facility first. they are right there and can see the circumstance first hand. but, being a free agent like we are, we need to remember that flexibility is an absolute key. probably all of us in our nursing career has had some type of assignment where we feel we got the shaft or something is unsafe. my first recourse if i really felt my assignment was unsafe would be to talk to the nurse in charge. many times that can solve a lot. they may be able to rearrange assignments, or they may give you access to a nurse that has lighter assignments. many times that is a problem that can be solved without going any further. as far as lunch breaks, i have learned that over time, i will get my adequate lunch. sure there are times when i have been without a lunch. and even then, some of those times, if i would have requested extra help, most likely i would have been able to get my break in. nurses by nature are flexible and it is amazing what good tact, willingness to solve the problem will do. if some of those issues can't be fixed, then of course you have to move on because you can't day after day compromise your standards of care. it is best to not dog on the facility until the issues are solved or not solved. then, if there is concern that would help others nurses out there decide whether or not it is a place they should want to go, you can make some valid statements as to your concerns for the facility. i think first, it is important to see what we can solve on our own. remember, our recruiters aren't nurses. however, they are supposed to be there to guide us to who the "nursing" resource should be.the travel company tried to rush me into another assignment with the offer "i will try to get them to waive housing charges" when i explained i did not trust them to support me in the future. i actually have questions myself with issues to housing charges. when a company hires you out to a hospital, it is always a risk, but i feel they should assume that risk. the fact that they gave you housing on an unsigned contract is a confusing issued. i see pro's and con's to both.[had promised a clinician would be able to help me 24x7 yet the night of the shift when i neededthe travel company to help me as i was given an unsafe patient assignment over staffing ratios no one got back to me as they had a new answering service. when i have yucky situations like that, i try to say to myself, how could i have done this different. i was terminated at the end of that shift. by the way, i do have feeling for you on this issue because i was fired on day two of an assignment. it was different issues though. i can share that with you another time if you think it would help. i was owed wages for missed california rest periods and penalties for delayed meal breaks. they want me to pay housing charges and have threatened me with collections so i have started paying. i felt they should waive the housing charges because they were not avail as they promised and they gave me incorrect info for weeks when i asked how to put down missed rest breaks you didn't sign a contract stating that you would pick up the pieced of an apartment if you were fired. some of the newer contracts have that on them. before signing something like that in the future, take another look. of coure, you didn't have a contract. the kind of lawyer i believe you need is a corporate lawyer. you can get references in the area where you live. this must have been such a frustrating experience. most of all, quickly find out if there is anything legally you can do. if you can't, just write it off on income taxes as a bad business deal and move on as fast as you can. when you become settled in another assignment you will forget and that bitter taste will leave. since my bad experience, i have had wonderful assignments and have developed wonderful relationships with many nurses. every facility i have worked with, i have done many outside activities with staff nurses and we still keep in touch. there is hope at the end of the rainbow. i always ask on the interview, is your staff traveler friendly? if they say no, or hum ha around....you can ask if travelers get fair assignments,...are they first to float.....do nurses repeat their assignment with them.... things like that. maybe all i have said here won't help at all, but. i do feel your frustration. i've been there. to sum it all up.....crappy things happen. you may have legal recourse. you need to figure out whether it is personally cost effect to hire a lawyer, or to hurry and move on. it has been a couple of years and i'm still fighting with a travel company for pay. but, i am also realistic that my emotional time is worth something. good luck, keep me posted and i'm willing to share my haunting story with you if you like.

:imbar wow, i live in salt lake city and i didn't know. i have heard of comphealth. in fact, i think they contacted me. it will be interesting to see what develops. i'm almost ready to leave slc for an assignment at cedar sanai ucla in beverly hills. but i will definately track what is in my own back yard. thanks for the heads up. :balloons:

faststaff is the company for those who want to pound out the hours and make a lot of money. some nurses i know, like to work their little behinds off, then take it easy for a month. some do 13 weeks on and then 13 weeks off. fast staff is also the agency for nursing strikes. they are probably the number one company in the industry that deals with that. also, they deal with shorter term needs. you can sometimes find four week assignments. hence the name.... f a s t staff.