I<3Endo

I did Lahey Medical Center in Boston & St. Vincent's in Bridgeport, Connecticut. They were both great! Bridgeport was right by the train station so I could be in Grand Central Station in NYC in 40 min. And Lahey was only 20 min from the city (Boston). Staff was super nice both places. Working in Boston was also fun because you could go to like, 4 different states & back in a day. I think that's all I've done in New England but I hope it's helpful. Have a great assignment wherever you end up going! Amy

Depends on where the looping is. If I can feel/see the loop forming I apply pressure there. If I can’t, my go-to areas are the sigmoid & across the transverse. In thin women with multiple abd surgeries/scars I find suprapububic often works. In obese pts, straight in at the umbilical area. Avoid the top left as you can cause splenic trauma. I also don’t have much luck with right sided pressure as it often prevents the scope from moving forward or just straight up causes it to fly backward. Good luck! Sometimes nothing seems to work. ?

We use to add it to our irrigation bottles but it’s been advised we no longer do that. So now we just draw it up in a syringe & flush on demand. We don’t really have a specific concentration ratio, I just add a dropper full to an 8 oz cup of water, mix it up & the. Draw out a 60 ml syringe of it. ?‍♀️

I really like UW Hospital Northwest. I actually enjoyed it so much I went back a year or so later & did another assignment there. The first time I lived in Maplewood & the second time in Northgate. Both were only 10 min from the hospital, inexpensive (AirBnbs) & convenient to bus stops & coffee shops. Seattle is a lot of fun, definitely one of my top 10 cities! Amy

I use the PIACET app. It’s great! Keeps track of CEU’s, licenses, certs & misc. docs (like flu shot, TB testing, etc.). The app also gives you notice when something’s expiring. You can download pics & email from it as well. Super handy (and free!). Amy

My NY license by endorsement took about 4 wks. Are you saying you applied back in March? You completed & sent in your mandatory child abuse & infection control class certs along with all the other endorsement paperwork & requirements? If so, I would reach out to the NYS Office of the Professions to see what the hold up is (you can find all their contact info on their website). I would do that soon as I know some states only hold your application for a certain amt. of time. If you do a search on this site you may find the answers to your other questions. I also like TravelTax.com, PanTravelers.org and BluePipes for travel nurse/agency info. There’s lots of traveler Facebook groups too (if you can stand all the bickering!). Amy ?

I drive to all my assignments. I love road trips! I use the RoadTrippers app & find all the cool stuff to see on the way. You can enter in things like “off the beaten path, odd, abandoned, historical” etc. etc. On one of my CA assignments I came home across the country following Route 66. Best road trip EVER! Plus it’s convenient to have your car handy if you want to go exploring on weekends & evenings off. And like someone said, you can still take public transport, even if you have your car. I did that in Seattle, Boston & NYC when I wanted to hang out in the cities (parking was a nightmare!). There’s bus/subway/train apps that walk you through every stop. Seattle had really decent Uber fares as well. Good luck! I hope you have a fun assignment. ?

I understand the orientation days are usually non-negotiable but I've never heard the part about the agency/hospital contracts being completely separate.... I understand that there is a nurse-agency contract and that there is an agency-hospital contract. I get that. But your explanation stated (if I'm reading it right), that an agency can agree to the Tuesdays off (for example), the nurse signs in good faith, but that the hospital by no means has to agree to that when the nurse arrives to work? Because the actual "hospital contract" can be totally different? That's pretty scary. I'm a fairly new traveler but I've never run into anything like this! Again, I'm not referring to orientation week. I know that's always a whole different animal.

There are a couple Facebook sites devoted to RV travel nursing. I don't think it would ever work for me. I'm scared of driving/parking one of those things. Plus I tend to gravitate towards big cities. But I still love reading the posts on those sites! Recently someone had posted that they fired up their generator after work to use the microwave & woke up the next morning to nasty post-its stuck all over their windshield! They seem to all have a lot of fun too, though. So yeah, maybe check out those sites if you're still looking for info for your project! :)

I agree w/the above post. Only in a few circumstances have I had to give more than the 1 mg. In those situations they were pretty bad bleeds & we were moving fast. During intervals in injecting I went ahead & just swapped out syringes when it was nearing the last couple cc's. When I was done I just added the total given of the 2 & documented it.

Yeah....good idea. I should have told the first agency that since I hadn't heard back I had moved on.

So...weird scenario last week. I work w/several agencies & am in the process of looking at options for assignment #5. I was using two agencies (A & B) for this posting. This is what happened: Agency A: does not have the posting yet but states they work closely w/that hospital so will have the acct. manager contact them & get details. I ask for their best package & never hear back. Agency B: puts together a nice package that I like. I wait a couple days, never hear from Agency A so have B submit me. Several days later: Agency A emails me stating that the hospital is contacting them asking if I'm still interested. This is the first time I hear that A was still even working on this. I let them know I've already been submitted through another agency at that point. I email B & let them know that the hospital is reaching out to another agency about me so maybe they should touch base as I never was contacted for an interview. SO! B gets all in a twist & wants to know ALL the details about A & says they are going to "take care of this problem" and blah blah. I was really reluctant to give them the info but I finally did as they were so adamant. Holy Smokes! At that point I'm annoyed with both of them and wondering if I did something wrong. Did I? I mean, I didn't double submit, all I asked for was two pay packages to compare! Thanks!!

You're correct! I've been surprised to learn in the past year how scarce endo travelers are. I guess we tend to stay put. :) I don't know how pay compares to some of the really hot specialties but I've always brought home at least $1800/wk after taxes. $2100-$2400 out here in NoCal. Works for me as I've been hitting the jackpot for affordable housing. It also helps that I'm not really picky where I go. As long as I'm licensed there & I click with that recruiter/company/facility I'm pretty easy. Thanks for all the advice! I check in here frequently. Amy

Cool! Thanks. :)

I just realized today that I've now been traveling over a year! It's been great. No glitches (knock on wood). I've been to CO, KY, WA & CA so far. I just extended at assignment No. 4. I haven't been extending because I want to see as much as possible. But this hospital is giving me a month off & a bunch of other perks to stay so it was too tempting to pass up. Plus, I want to see more of this area (Sacramento, San Fran). It's really fun here. :) Hope everyone's doing well at their current assignments & having as much fun traveling & learning as I am! Amy :) P.S. I wonder if I can call my extension assignment #5?....it sounds more impressive. LOL.

Have any travelers out there pursued higher degrees while traveling? I'm 92% through my BSN program & it's getting REALLY challenging! And coming up is the 16 wk/60 hr. community assessment field project. Somehow I have to figure out a way to time the start and stop of the class with my next assignment AND get the hours in on top of my work hours. YAY! I refuse to give up, I'm almost there. I was just hoping someone out there had been through this & could offer words of advice. Or just encouragement (besides quit traveling & stay at home. I love traveling. Thanks! Amy :)

My LA license took about a month. You won't get anything in the mail, you have to just keep checking the website. Also, if it goes through even one day before the end of the year you need to renew it in January. :)

It took about 3 mos. for mine. AND I had to take micro & po com (they weren't part of my original nursing program 26 yrs ago!) prior to application approval. You can sign up @ https://www.breeze.ca.gov/datamart/loginCADCA.do;jsessionid=88CFDE6BC95C060D5AE535A83A702269.vo2, that's the website for CA's BON. Check it from time to time for the status of your license. I saw it on there before it actually arrived in the mail. :)

I'm sure someone with more travel experience than me will want to weigh in. But I know housing in CA can be crazy expensive. So maybe worry about if this assignment is a good fit for you? No stress w/housing since agency is providing & you can get that first assignment under your belt! Look for something higher paying next time & find your own housing (that seems to be the best way to save $$$). Good luck! :)

I ended up getting an excellent answer from Joseph Smith on Travel Tax. Thank you though! My question was never pertaining to NOT paying my taxes, it was how to pay them year round so I could avoid a lump sum come April. He explained how to make estimated payments ahead of time & some other stuff without making me feel like an idiot. Lol. I highly recommend his website (traveltax.com) for newbies like myself. Thanks again! í ½í¸Š

I was just wondering how to make installment payments vs. one lump sum each year. I guess I didn't word it properly. I have plenty of savings. Thank you.

I was wondering how everyone goes about paying their home state taxes. I really don't want to pay them all at once come April. Is there a way to pay in installments? Another traveler I work with says her agency takes out both this state's (KY) & her home state's taxes out of her paychecks. But when I asked my agency if they could do this they acted like I was speaking Russian. Thanks! Amy :)

We had one pregnant nurse at the most recent hospital I worked at in endo. She actually did not do any procedures (bronchs, EUS, ERCP) that were using fluoro. Even wearing lead, the hospital felt it was a risk. So maybe check & see what the policy is? Hopefully they'll accommodate your pregnancy if you choose to coincide it with this career change. Good luck!

Maybe! I did go over there & help quite a bit. I was more of a glorified gopher....filled ice packs, chin lifts, transporting, etc. But a little exposure. Lots going on that I would love to learn! Oh...and I did learn to make sure to deflate the art line pressure bag BEFORE pulling out the old tubing. Everyone still loved me even after I sprayed them all with LR. [emoji15]