Burphel

File a security incident report and police report when it goes missing. Theft is theft. It'll take a complete paradigm change for docs to stop thinking of stethoscopes as "community property" like pens and hemostats. I have a Thinklabs electronic stethoscope. I'm a traveler and it's without a doubt the most expensive one in any hospital I go to. And worth it, IMO. If I'm not in the same room as it, it's locked up. As a bonus, it rides in my pocket instead of around my neck. You can damn well bet I'd be making a ruckus if it ever disappeared.

Right there. If you enjoy ICU nursing, start shopping around for a job at a different hospital. If that's how your unit operates it may be the biggest, but it ain't the best, nor should it *ever* be a magnet hospital. From the sound of things, if you stick around you're going to wind up burning out or eventually having a safety issue. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere you'll be happy before that happens.

So, I'm on my second assignment with CCTC and so far, I've just taken the contracts as offerred without shopping around. Ok, I've probably been leaving money on the table, but I've felt good with my recruiter and there's something to be said for already having paperwork on file. But now that I've been on the road a bit, I'm looking to try shopping around. In particular, I'd like to find a smaller agency that mainly works out of the NW (WA/OR/ID). I live in eastern WA, so it's what I'm familiar with anyway, and I'm under the impression from other travellers that it's generally above average when it comes to workload and pay anyhow. Unfortunately, Google isn't very helpful as every national agency has the name of every state in their webpages. The only one I've found so far that seems even remotely regional is Meridian Medical Staffing out of Colorado. I haven't heard of them before, but they're "partnered" with MSN, which I've heard nothing good about. Anybody have an agency and/or recruiter that they can recommend?

Are you using Phillips monitors with telemetry, perchance? I've worked at two different hospitals with this setup, and Philips tele packs just plain suck at picking up pacer activity. Before I started traveling, my old hospital switched to Phillips and we tried almost every lead configuration possible with no luck. They do a pretty decent job if you hard-wire the patient. So if you are concerned about sensing/capture, or think they've dislodged a pacer lead, just hard wire 'em and be done with it. If it's not really a concern, just look for a bundle branch block that stays right at 60 or 70.

I've been using Healthgrades > Find a Doctor | Doctor Reviews | Hospital Ratings when I'm researching assignments. Most places have mixed reviews, but it could help you identify a really lousy place to work.

I just started traveling about a year ago and have only been around the NW so far. 1-I love exploring during my time off. Just getting on my motorcycle or hopping a bus/train and wandering around/getting lost (use my phone GPS to get back to the apartment). 2-The night before my first shift. Still feel nervous. My current assignment allows for floating between group hospitals - which kind of sucks because I only got orientation at the one I was hired for. Getting dropped into a teaching hospital ICU where you don't know the people, the layout, phone numbers, or door codes and taking 2 busy patients made for a very long 12 hours. 3-I've only worked with Cross Country thus far. I really should shop around. But I've been happy with pay/lodging/service thus far. 4-For your first gig, I'd let the agency take care of housing. I looked into doing it myself with my current assignment, but finding a place that'll let you do a short lease, then handling the deposits/utilities/etc over the internet/phone adds a lot of hassle. Stick with doing the job the first time around and if you feel like you weren't stressed out enough in the first week and need even more money, arrange it yourself next time. I'm told there's a lot of money to be made if you are willing to find a cheap place and/or a roommate. But I'm getting spoiled staying alone in nice, big apartments. 5-I've met a few individual nurses who were skeptical of me initially, but none who weren't friendly. The skeptics usually turn around after they see you get a busy assignment and manage to plow through it. Some people will give you the benefit of the doubt, others you just have to earn their respect. 6-I'm not the best person to answer that. I'm not entirely sure I couldn't be doing better myself. That said, I'm taking home a *lot* more than what I did at my old job and overall have a lot less stress. On a side note, every traveller I've spoken to has said that the southeast is absolutely the worst place to work, both in terms of work environment and pay. If what I'm hearing is true, you're in for a breath of fresh (albeit slightly thin and pot-scented) air in Colorado.

Introduce yourself to everyone you see. Ask lots of questions, especially the first day. Always know where the bathroom, med room, and crash cart are. Find out how you know who's on call and how to contact them. Find out how much autonomy they expect/allow (I like to ask my orientation buddy what they do when a pt complains of chest pain - I've had everything from getting an EKG/Troponin and trying SL nitro before calling the doc to calling right away). Secretaries usually have an abbreviated phone list with who they call the most. Get a copy, take it home, and make your own list, shrink it down and put it on a card that'll fit in one of your scrub pockets or behind your badge. On the other side of the card, put all the door codes/passwords you need in random order. For important ones like your EMR password, make up one or two dummies that have the same format and include them on the card. Technically, you shouldn't write that stuff down, but when somebody looks at a sheet with 20 different passwords in random order with no login, they're not gonna know which is which. If it's good enough for nuclear launch codes... Just be sure to hide it in your skivvies if Joint Commission comes around.

Hehe. I do critical care and I saw this thread title on the front page sidebar (missing the context). Completely different response to those words when I'm on the job. Every time, it'll get a silent "Oh, s**t." and an anxious glance at their face and the monitor. :)

I started out as a CNA/Secretary in my hospital's ICU/PCU, then went to school for my RN. First off, having done the job was a *huge* advantage in school. Everyone learns differently, but being immersed in the environment will help anyone by bringing perspective to what you're reading/hearing in school. You'll also have access to some very smart people - ask questions whenever there's time for it. And, as several have mentioned, it'll give you a leg up on others if you want to work there as a nurse. The big thing is to keep your ego in check. I admit I had a hard time with this during my last year in school, and have seen it since from several others. Being "almost a nurse," and being able to do things in clinical makes it very easy/tempting to blow off parts of your job as an aide/tech. Keep your eyes and ears open, and ask questions when there's time, but don't forget that you're there to do a job.