RV's anyone???

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Mar 21, 2011

Rod,
Thanks for all the advice on rv living as well as tax preparations! My question to you is what is the prevalence of tank-less water heaters in an rv? Also, have you found that companies are willing to pay mileage for the rv to a new assignment or is that pretty much at your own expense? Thanks again!

You are welcome.

I treat my water heater like a tank-less. I turn it on in the morning before my shower and turn it off when done. Water will remain hot till evening for most of the things I do as a single male. During the summer when my 14 year old is with me it's a different story. She has to keep the fire going through out her shower and then some. Mine is strictly a gas fired model. I used one with the combination electric gas on my first trip liked it a bit better. I have heard of some tank-less systems but haven't had any personal experience with one in an RV. A friend had one for his home but has gone back to the tank system since.

As far as travel money. I have said it to every new recruiter I have accepted an assignment with. How has the money offered for travel not changed in the 20 PLUS years I have in travel nursing. $300 each way with a max of $600 (if you travel far enough)? Have heard of people getting "actual expenses" but have not personally. The agencies get a certain amount of money from the hospital to provide them with a nurse. The nurse accepts a wage and benefit package for an assignment. What ever is left over goes to the company to pay it's overhead and generate a profit. Eliminate as many middle costs as you can to get as close to what the company tells the hospital you are worth and you will do fine.

Rod

ask as many questions as you like, but rememember I am not an expert in anything and am not a paid professional in anything other than the nursing position at the hospital I where I currently work.

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Mar 21, 2011

Well because of the environment in the mountains and the travel distance to the closest park to the hospital. I am going to get an apartment in Vail. Im going to do a one year staff contract and go from there. Ill be starting mid july if all goes as planned.

Argo,

Sorry the RV didn't work out for you in the mountains. Was really looking forward to reading about your adventures with snow and cold. I know some other people who have done it but I can't with my current rig. Maybe someday. Hope your year goes by quickly and you have lots of fun in the mountains. They are my favorite summer time destination.

Rod

RN Zeke · Mar 22, 2011

Ok I have a question for you, how old are you if you dont mind me asken. I am looking into travle nursing but I've got one hugh problem. What about seeing your family doctor? I have to take a handful of meds two of which are schedule two drugs which technicaly I ve got to have a script for every month. Lets assume that my MD will write me three seperate scripts for my meds but my health insurance states that I can only go to pharmacy A B and C and where I am located there is not pharmacy A B or C anywhere. What the heck do you do in these two different situations? What if I cant get my MD two write me three months worth of scripts. What do I do then?

These are questions only your DR can answer, YOU as a NURSE should know this!!! Are you physically and mentally ready for the challenge of traveling? Sure it is great fun, but Nurses must be ready to learn how it is done in ROME, not how they did it for 25 years else where because no one cares. We must have our eyes and ears wide open and our MOUTH shut most of the time! My 2 pennies worth.

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Jun 4, 2011

Two more hours of being on call my last shift. Getting ready for the 1700 mile trip from South Florida to the Midwest. Working in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the summer. Have had some work done on the truck and hopefully over the summer everything will be completed and I can stop spending money and start saving again. Will post some photos or a Picasa link below. Which ever works out.

Rod

https://picasaweb.google.com/101351212510298499646/20110508MovingDay?authkey=Gv1sRgCOrWsOjfwseh1gE&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/101351212510298499646/TruckBoxAndFrameExtension?authkey=Gv1sRgCKzj0P_uitGWCQ&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/101351212510298499646/HDTRally?authkey=Gv1sRgCLPfrYezloCAiwE&feat=directlink

Looks like Picasa won out. Enjoy the photos.

james3RN · Jun 4, 2011

hello rod. i'm jim, an rn in michigan. i first read about your travels in an rv ~ 1 year ago and ever since then i've been working hard toward that same goal. i recently sold my condo (closed on 5/31) and i moved into a small apartment that will serve as my "base camp" until i can depart on my adventure. i've been to several rv shows and i've decided to buy a ford f-350 dually with a pickup camper on back, plus pull a 33' travel trailer (rockwood).

after years of working in adult icu and nicu, i've worked for the last 10 years for law firms (as a legal nurse consultant) and for insurance companies as a medical case manager in workers' comp and no fault auto.

once i decided to become a full-time travel nurse, i started the long process of getting rid of my condo plus all of my unnecessary worldly possessions. finally, i'm happy to say, that ordeal is over. now i'm free to concentrate 100% on becoming a travel nurse. i recently completed an rn refresher course and i'm currently going through the thousands of pages of notes and reading materials from that class. my plan is to get a job in the emergency dept. and start building up my experience. i figure i'll need at least a year of recent experience before i can even start looking for travel assignments. in the meantime, i've got lots of things to do, such as buy and outfit my rig, decide on what state i'll get domicile in, hire a tax accountant, etc. according to my research, the irs will consider me to be an itinerant/transient for tax purposes, and i won't be eligible for any tax-free stipends or per-diems. i'm considering joining the escapees club and getting my domicile in texas.

rod, i'm having a very hard time finding any blogs or sites where travel nurses are talking. in fact, you're the only travel nurse that i could find that is currently traveling in an rv. i'd greatly appreciate any advice/leads/suggestions/direction etc. that you could give me so that i don't make any stupid mistakes along the way.

thanks, jim

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Jun 4, 2011

May all your plans work out the way you expect Jim.

I have to ask why two RV's? Have you checked in the carrying capacity for the F350? Putting a slide in camper may decrease your pulling capabilities. I thought when I purchased my Diesel Ford F350 that I could pull anything. We used to pull a 40 foot gooseneck trailer full of hogs to market all the time with a Half Ton Chevy. Of course that was before I was old enough to drive and we went maybe 20 miles tops and I guess I didn't wonder to much that we tended to take the gravel roads to market and the "highway" home. Dad had his secrets I guess.

So on my first trip with the Ford and my brothers Toyhauler I made it to Florida fine. No major problems. Transmission temps seemed to go up a lot once into the state of Florida. I had to turn on the A/C also. Didn't think much of it until heading down what I though would be the best route to my RV park. NOT. If you can avoid stop and Go traffic, Do it. Don't set yourself up for hitting all the stop lights over a 30 mile trip. Got within a mile of my destination when the transmission gave out on the Ford. The motor is fine but the transmission (automatics) on the Ford are a weak link. I had read that but thought "I've never had any trouble with transmissions in my 30 years of driving. Must be how those other people drive." Lesson learned.

As you can see by my latest photos, I have bypassed all the other "pickup" trucks and went big. I cannot be more happy. It is a bit more work getting everything set up. Even with one that was already "setup and used" to pull an RV already. There may be a few turnkey things for sale at times but you have to be in the right place at the right time. Check into the Escapees forums and read the HDT information before you spend $30 to $50,000 on a F350 or $90 to $100,000 on a Medium Duty Sport Chassis.

I'm getting ready to head North to the Midwest. Plan to depart Monday and start in Cedar Rapids Iowa the following Monday. Review the posts, check out RVnetwork.com and ask all the questions you may have. I don't mind telling you what I know or have experienced as long as you understand I am not a professional in anything other than Nursing.

Rod

james3RN · Jun 5, 2011

The reason I added the Truck Camper was because the 33' Travel Trailer will not be able to be parked in remote areas that I want to visit (such as Jenny Lake in the Tetons). I plan on parking the Trailer in RV parks, then I can drive the truck into remote areas to do some hiking, fishing, mountain bike riding, etc. With the Truck Camper on back, I'll still have all of the comforts of home with me. I'm only getting a TC that fits the bed of the truck with no hangover. When I ran the numbers, towing capacity was never a problem, but I ran out of payload with the single rear wheels. That's why I upgraded to the dually, which can easily carry the 2200 pound truck camper.

Your rig looks VERY impressive! Do you travel full time? Do you belong to Escappees? Did you choose Texas for your Domicile? Thanks, Jim

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Jun 5, 2011

Thank you , yes, yes and no. I maintain a residence in Iowa but will work there as a travel nurse for the first time this year. I spent two summers ago there working perdiem for a hospital I where I worked while getting my RN. Had been a Paramedic with the Hospital Based Ambulance service before going to Nursing school. I have ties to Iowa and with my Iowa Nursing license I am able to work in 20+ states without an additional license. I currently hold an Iowa and Florida license. Worked in Arizona, Utah and Colorado on the Iowa license. Sure cuts down on the licensing fees. Texas is also a Compact State but I don't know if they will accept "Domicile" at the nursing board. If they do I might do South Dakota some day. Would love to spend a summer around the Black Hills.

Now back to the Dually. Don't want to discourage you but look closely at everything before buying one. Are you going with New or Used? Are you getting a Crew Cab or regular. Stay away from an Extended cab if possible especially the newer ones with the doors. Had two and couldn't get the wind noise to stop, having nothing between the doors makes it easy to load but not really rigid enough to keep the doors shut in the wind let alone an accident. I am planning to use my rig for the same thing as you plan to. It has a fridge, double bunks, Booth table, inverter and hopefully one day a heating and A/C system to keep the temperature where I want it. Mine is a little big for some of the roads maybe but I wanted a longer wheel base. Some have shortened their trucks and they will turn circles inside the turning radius of a full size crew cab dually. Just check out your options before spending lots of money on a new truck.

Why have you chosen to go to ER? I loved it earlier in my career but will only do it if I have to now. If you had ICU experience why not go back, maybe PACU or the OR. I am stuck on the one patient at a time. Not having to worry about the two sick people you have at the same time or more. Really rough if you are doing triage.

Again, you have to do what you want. I just wish I would have come across the HDT page in my early planning. Luckily, my younger brother had a "Toyhauler" I was able to rent for a winter to see if I could survive living in before I dropped the money on my toyhauler. He was pulling his with an F-250 4x4 and felt it was fine. Of course he was going to the lake and back and not across country or into the cities. I've been in my 5th wheel for almost three years now. It's been great, no major problems and in addition to the things I determined as "Must Haves" from my winter in the brothers rig, I have developed a list for the next and hopefully final trailer. I will continue to travel until I am no longer able to work of afford it.

Rod

james3RN · Jun 5, 2011

are you getting a crew cab or regular.

i’m probably going to get the crew cab, definitely not the extended. i’m probably going to buy new because i get the employee discount (a friend works at ford), the warranty and 0% financing.

why have you chosen to go to er?

after doing my research, er was the only department left on the table. about 15 years ago i worked for agencies in the metro-detroit area for ~ 5 years, where i mostly worked in nicu and icu. as i went from hospital to hospital, i always noticed that the only department that was consistently well run was the or. when i first got the travel nurse idea, my first choice was or because there is a lot of demand, plus it’s probably the most “civilized” place to work as you move from hospital to hospital. however, getting a hospital to train me is very difficult, and they all wanted me to sign a contract stating that i’d work there for 1-2 years after the training was done. my plan is to work in er plus get some extra hours in icu. i read about one travel nurse that only worked in icu and only in california because of their nurse to patient ratio system. believe me, i have no illusions that moving around the country working in er is going to be easy. however, i am hoping to stay away from “big city er’s” and stick to mostly rural areas. how does that sound?

do you have health insurance as you travel?

has it been a problem finding rv parks close to the hospitals that you want to work at?

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Jun 5, 2011

ER's in the smaller areas can be more stressful than in the big city. No trauma center, no peds hospital , you see it all. Don't really miss the ER. Glad I was able to get into the OR and now have the experience to go almost anywhere. Don't do a lot of head neuro, but that's ok.

When I was young I took the "Short Term policies" for a while and then just went without. Now that I'm older I picked up a Blue Cross Policy that I hope not to ever need to use. Should go in for the Preventative stuff but don't. Try to eat right, no bad habits and exercise as much as I can. So far I haven't had much trouble with RV parks. Denver was a bit of a challenge, but the spot I found worked out very well. Would go back again in a minute. South Florida is also a bit of a challenge. I have stayed at the same park for 3 years now but my time here is longer than they allow (it's a county park) Stay is a maximum of 180 days out of the year. Had to move last month for the final month of my contract. I usually arrive in November or January and then have been staying till June. This is the first time I had to move out of the park though. I think I have a decent place picked out in Iowa but will know more when I see it. State and County parks usually have some rules about extended stays. Would be nice if the hospitals would put in a couple RV sites on their property. Some out west have some. Electric only no sewer. Well best get back to work.

Rod

RN Zeke · Jun 13, 2011

My 33 ft bounder sits idle as I choose to take the company housing. Gas is a killer, there is no way I can travel 2800 miles for the $300.00 CCTC pays or the other companies. I have bought and sold cars to drive at hospital location, using my bicycle for the hospital trip can be a challenge. Arriving, looking and feeling fresh is a challenge in the heat much of our country has now, not to mention the clothes soaking humidity. My 0.2. I thinking small airplane, for travel would be nice. Off to the southwest this week.

RNERHOUSESUPOR · Jun 13, 2011

You can say that again about the $300. My trip had a $600 unexpected tire bill and replacement of two air bags for another $600. Top that off with $800 in fuel. I am home now for at least three months. Know who last slept on my bed, and where everything is. Love my RV home, even though it takes a lot of money out of my pocket.

Rod