Sainthood for going to NYC

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Specializes in ER.

I notice that nurses going on assignments to NYC imply they are altruistic heros, going to the frontline to help.

I did a Covid crisis job, and I did it for the money, primarily. I get it, the admiration of the public is great. But don't try to fool me that $5000-$10000 a week wasn't the prime motivation.

And, don't complain about the lack of PPE or the rough conditions of your assignment. They call it hazard pay for a reason...

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LOL, tell it like it is.

I find it interesting to see all of the travelers who are annoyed about contracts getting cancelled or shortened. I've seen a few posts around here in which the posters seem to feel entitled to that super-high crisis pay for a longer period than what they're getting.

From what I've seen, travel positions are drying up because hospitals are trying to redeploy their own sidelined staff before hiring travelers; honestly, that's the way it should be. It isn't fair for furloughed employees to sit home without pay or burning through PTO while travelers make crisis pay. I'm sure it's annoying a traveler to know that there are lucrative contracts out there and not to get them, but current staff should take priority.

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Specializes in School Nursing.
13 hours ago, Emergent said:

I did a Covid crisis job, and I did it for the money, primarily.

How bad was it?

13 hours ago, Emergent said:
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Specializes in ER.
34 minutes ago, lifelearningrn said:

How bad was it?

I didn't do this in NYC. It was a good experience that paid well. It wasn't the hellhole I've read about, just an ordinary ER trying to cope with ever changing protocols and uncertainty.

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I'm just doing my regular job and keeping my mouth shut because I know how lucky I am to have a job at all. I do not envy those who have the hero jobs by default. Were it me, I would have had to resign because of my preexisting medical problems. I just wish more healthcare workers would survive, period.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

We have had to cancel over half of our traveler contracts because the nurses misrepresented their skill levels. One even asked for five weeks of orientation. Say what? Others had never worked ICU but stated they had. Others had never touched our charting system but stated they were proficient. Such a waste of everyone's time and resources at a time we can ill afford it, all in hopes of that cushy paycheck. Ticks me off.

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Specializes in ICU, trauma, neuro.

The offers that I got for covid jobs in New York mentioned "great" pay (5K per week plus housing), but they also mentioned working seven 12 hour shifts. I don't care if you are giving me my own personal jet, mansion bigger than Trump's, and a harem of the most beautiful women who have ever lived I never work more than four days per week as an ICU nurse under ANY circumstances. There is nothing more important to me than sleep and when I work "back to backs" I usually get about six hours sleep far less than the 8.5 to 9.0 I need to feel at my best to say nothing of having time to exercise. Thus, to me these offers were never "real" if they were based on a crazy amount of hours. I have had "traveler" RN friends in California earn that much during "normal" times by working four or five days per week.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
14 minutes ago, Nurse SMS said:

We have had to cancel over half of our traveler contracts because the nurses misrepresented their skill levels. One even asked for five weeks of orientation. Say what? Others had never worked ICU but stated they had. Others had never touched our charting system but stated they were proficient. Such a waste of everyone's time and resources at a time we can ill afford it, all in hopes of that cushy paycheck. Ticks me off.

I'm sorry, what?! Never in any travel contract history of ever have I heard of this, crazy for that nurse to ask for that.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
4 minutes ago, JadedCPN said:

I'm sorry, what?! Never in any travel contract history of ever have I heard of this, crazy for that nurse to ask for that.

Yeah. They tried to say they were told they would get that when they accepted the contract. Um. No. No you weren't.

It was their first ever travel assignment and I think they just didn't do their homework or something.

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14 hours ago, Emergent said:

I notice that nurses going on assignments to NYC imply they are altruistic heros, going to the frontline to help.

I did a Covid crisis job, and I did it for the money, primarily. I get it, the admiration of the public is great. But don't try to fool me that $5000-$10000 a week wasn't the prime motivation.

And, don't complain about the lack of PPE or the rough conditions of your assignment. They call it hazard pay for a reason...

I think lack of PPE is a legitimate reason to complain, but I'm with you on the other stuff. The face-shield selfies, break-room group photos in masks and gloves, and dancing nurse videos are getting harder to stomach, too.

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Specializes in Peds.

I don't know why the nurses going for altruistic reasons do not go into nursing homes. We need help more than hospitals do.

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4 hours ago, Runsoncoffee99 said:

I don't know why the nurses going for altruistic reasons do not go into nursing homes. We need help more than hospitals do.

Because they aren’t offering $5,000 a week. All the more evidence that it isn’t as *altruistic* as advertised.

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