Does it anger you as it does me--and I Know full well that I will get royally burned for this thread--with the unfortunately ill prepared travellers who venture into your hospital not knowing a blessed thing about the department they're assigned to?!
Of course, my hospital doesn't give travellers much time to get up to speed on things...ONE Blessed day of orientation, that's it! Now, I don't know anyone, great nurse or not, who could get it with such a short orientation.
But to all those who desire to become a traveller, please know your stuff well, and be prepared to get burned here on a miserably below the belt thread if you just don't got enough experience to handle the job but do it for the swank pad you're placed in and the moolah.
Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.
Well some agencies are out for nothing more than the almighty bill rate. I have encountered this as a staff nurse as well as an agency nurse. They will try to convince the nurse to take a shift whether or not they are qualified just to fill a shift.
Then you have nurses who will take the shift soley to get paid.
Then you have staffing offices in hospitals that have the attitude that "A nurse is a nurse."
I have walked into a fecility or two that will book me for an area that I DO work and when I show up they say "We are going to send you to the CCU instead of the ER."
I refuse and will happily go home. Even when threatened with a DNR. I will not be bullied.
I WILL NOT accept a shift in an area that I do not have a competency in. I have though seen those that will just bebop of to where ever sent.
I will not in concern of my license, patient safety and sheer conscience, and ethics.
I have been on the other side of the fence as a staff nurse who gets sent a nurse who has worked psych for 40+ years into my NICU. Since she believed all we did was hold, rock and feed babies all night she thought it would be ok. I have been sent a nursing home or hospice nurse to work in my ER.
Each of these are imprtance specialties but they do not resemble each other, nor does too much knowledge cross over.
Personally I would rather go home unpaid than endanger someone. Not everyone has that same philosophy.
My dept. hires a lot of travellers, so I've seen a lot. I agree with other posters when they say that a big part of the problem is agencies who don't screen their travellers well. It's easy to look good on paper, but when push comes to shove, not all travellers are created equal. There is an expectation that travellers are fast learners and competent in their field. It frustrates the heck out of me when a traveller is not competent, because it adds to my work load in making sure patients aren't harmed. I don't harbor anger against travellers but I do get tired of constantly orienting people who are only staying for a few months. The fact is, I used to be a traveller, and finally settled down, so I've been there. Nursing has come to rely on travellers and probably always will.
I agree that there is a lot of blame to go around, here. Nurses who are willing to take ANY job for the money, even those for which they are not qualified ... Agencies who recruit and place these nurses using sales questionable judgment and sales tactics ... and Hospitals who are willing to fill holes with "just anybody" with an RN behind their names.
As we all seeem to agree (and this may be the important thing here) ... traveler's are expected to be able to jump right in and provide competent care with only a minimal orientation to show them the particular hospital's specific routines and organization. A nurse without considerable experience in an area of nursing is not sufficiently skilled to do that. Minimal competence is not enough for a traveler.
All the research shows that it takes at least a year for a new grad to become truly competent in her field. A traveler needs more than basic competence to perform well in a strange environment. We all need to take a stand on the issues that result from those cold, hard facts.
Yep. I'm probably going to get slammed on this, but I don't think one year's experience is enough. You're just learning to tread water at that point. Unless it's someone with considerable experience as an LPN for example, they have no business attempting to travel that soon.
Yep. I'm probably going to get slammed on this, but I don't think one year's experience is enough. You're just learning to tread water at that point. Unless it's someone with considerable experience as an LPN for example, they have no business attempting to travel that soon.
Most of the units at my hospital have stopped accepting travelers with only 1 year of experience. They have been burned too many times by people with only a year of experience. Those nurses are just barely competent in their home environment and are no where near ready to "fly solo" in a strange new place.
I feel two ways about travelers, one they should be competent and ready to work....and two, they are usually given the worst assignments and are hung out to dry... OFTEN.
No one should be doing either traveling or agency work unless they are competent and have more than a few years experience. It's dangerous for the nurse and the patient.
I was offered icu, ccu, and other critical care positions after functioning as an ER nurse for 3 months. I am older and told the recruiters that they were nuts even offering to send me to facilities. They kept assuring me it was OK....just go along....we'll train you at the county facility. Sucks to be poor and vented! Even though I was tempted to accept training...I realized I couldn't trust them to do the right thing in the long run...and that I'd probably get inappropriate assignments too! Due to my long standing history with recruiters and business, I do not trust them! So imagine a new grad with that carrot dangled, big bucks, and no business sense!
I always help our travelers and new agency nurses get acclimated because I see them as part of the team-many of my fellow fulltime nurses will let them sink and won't even talk to them. Personally, I think that's ridiculous! Eventually, I may travel or work agency. I've been in the ER almost 3 years, first as a tech then as an RN, but there is much I've never seen. Could I survive in another ER? and will they help me acclimate? I wonder.
I feel two ways about travelers, one they should be competent and ready to work....and two, they are usually given the worst assignments and are hung out to dry... OFTEN.
No one should be doing either traveling or agency work unless they are competent and have more than a few years experience. It's dangerous for the nurse and the patient.
I was offered icu, ccu, and other critical care positions after functioning as an ER nurse for 3 months. I am older and told the recruiters that they were nuts even offering to send me to facilities. They kept assuring me it was OK....just go along....we'll train you at the county facility. Sucks to be poor and vented! Even though I was tempted to accept training...I realized I couldn't trust them to do the right thing in the long run...and that I'd probably get inappropriate assignments too! Due to my long standing history with recruiters and business, I do not trust them! So imagine a new grad with that carrot dangled, big bucks, and no business sense!
I always help our travelers and new agency nurses get acclimated because I see them as part of the team-many of my fellow fulltime nurses will let them sink and won't even talk to them. Personally, I think that's ridiculous! Eventually, I may travel or work agency. I've been in the ER almost 3 years, first as a tech then as an RN, but there is much I've never seen. Could I survive in another ER? and will they help me acclimate? I wonder.
Maisy;)
I was pretty lucky; I didn't experience any attitude except from a couple of the techs on my very first assignment. But then, I saw them give regular staff the same crap, so I didn't feel special lol. I did have staff who would give me the hairy eyeball in the beginning until I proved I could carry my weight. They were those who'd had bad experiences with past travelers.
When I called to apply, the first words out of my recruiter's mouth was 'How many years have you worked as an RN'. I did make note of how she worded that, too. Then she asked if I was currently working as an RN. She told me the company policy was one year recent/current clinical experience. (I never asked what they considered recent because it didn't apply to me) Then there was an exhaustive list she went through which I graded based upon my exposure and comfort level. All in all, the interview took quite some time. I don't know if their policy is still to require one year of recent experience, but I would hope so. I don't think I'd want to work for a company that allowed less. Like was posted above, if a traveler is not up to par it reflects bad on all of us. That's not fair, of course, but it's reality.
What is one of the main "specialties" that are in high demand for a traveler? I actually haven't started LPN school yet, but my plans for the future are to travel. I ask earlier in my post "do LPN's travel too" didn't get any reply. Can someone fill me in on that. I also read about how much of a nightmare it is working in a hospital setting ( doctors treating you bad, being treated like a housekeeper, and waitress) is this really what it's like in a hospital setting????? If so, maybe I better thing of settling into an area of nursing were this kind of treatment is less likely to happen. Lots of questions, but would like to hear back from anyone that has the knowledge.
Specializes in Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Home Health.
As a brand new agancy nurse, let me state that I agree. I finished my application on Wednesday and had my first assignment that night.
I have 2 yrs experience in LTC and Head Start. I was terrified that they were going to place me in a hospital. They didn't. I was placed in a LTC. I went in at 10 pm to get oriented. [i got about 1 hr orientation.] I replaced another agency nurse from the same company.
I started setting up my 6 am meds at 3AM. I wasn't done until 7AM. I didn't get my accu checks finished. I wasn't able to find half of the patients. I finally told the Nurse replacing me, that she may as well relax cause I wasn't even close to being done.
She pitched in and helped me and I was able to leave at 8AM
I felt like a complete failure!! I know how to do LTC, but I have to tell you it was one of the hardest jobs I've ever done!! Alot of the meds hadn't been ordered. Or if they had been, they weren't in the cart. The lab tech came in [On Thanksgiving Day] wanting to know where the pts were. I was like, I have no clue!! I helped him because there were labs that had to be drawn. Daily PT/INR P & T etc.
I figured I had just lost that job, but they called for me to go back in. Unfortunately, I had a prior job scheduled for this weekend, so I couldn't take the agency job. The reason I didn't do a good job was I wasn't familar with the facility, I didn't know the pts, et I underestimated the 6AM med pass.
On a positive note, I did do a wound dressing on a man who had so many decubes, I wanted to puke. His wife stayed with him all night. I think the reason agency is in the LTC is d/t failing survey and several incompentcies. The wound I changed was supposedly a skin tear. Whoever dressed it the first time should be taken out and shot. This man had several 2x2s, a 4x4 and an ace bandage around his ankle/foot. I unwrapped the ace bandage and before I was half done I was seeing blood. It had soaked through all the dressings to the ace. I had to use saline to get it off. It wasn't a skin tear, it was a 2 cm decube. This man had them everywhere! On his ankles, feet, bottom of his feet, heels, toes, knees, back etc.
I knew I didn't have the experience to work in a hospital and I would have told them no if they had suggested it.
Does it anger you as it does me--and I Know full well that I will get royally burned for this thread--with the unfortunately ill prepared travellers who venture into your hospital not knowing a blessed thing about the department they're assigned to?!
Of course, my hospital doesn't give travellers much time to get up to speed on things...ONE Blessed day of orientation, that's it! Now, I don't know anyone, great nurse or not, who could get it with such a short orientation.
But to all those who desire to become a traveller, please know your stuff well, and be prepared to get burned here on a miserably below the belt thread if you just don't got enough experience to handle the job but do it for the swank pad you're placed in and the moolah.
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babynurselsa, RN
1,129 Posts
Well some agencies are out for nothing more than the almighty bill rate. I have encountered this as a staff nurse as well as an agency nurse. They will try to convince the nurse to take a shift whether or not they are qualified just to fill a shift.
Then you have nurses who will take the shift soley to get paid.
Then you have staffing offices in hospitals that have the attitude that "A nurse is a nurse."
I have walked into a fecility or two that will book me for an area that I DO work and when I show up they say "We are going to send you to the CCU instead of the ER."
I refuse and will happily go home. Even when threatened with a DNR. I will not be bullied.
I WILL NOT accept a shift in an area that I do not have a competency in. I have though seen those that will just bebop of to where ever sent.
I will not in concern of my license, patient safety and sheer conscience, and ethics.
I have been on the other side of the fence as a staff nurse who gets sent a nurse who has worked psych for 40+ years into my NICU. Since she believed all we did was hold, rock and feed babies all night she thought it would be ok. I have been sent a nursing home or hospice nurse to work in my ER.
Each of these are imprtance specialties but they do not resemble each other, nor does too much knowledge cross over.
Personally I would rather go home unpaid than endanger someone. Not everyone has that same philosophy.