Travel Nurse Expectations

[KalipsoRed21, BSN, RN]

So other than the RN be safe and willing to ask a million questions to people s/he just met, what do you expect from your travel nurses?

I ask this because after 6 years of nursing, 3 in a tiny community ER, I have decide to try ER travel nursing. I have a new assignment at a very nice facility with 2 days of orientation and 3 on the floor so far. However, the expectations at this hospital are much more involved than the facility I learned from and much of what I did as a nurse at my original facilty is what their techs to at the one I'm traveling at. I feel like I'm having to learn another job. With that being said the manager that hired me knows that my only RN experience as an ER RN is at a tiny unleveled facility. I traveld to a 50 bed, level 1 trauma, teaching facility. I am not entirely unfamiliar with this sort of enviornment as I was a tech in a 64 bed level 1 trauma center, but the techs at this facility are allowed to do far more than I was as a tech. The manager also knew before hire that I have not been throught TNCC and have never used their computer system, EPIC in my career.

On my 3rd day I missed orders for 3 hours because I kept checking the chart and reading the orders but they said 'discontinued' next to them....I thought this ment the doctor cancled the order...turned out this was a hyperlink. I also missed the fact that a different patient had a bed assignment for 1 hour before the charge nurse came and asked why I had not given report yet.

I do not want to be the crappy travel nurse and I'm very excited to learn at such a big facility. I am very afriad that I am disapointing them, though no one has said as such just yet. How quickly do you expect your traveler's to be on the same paige as your regular staff?

[skylark, BSN, RN]

Sounds like the problems are not with you as a nurse, but with their computer system taking a while to get used to.

That would be an issue for anyone new to the dept, whether a travel nurse or a new employee.

If a hyperlink is misleading then that is a problem with the system, not the person trying to use it!!

Have they given you training on their system?

[Psychcns]

I did travel nursing for a few years and now do locum tenens as an APRN. I think they expect you to "hit the ground running" . In this case the problem is the computer system. Maybe list your questions about the system and ask for extra training. Best wishes!