Hospital cancelled my contract due to inexperience...

[BeccaroseRN]

It was my first travel nursing assignment.

I relocated to Tennessee, spent $1800 in rent, supplies, etc., and I was let go by the hospital for inexperience.

They went on to say that they needed someone who could hit the floor and didn't need any instruction and wouldn't ask a lot of questions. To be honest, I completely agree. I was being floated every night and the amount of mastery needed to meet expectations was staggering. I don't understand, though. The travelers that used to frequent my old unit needed all kinds of help! I even told my recruiter that I wasn't welcome there - which I wasn't. They approved me for another assignment but I haven't heard back from them in days.

My license was TN temporary.

I'm thinking of moving back home, else I have to find employment as a staff nurse here which I'm too depressed to do.

Questions:

1.) Do I have to alert the state boards or some other agency that I will be leaving? I don't want the license to lapse or for anyone to think I'm practicing w/ an expired license.

2.) Do I have to put this experience down or let my potential future employer know on my resume?

Thanks.

[tinyRN72, BSN]

HI, I have been traveling for about 5 years. I started right at my 2 years as a nurse mark. One of those years was in home health, the other was in a hospital. My first assignment was a total disaster with the hospital canceling my contract early. (You aren't the only one!) My agency got me another assignment right away, and I went there. This one was stressful due to the number of patients (sometimes 8 on a med/surg floor) but it was much better because the hospital staff was so great. The unit was hard, but we managed to have SO much fun. It was a good experience, and I kept on traveling.

I'm curious because you said that you spent $1800 to relocate to TN. Did you actually move there? The agencies that I have always worked for have paid my housing expenses on the road. I have 3 state licenses and each time, I got the temp license, which just had to go through the full approval process, then automatically became a perm license. From that standpoint, you don't have to decide whether to keep it or not until it is up for renewal. I don't know how TN works, so their process may be different. I asked the question about you moving to TN because I don't understand how you lost so much money in the deal.

If you feel competent as a nurse, and you really want to travel, you should talk to some travel nurses who are happy with their agency, and you might need to try a different one? But it could be as simple as just trying a travel assignment in a different hospital.

I've never listed that first job on any resume, and no one has ever questioned it. I made it about week 9 out of 13.

[NedRN]

I've never listed that first job on any resume, and no one has ever questioned it. I made it about week 9 out of 13.

That's long enough to list on work history, with one caveat: you must have a written reference for that assignment. Lots of good reasons to collect your own references, protecting your license is a big one should the hospital make up stuff just to terminate you (when the actual reason is the non-contractual "bad fit" or low census). Another is that it sure makes it much easier to switch agencies and makes you more valuable and competitive. Also allows you control of your professional portfolio, not some agency with their best interests at heart, not yours. Agencies also collect a reference/eval from each assignment, but typically won't share it with the traveler - goes to the ease of switching agencies so they consider them proprietary.

I start collecting references/evals week 2. I try to go as high up the food chain as possible (in the OR I often have direct access to the director and manager), but always at least three per assignment and use the best ones. Collect early to protect your license, collect many and select the best written ones for your portfolio. I like a form to hand to the referee and stand there until it is done - form because checking off boxes and writing two sentences takes only a couple of minutes - I pre-fill my name and hospital and assignment dates. I'll mention that it is being used as a reference so they don't put private HR file kind of stuff on it.

You can make your own form. There are a couple examples of forms on PanTravelers (Resources>Downloads) to download, including editable ones so you can customize in items that are important to you. Space is provided for an agency logo so you can give them to new agencies.

[Ms_Interpret]

You consistently don't understand that travel is a business. Hiring travelers with a bare minimum of base experience is a risk with costly consequences for all involved. Doubly so with no proven travel experience. Just because it worked for a hospital to hire you for an assignment without recent clinical experience in no way means that is the norm. Yes, the hospital foolishly took on this travelers and suffered the consequences, both financially, and working short handed after termination (maybe, or maybe as Argo suggested they had something else going on like a staff returning from leave) causing poor care for their clients.

Policies do not protect patients, hospital workers do. Perhaps an accountant wanted to hire a cheap traveler for a $10 an hour less than other agencies. You do know they think a nurse is just a "warm body"? and a cost center, not a profit center. The overworked manager also needed someone to fill the space, and HR may have thought the candidate qualified based on two years of experience. The agency doesn't care over much (at least the bad agencies and recruiters), if she succeeds, they make money, and if she doesn't, they have lost nothing - they don't seem to care about their own reputation.

No way a new traveler has the judgement to determine what a good agency or recruiter looks like (unless she happens to have read many posts I and others have made here), nor what a travel assignment is really like unless she tried per diem at other hospitals (a good thing to do if you want to discover if you are ready for travel). She unfortunately worked at a traveler friendly hospital and didn't know that that is not the norm.

So yes, total failure on all levels. The issue I have with you posts, besides the passive-agressive nature of your language, is that you apparently really believe in what you say, and project your apparently super nurse abilities on others, and obviously do not understand the hospital or travel business. Sure, you may be able to jump straight from three years off to a successful travel assignment and a few nurses might be able to pull that off too, but that in no way lends itself to good comments to new travelers. You are very consistently wrong but I know my these words are wasted on you. I'm only bothering so other readers can hopefully take less credence in your comments. No doubt your response will be a "hug" or suggesting I seek help or anger management. But your posts are designed to provoke anger, why do you think you get responses like this? In this thread alone from two current or past directors of nursing, and me, some 23 years of travel experience and 14 years owning my own agency.

Once again, I am not beholden to you in any way and so unfortunately your opinion means very little to me. I have a feeling that that is difficult for you to hear because you have shown that you value your own opinion very highly. I'm sorry that we aren't (and will likely never be) in that same camp. It's nothing personal. I'm just not easily influenced by other people's rhetoric. I prefer to draw my own conclusions. And I trust myself implicitly. I don't need your endorsement or permission to do that.

And yeah, you're right...I would definitely suggest that you work through whatever it is inside of you that triggers that insecurity when your ideas are challenged. Being able to identify and mitigate your own personal blindspots can only make you a stronger person. But you don't have to take my advice. Still, I'm not going to take responsibility for your anger or for what you choose to do with it. That's your job.

Best of luck to you.

[NedRN]

Once again, I am not beholden to you in any way and so unfortunately your opinion means very little to me. I have a feeling that that is difficult for you to hear because you have shown that you value your own opinion very highly. I'm sorry that we aren't (and will likely never be) in that same camp. It's nothing personal. I'm just not easily influenced by other people's rhetoric. I prefer to draw my own conclusions. And I trust myself implicitly. I don't need your endorsement or permission to do that.

Interesting. Very Trumpian. Zero self awareness. All about you. No concern about facts.

[PJClinical]

Hi BeccaRoseRN,

Sorry to hear about your current situ! I have done travel work with various agencies. I'm really sorry to hear that your first experience out of the gate was not smooth.

In addition to some of the really good suggestions that were made here, have you considered using a good accountant? Although your current/former agency apparently did not give you travel incentives or per diems, you may be able to claim some of your expenses as deductions.

Also, there are MANY agencies. You might consider looking at working for another agency. Many are competitive and know of the others. You might get a job working with a competitor. Just a thought.

I wish you all good things!

[Ms_Interpret]

Interesting. Very Trumpian. Zero self awareness. All about you. No concern about facts.

I can't even begin to understand why it bothers you so much that someone you don't even know might have the audacity to forge their own path without first heeding or acknowledging your priceless, sage advice. Or why it bothers you so much that I have the gumption to talk about my own experiences from a place of confidence. That's not for me to know.

[NedRN]

It bothers me when bad advice is dispensed. I could care less how self absorbed and self centered you are. Can only laugh, as I do daily with Trump. It would be nice if you must contribute to be less passive aggressive. That will generate less hostility from your peers.

[Ms_Interpret]

It bothers me when bad advice is dispensed. I could care less how self absorbed and self centered you are. Can only laugh, as I do daily with Trump. It would be nice if you must contribute to be less passive aggressive. That will generate less hostility from your peers.

I don't take your hostility personally. It doesn't bother me because I don't hold it. You hold it. It is your hostility, not mine. I know it existed long before I ever entered your sphere of influence and judging from your responses, I imagine it will be there long after I'm gone, bubbling under the surface, waiting to be unleashed on the next person who says something you don't agree with. My hope for you is that you will eventually realize that it's eating *you* alive and not the people you are directing it at or projecting it onto and hopefully you will learn to just let it go.

Ciao.

[NedRN]

I don't take your hostility personally.

I dislike being rude, but why would you think I care?

No doubt there are readers here who dislike my tone, and I do have one. However in the threads you have posted comments in the travel forum, there appear to be more readers who vocal post objection to your passive-aggressiveness and bad advice than mine. But like Trump, you are immune to feedback. You go girl!