Travel to Palm Beach, FL--Need advice

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU.

I am new to travel nursing. I have been a nurse for 4 years. I currently work in a small 10 bed non tramua ER (everything "really bad" gets flown to TGH) and am ready to venture out to gain more experience in my nursing career. I am bored at my current hospital because most of what we are just bandaid patients (as I call them). General stuff...rarely get a cardiac arrest/STEMI/, and certainly no traumas, or codes which are usually passed the point of being worked by the time EMS arrives. I want to learn new things and gain more experience...I am very interested in an ED where I can learn more trauma/critical care but that is willing to work with a nurse who doesn't have much trauma experience. I catch on quickly to new things..if I've never done the procedure before, show me once and I can do it the next time. I am thinking of moving to West Palm Beach/Wellington area two hours from my current home. I am contemplating signing up with an agency and taking a travel assignment in that area to get my feet wet in some of the hospitals around there.

Can anyone recommend a good hospital in that area for a very first travel assignment? Or one that I could most likely end up working full-time in the future? I would really like to stay in the ED, but I'm scared that the ED's over there will not be willing to get a newcomer that will need to ask questions frequently.

Please give me your advice!!! I have also researched several travel companies and talked with a few recruiters...but I would welcome any advice on that also if anyone wants to recommend travel companies or recruiters to me. I will appreciate all the advice I can get.

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St. Mary's ER is the Level I Trauma so if you're looking for easy, don't go there!! Try Good Samaritan, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter! I've never worked in any HCA facilities (JFK, Palms West, Colombia) but I haven't heard many good things about those places. Nicer places to live are Gardens and Jupiter.... You can even work in West Palm and live in Gardens/Jupiter (I do!) Season in FL starts around October and goes through April or May (though I have noticed them staying longer these days...) and it gets busy, but a lot of stroke, chest pain, yada yada. Good Sam doesn't do Open Heart so not many serious cardiac cases, but then again, it is the ER so you never know! The hospitals in WPB aren't in very good areas...Gardens and Jupiter are definitely in nicer areas. But like I said, you could live either place and work either place, just do some research.

Just warning you, many travelers that come here say "If you can work in Florida, you can work anywhere". It's all I know, so I don't know how accurate that is. We get a very... umm.. "demanding" population during season. Good luck!!!!!

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I am new to travel nursing. I have been a nurse for 4 years. I currently work in a small 10 bed non tramua ER (everything "really bad" gets flown to TGH) and am ready to venture out to gain more experience in my nursing career. I am bored at my current hospital because most of what we are just bandaid patients (as I call them). General stuff...rarely get a cardiac arrest/STEMI/, and certainly no traumas, or codes which are usually passed the point of being worked by the time EMS arrives. I want to learn new things and gain more experience...I am very interested in an ED where I can learn more trauma/critical care but that is willing to work with a nurse who doesn't have much trauma experience. I catch on quickly to new things..if I've never done the procedure before, show me once and I can do it the next time. I am thinking of moving to West Palm Beach/Wellington area two hours from my current home. I am contemplating signing up with an agency and taking a travel assignment in that area to get my feet wet in some of the hospitals around there.

Can anyone recommend a good hospital in that area for a very first travel assignment? Or one that I could most likely end up working full-time in the future? I would really like to stay in the ED, but I'm scared that the ED's over there will not be willing to get a newcomer that will need to ask questions frequently.

Please give me your advice!!! I have also researched several travel companies and talked with a few recruiters...but I would welcome any advice on that also if anyone wants to recommend travel companies or recruiters to me. I will appreciate all the advice I can get.

Hi, I've worked for a number of companies. I can give two "top Notch" ones.

Chris Johnson @ Medical Solutions - 866-688-5929

Dwayne Melton @ Advantage RN - 866-301-4045

Good Luck!!

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As Well as "if you work in Las Vegas, you can work anywhere" :)

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, ICU.

Thank you so much!! Really good information! Also, thanks to palmbeachRN for the hospital information; we are looking for housing in the Wellington area right now but at this point we are not throwing out anything possibilities in the surrounding areas.

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Wellington is very nice! It is mostly an upscale "horse" place! (At least that's how us beach bunnies stereotype it!) Many options for living in South Florida. I've lived here all my life and can't seem to peel myself away from our nice blue ocean!!!!! Oh and I meant to say that Good Sam is in a good location...the front of the hospital overlooks Palm Beach Island but the back of the hospital is kinda sketchy... That's kind of how West Palm is. Multi-gajillion dollar homes and bad neighborhoods on the next street over. Wouldn't want to live near this hospital (unless you can afford to live on Palm Beach!!!) You will LOVE the winter weather here!!! Travellers really get the best weather of the year. I would say I hope to run into you, but I'm leaving for a travel assignment soon myself. Good luck!

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