I have just started agency nursing and I'm just wondering why the staff is so mean to a agency nurse. If we were not available to help they would be short? I have encountered rude people and just wondering what is up with that?
I work for a very good company (Mayo Clinic) as my regular job and when I have time off from school,(Working on my BSN) I pick up agency work. I have had some good exeprience with staff, but unfortunatly most of my experiences were not so good only because there are some places that judge us all by the actions of one bad apple. I think that it sad that it happens , but it does happen. I do not think all places do that. My facility treats travel nurses with respect
No one really should know that you are an agency nurse unless you tell them. The company should not even reveal this information. Maybe you need to get with another agency. The best agencies work through confidentiality. No one needs to know this information.
No one really should know that you are an agency nurse unless you tell them. The company should not even reveal this information. Maybe you need to get with another agency. The best agencies work through confidentiality. No one needs to know this information.
I work agency, and am basically a replacement for a nurse that may call out sick, or be on leave. The staff in the facilities that I've visited know all of the other nurses, and know I'm agency by my name badge. It's not a secret, nor could it be kept secret that I'm agency, as my agency requires me to wear their badge. Sometimes this isn't the best idea, but It's agency policy.
I've also been fortunate as I'm treated very well at most facilities I've been to. I'm the guy that came in on an hours notice because a regular staffer called in sick, and otherwise they'd be short. They realize this, and usually appreciate it.
Also, when you average out my salary to the salary staffers are getting, it usually pretty much evens out. I don't have benefits, they do. I love the fact that I can pick and choose where I go, and when I work, and can't see doing staff nursing at this time.
On a side note, anyone know of a good agency in the Orlando FL region where I'll be moving to in Sept? Please let me know! I love my current agency, but unfortunately, they're local, and not nation-wide. I'll miss them when I go.
This is a late reply as I have just joined this forum but I am compelled to reply. In my opinion, hospital administration fosters rudness towards agency nurses as a general attitude by having them in the first place.
Why are they paying upwards of $40.00/HR TO AN AGENCY NURSE WHEN THEY DON'TOFFER THE SAME PAY TO A STAFF NURSE$$$ I know, I know, they don't have the added expense of paying for benefits.
Well, I don't buy that because the hospitals in the city I am in pay staff nurses such a wide range of salaries (with comparable experience).
Anyway, that's a different subject. so... the staff only knows they aren't getting the same pay for the same 12 hr shift (or whatever shift) then there is the question of the agency itself. Not all agencies are diligent about screening their nurses.
Some agencies have a reputation for sending really baaaad nurses and management allows this because they pay a lower fee to the agency.
Then there is the department management to consider. a charge nurse can make or break a good working environment,so.....here's my advice.. make sure your practice is up to par, stay under the radar but be friendly and helpful. Try to guage each environment you're in and adapt. remember, you wanted the flexibility of an agency instead of the politics and lower salary of a staff position.
Just a little CNA working for an agency. Worse yet I've only been a CNA for 5 months. The hardest thing we do is walk in to a new place, be it a home or a facility. The most important thing is the patients! Every time I leave a home or facitlity I carry a piece of them with me. Sometimes I get to see them again, often other times never again. It is so hard getting in step in a facility. We don't need petty jealousy or envy or attitude. There is enough work out there for all of us. I'm going to get up tommorow and try again to make a difference. Lil123
Usually it is because you are making so much more money than the nurses there. The worst was when I traveled at a unionized Kaiser facility in California. They hated travelers there because that cut into their double shifts and then they would not get double pay. So much for unionized nurses giving a rats rear end about patient safety or patient care. It was always about working double shifts.
I have enjoyed working with the agency nurses I have encountered. I think it is a good rule never to ask someones salary and never discuss yours.
I guess I never think about them being agency nurses,,,I just consider them nurses.
My 2 cents:
At my facility, I am always pleased to see travelers, because as a whole, they are bright, well trained and can be a fount of knowledge about other hospitals policies and proceedures.
Our hospitals experience has been that travelers don't last or re-up because they are treated so poorly.
Inadequate orientation, floating, split shifts(a 12 hour will often have to work 4 hours on 1 unit, and then transfer to another for the remaining 8 hours).
Not to mention the tendency of charge nurses to give the traveler the hardest patients. (And you KNOW it happens).
Yes, they make good money, but they are the nurses who are willing to work 12 hour night shifts, live in motels away from thier loved ones in a strange city with no friends.
Many of our recent travelers are from New Orleans, where there IS no work.
Others come here because they could not hope to make in a month what they can in 10 shifts here.
Nothing wrong with that, I say.
Well I dont know if I have enough knowledge on this issue but here it goes. I signed on with an agency in Late March. I work for NYS. I was an LPN but took a promotion as a supervisor. I signed on with the agency to keep my skills up, to keep myself in the game, to make more money and the agency work is flexible enough for me. i have only worked at one place thus far. But I have been there for over a month. I have floated to 3 of the 4 floors. All the nurses have been extrememly friendly. I have encountered more rude patients than staff. Maybe I got lucky I dont know. I do know that I dont devalge the amount I am getting paid. I do let them know that No this is not my only job. I do put in 40hrs at my primary job and I have been pulling 32-48 a week with this job. I would hope nurses as a whole dont think agency nurses a less par in their skills or less of a nurse as they. An agency nurse is setting themself up to enter new environments on any given week. We dont know the internal games going on in a facility and perhaps that is a perk. I love the agency work. I have learned so much in such a short time. I have done so many treatments that I had only done in school 5yrs ago. I would think attitude and general body language could be a factor. OR... people are just miserable and they take it out on you! Good luck.
M.
These kinds of questions always make me smile. Sort of. I'm a 34 yo male LPN who recently became a nurse. After working as regular staff for a year at a chemical dependancy clinic I decided to work for an agency in order to broaden my experience. I generally work at 3 different facilities a week, a center for retarded adults, a total care nursing home, and a retirement center where the patients are self sufficient. I frequently ask for and receive assignments to new experiences and have not had but one bad experience yet. All the facilities that I've been too have been awesome. I feel that I have such good experiences is due to a couple of different factors.
First...I'm always early to report for my shift. If its the first time I've been to that facility I generally show up 45 min to an hour early to find the charge nurse or supervisor and introduce my self to them. I ask lots of questions (that I think are intelligent) about the patients that I'm working with, and about any skills that I'll be using. If theres something I'm unfamiliar with I ask about it. I ask pointed questions about policy and procedure for that facility concerning common tasks.
Second..I meet with the direct care staff. Every facility has unlicensed direct care personnel. They are the ones who know the patients best. Pick their brains for all kinds of information. I build an alliance with them early because they are the ones I'll be turning to ask where things are, and about patient specific behaviors.
Last...I don't stop moving. Even if I've done all my med pass or whatever I always try to pitch in else where. I offer to help with charting, filing, I clean, or I follow up with other patient requests.
This and my over abundance of wit and charm have helped me to make all the regular staff at the facility feel comfortable with me, and have helped me have a great time as an agency nurse.
ern91 said:This is a late reply as I have just joined this forum but I am compelled to reply. In my opinion, hospital administration fosters rudness towards agency nurses as a general attitude by having them in the first place.
I worked for an agency in Columbus, OH, for about 3 yrs., and was never treated overly bad in any of the facilities I worked. I do agree that in smaller markets, agency nurses are ocassionally treated poorly, but that is mostly by individuals, not "administration," and most of the time, hospital administation is in the business of trying to ensure the patients are care for moreso than fostering the negative attitudes. Many areas that are suffering from nursing shortages rely upon these "agency nurses" to fill there holes, and without them would be unable to proviide the quality of healthcare that their pt.'s deserve.
nightingale, RN
2,404 Posts
What I have seen is Agency Nurses wages have raised the bar for regular staff. Many of the Staff I have worked with, know this and are grateful.
Not going the extra mile for the pt. and the facility is a problem that I see of both Staff and Agency Nurses; these are the problem area's for the facility. How anyone could be a Nurse and not do their very best is beyond me but you are right, it does exist. The poorly presented Agency Nurse simply does not get invited back is what I have seen.
In any good facility, these issues have been worked out. When I did work in a larger community and I had issues with being dumped on and treated poorly I would not go back to that facility; I am sure they were able to fill that slot with someone... not me. Often, when I did have issues, I would talk to the House Supervisor or the Scheduler and I would ask to be taken off the list. There are plenty of places to work; unless it is a win / win then thanks but no thanks.
It is about choices.