The Valley of the Sun

So, the valley of the sun...huh. Did somebody do a rain dance before I got here? Wow, I have never seen rain come off of a roof in a sheet. The roads were flooded but the ones I drove on were passable. It was also a spectacular lightning show. Then yesterday afternoon I was laying in the sun at the pool. Go figure.
The Banner Travel and registry has been wonderful. I went yesterday and met them. I had to do some testing and complete my paperwork. I signed my contract and even got my badge. I am so impressed with this company! They sat down and talked with me , gave me several numbers to call if I needed anything. I spoke with the housing person and with the human resources person and got signed up for my insurance as well. This is how it is supposed to work. I have never been treated so professionally by any other company I worked for. Not even the registries that I have worked for. The next closest would have to be the Cleveland office of Intelistaf. I went to their office and they really worked hard to try to find work for me. I sat down with them and they went over all the hospitals that they had contracts with, they asked which shift I would like to work and even got me in touch with their travel division.
Wednesday this week I went to the Phoenix branch of Intelistaf registry...what a different atmosphere. I didn't even get to sit down. The recruiter brought my paperwork out to a half wall by the entrance door to the office and had me sign my paperwork there. She didn't tell me which hospitals they service, didn't review their timesheets, or introduce me to the staffers (people who I will be dealing with to schedule my shifts). I was not impressed. Makes me think twice about whether I want to make them any money. Yes, I need to work, yeas I need the money but I'd like to be treated better. We'll see.
So, for now I am catching up on my blogging and email and gearing up for a long warm winter...I'll put up pics when my camera arrives.

On the road again

Well, it has been an interesting few weeks. I actually worked about 3 days total since I left Salinas. The Cleveland Clinic didn't come through for me. The interview I was expecting the first week of August just never came. I finally called another company...Banner travel. They are the travel division of a healthcare company that owns several hospitals in the west Arizona, Colorado,California,Alaska, Wyoming and Nevada. It was incredible. I went online last Tuesday, filled out the application and sent an email. On Wednesday I called the company that had my application in with The Cleveland Clinic, they told me that because my ACLS was not from American Heart Association that the Clinic would probably not even interview me. They wanted to know if I could get my ACLS renewed with American Heart before I started work. I lost it. It had been 2 weeks with no paycheck and a 4 day 2500 mile trip across the country and now they want me to pay another $250 for ACLS class? I was furious. Luckily I got a call from Banner, they offered me a job on the first phone call, I declined until I knew which Banner facility I would be working at. 10 minutes after they posted my profile to all the Banner facilities I got a call from Good Samaritan in Phoenix. They asked me how I liked their facility the last time I was there (2004), I told them I liked it and that I had learned a lot. They asked me what shift I wanted and when I could start...I was amazed. I got a phone call 10 minutes later from the travel division and they offered me a job with a raise in 2 weeks, healthcare starting the first of the month with dental and vision, a one bedroom furnished apartment, travel money and a completion bonus. About 6 pm that evening I got a call with my new address and phone numbers for cable and electric. WOW. Now that is how it should work.
So, I got on a plane this evening and landed in Phoenix at 6pm. My husband will be taking his time to get out here, no 12 hour 750 mile days, unless he really misses me. The flight was pretty much uneventful until we got close to Phoenix. It's monsoon season out here I guess. The sky was almost black when I left the airport headed for my rental car. Great....I haven't driven since I was in Napa and here I am in Phoenix in monsoon season....yeah. At least I got a cute car...a Jeep Liberty...a little better than what I thought I'd end up with...I am paying for it though, this company doesn't provide a rental car...which is ok I only need it a couple of weeks til my driver gets out here.
The really great thing is that my nephew is out here. He's been here since February going to motorcycle school. It will be nice to spend some time with him. Well, I need to settle in for the night. Wish me luck with the weather. Remember First do no harm.

Home again

Wow, it's weird to come back to your hometown again. I have been gone for 2 years, didn't think I was coming back anytime soon either. My husband and his great ideas...so, here we are awaiting a call from the Cleveland Clinic. Yeah, that's the down side of travel nursing, you can't always get where you want to be when you want to be there. I understand that the Clinic is a huge corporation and the bigger the corporation the more red tape and time it takes. It just would have been nice to know before we took off across the country (literally) in a big hurry. I was submitted to the Clinic on July 31...it is now August 12th. My company got an email while we were on the road that I was going to get an interview on Friday the 4th or Monday the 7th...neither happened. I did go to an agency to try to pick up some work this week. I have to go through orientation for most of the facilities and the one I did get scheduled for cancelled me.So, here I sit. Now I have to decide how much longer I am going to wait for the Clinic, or is fate telling me I don't belong in Cleveland right now? My company now tells me it can take 12 to 15 days for them to decide to call me. That would have been good information to know before we left California. We could have visited family along the way, taken our time, We got up every morning at 4am drove from 5am to 5pm and drove 2600 miles in 4 days. We saw the country, we drove the turnpike 80 from Reno to Cleveland. We did pass through Iowa, which is a state we haven't been through before, not very exciting, a lot of corn this time of year.So, we are pretty well covered on the central states...we've missed a few on the east coast and the upper northwest and a few of the southern states like Mississippi and Louisiana. I can't complain too much it has been really fun for the most part. I just hate the waiting game. Wish me luck.