When good assignments go bad

First off I'd like to thank my friends and co-workers in Rhode Island. They were very nice and I will miss you all...Thelma, Velma, Maggie, Heidi, Joy, Tarissa,Karyn, George and the evening shift group especially Tina,NT and Fred they really helped me a lot. An extra special thanks to Missy for trying to make my last night the best...she worked 16 hrs and agreed to float so I could be on my floor the last night it didn't turn out that way but at least I got to work with her. Many problems have plagued my new assignment in Phoenix. Much miss communication between me and the fill in recruiter that I was given while my recruiter is out on maternity leave. Long story short my assignment has been delayed by a week. OUCH...that's no paycheck for me. So, I went to a local agency and will begin work with them tomorrow...weekly pay with a higher rate and more choices than the travel assignment. They were very helpful and genuinely want me to work unlike my travel company. I think it's more the recruiter than the company...my advise if you find a recruiter that you get along with and you like stick with them nevermind the company we are just numbers to them. The only one you are a person to is your recruiter. Anyway, the weather is perfect as you would expect but a little warm for my husband. The average this past week has bee 98 degrees...and it actually rained yesterday. My housing is very cozy and in an actual gated community...a first for us. Well, I have work for the next 3 days and I start my assignment on Monday I'll let you all know how it's going. Email any questions to travelingnurse@gmail.com or leave a comment...remember first do no harm.

Labor Day

Hello there and Happy Labor Day...are we celebrating the fact that we work? Not really sure what Labor day is all about other than another day off for the banks and schools. So why do they send your kids to school and then give them a long weekend...is it to ease them in to going to school again? I never did understand that. I grew up in the small town of Novelty, Ohio in Geauga county. A lot of the kids I went to school with didn't start school until after Labor day because of the county fair...they had to be there with the rest of the family and their animals...I grew up in the country. No, I didn't grow up on a farm but I knew a lot of people who did and we did have a little farm across the road from where I grew up. The good old days before holiday time and double overtime. No, I am not working this holiday most hospitals don't want to pay time and a half for travelers on the holidays except the big ones. They always seem to want us to work Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Guess I can't blame them. That's why I negotiate my contract before I sign. My next contract should take me to Christmas and I'll work Thanksgiving for Christmas off. We'll see what happens. Still no word yet where we are off to. California seems short on the dayshift at the moment so we are considering Arizona as an alternative. Any feed back for me about the desert state would be appreciated. Take care and as always...first do no harm.

The quest for a new home

Hello all...still here and counting the days. Do you all do that? It depends whether I like the assignment or not how early I start the count down to leaving. Here I started week 1. I like the hospital except the Jane Brown building I am in is really really really old. And it's a haul to the other parts of the hospital. The nurses that I work with on a regular basis are nice to me but those accents...wow. As a float, which I have to do almost every time I go in, they are not very nice or helpful. The paperwork is easy only 3 pages for an admission and the patients for the most part are nice as well. We are outta here September 17th..I get out of work at 7:30 am an Joe will be waiting with all our stuff loaded in the back of the truck ready to hit the road. I am talking with 4 different recruiters looking for a spot on the west coast in the sun and on the beach. I can feel the sun now.....:)...well, as always first do no harm.

Another day in RI

Hey there it’s another great day in Rhode Island the sun is actually shining today. But I have to work tonight so I slept most of the day. That’s the down side to working nights. Some people can stay up all day and just get a few hours of sleep before they go to work…unfortunately I’m not one of them. Rhode Island Hospital is a 719 bed hospital in Providence. It spans 3 different buildings, the Jane Brown building, the main hospital and the COOP with the COOP being the newest. I of course am working in all three, but mostly in the oldest part which is the Jane Brown. I still haven’t been able to find out who she was and why she has a building named after her. With Brown University being in Rhode Island I am quite sure there is some connection I’m just not sure what it is. (Can anyone help me out here?) How about why the patient gowns are called Johnnies…no seriously the patients and the staff call them Johnnies…it’s even in the hospital literature and policy and procedure books. And while we are on the subject…there are no sub sandwiches here there are grinders. Why grinder? And sprinkles on ice cream are called Jimmies…who are these guys? I chalk it up to “New Englandese” because no one can seem to give me an answer where these terms came from. Every part of the country has their own little things like these..anyone have any to share? Thanks for reading…remember first do no harm.

day 2

Thanks for the comment. I hope I have brought a little about wherever I have been to the people I know and love. Did anyone notice the ad at the top of the page for travel nursing? Yesterday it was for RN Network. How ironic, that just happens to be my favorite travel nurse company so far. I have worked with them for 3 assignments and they have been great. My recruiter Randi always called me back the same day or responded to my email the same day. The company always tried to accommodate any of my requests.
Ok, enough of the commercial for them. We are currently in Providence Rhode Island. On the east coast for the summer, sounds nice right? Well, so far I’m not too impressed. Maybe it’s the fact that I am working night shift. Up all night and asleep all day, doesn’t leave a lot of time for exploring. We did make it down to Newport Beach which is pretty but very touristy and to Plymouth Rock Massachusetts, also very touristy. We did get to see a replica of the Mayflower and the actual Plymouth Rock. Not extremely exciting but something to scratch off the list. I’ll leave my review of Rhode Island Hospital for another day. Thanks for reading…first do no harm.

My First Post

My first post…my husband is the brains behind this blog. To tell you the truth, 2 days ago I had never even heard of a blog. My husband, fortunately for me, has the time to research these things and bring them to my attention. I hope that I can get some other nurses and medical personnel to tell me about their hospitals or wherever they work. I plan to travel for a few more years and would like to go as many places as possible. Having some input from others might help me to make good decisions. Not that I have done badly, only one painful experience so far. But, I’ll leave that for another time. Please tell us some good and bad experiences as well remembering not to use patient names and I will share some of my favorites from the past 13 years. Health care workers need a place to vent and get advice. Thanks for reading…remember…first do no harm.