San Pablo or San Pa-blow

Wow, just when you think you've been to the worst assignment ever...it gets worse. And it makes me wonder about the nurses that work at these hospitals..is it just that they have never worked anywhere else so they don't know how bad it is? Or is it that they can't move and this is the closest hospital? Anyway too bad for them to have to stay here. This place is just as bad as the floor I was on at Riverside Hospital in Columbus, only this seems to be a majority of the hospital. They have had several sentinel events in the past few months and don't seem to be dealing very well.A lot of the staff nurses are very resentful and angry because of the strike they went through a year ago and are not nice to travelers at all. The nursing assistants I have met so far all have an attitude. And not a good one. I was told by one particularly unfriendly NA that the nursing assistants on that floor don't do all the baths and proceeded to tell me which one of my five patients she was going to bathe for me. They don't do vitals because apparently they didn't know enough to inform a nurse about abnormal vitals and there was a bad outcome. They also are not allowed to do I&O because of another mishap. Their role seems to be to bathe people, answer call lights, pass out the food trays and feed people...although they aren't allowed to chart how much they ate. Frustrating. I see these things as a learning experience where maybe they nursing assistants need to be educated in the importance of their job but this particular facility sees it differently. If they can't do it right then we just won't have them do it...so now they do even less for the same pay and we do more. It's a scary place. The only place that I have been to that in my first 2 weeks the state and the joint commission have already been there. No wonder these people are so uptight.
I have to commend my travel company and my recruiter. They are standing by me and trying to find me a new assignment.
The city of San Pablo is also not so great. Yeah it's on the bay but you can't get to the bay...oh, there is one park ,but you have to pay to get in. We will be trying out the BART transit system to go over to San Francisco hopefully this week. I would like to see fisherman's wharf again...it was very fun last time we were here.
I guess the only good thing is we were not in Bakersfield for the earthquake. And we are not in Cleveland right now where it is snowing...I'll try to send my friends there a little sunshine....miss you guys.

Moving forward

I try not to look at it as leaving or moving on but moving forward in my quest for financial freedom. Though I love nursing ,it is merely a vessel to get me to my ultimate destination of financial freedom.
I have enjoyed my stay here in Bakersfield(did I really say that?) I have met some wonderful people. The small hospital feel makes me remember my first hospital where you knew everyone not just the other nurses but the housekeepers and the dietary people , the transporters and the pharmacists by name. It's been nice. The staff has been very welcoming to all the travelers. I would like to thank Heather, Micky, Kat,Hazel,Hee Seon, Jaime, Pat,Tracy,Sherri,Lisa,Karen and Maggy for helping me through this assignment. I loved working with the travelers Stephanie,Tanya, Tania. And I always love working with new nurses and showing them that nursing is fun too...Susanna and Dora. I appreciate the night shift for always making it a nice place to come into in the morning. I also want to thank Sharon and Mary for being understanding and helpful with my schedule. I have also met some other great people like Maria,Jon,Mike and Freddie. I hope all of their jobs get easier.
The new place I am going is a bit bigger 250 beds in San Pablo California. We are hoping the weather will be nice for the upcoming summer. Plus it's very close to San Francisco so our friends and family can visit.
One of the harder part of this traveling thing is trying to get the timing right for the assignments. I particularly do not like to work for Christmas or New Years so I have to count the weeks and decide what length of assignment to take next. So, I either need to stay at this next assignment for a few extra weeks or take a shorter assignment next. We will have to see.

California Dreamin

Hi Everyone. Yeah I'm California Dreamin here in Bakersfield...dreamin of some sunshine and dry weather. Ok , I shouldn't complain too much cuz it's not snowing and 30 degrees like my friends in Rhode Island or Cleveland. We are only 2 hours from the coast and 4 hours from Vegas. But it's really hard to take a day off when the hospital is calling all the time. I went to Oklahoma this last week for my niece's wedding and their weather was better than here. I was off work for 6 days and the hospital called me 3 times to come in to work. It's nice to be wanted...and it's job security, right? I could stay but the grayness might just kill my good attitude so we are choosing to move on...probably to the bay area. At least the water is right there...and fog burns off.
Mercy Southwest is a cute little place..26 med-surg tele beds and 8 ICU beds. We have a secretary and a monitor tech a charge nurse and 2 nurse techs...nurse patient ratio is 5:1. It's not bad , hard on the nurse techs to have 13 patients. The patient turn over is pretty rapid...los is usually 3 days ER is always full...makes me wonder what these patients did before this ER was open, I guess they sat in someone else's waiting room. The staff nurses are very nice and helpful and grateful for our help. There are quite a few travelers here. The apartment complex I am in boasts population of 150 travelers.
The town of Bakersfield doesn't have a lot to offer that I have found but it is a growing community. There are houses and housing complexes popping up all over the southwest side. We made it over to Pismo Beach for Valentines Day. We enjoyed beautiful sunny weather and rode 4-wheelers on the sand dunes, huh? It was fun and a new adventure. We drove through Morro Bay and reminisced about our time there. We are planning a couple of days in Vegas before we head north early next month.
Still working on getting some picture on this blog so you all can enjoy the scenery with us.

Mercy

Hello, yes I'm writing in grey. Because that is what I see. I think the sun was out once since we've been here in Bakersfield. And like everywhere else we go, "this is such unusual weather", is all I hear. When we were in Rhode Island an it rained forever...Oh this is so unusual it never rains this much here. When we were in Phoenix and escaped the flood waters oh my it never rains like this here...how unusual. The same thing happened in Columbus and Orlando. I think we'll change our license plate to Rainmkr so you all know when we roll into town the crappy weather is here...at least for the next 3 months.
So, just as I suspected there is nothing in Bakersfield CA. Just work for me. My poor husband is bored to death. I have been working at the "downtown" hospital mostly because they haven't opened the tele unit at the smaller hospital yet. I heard horror stories before I came here...so did everyone else in my orientation group. I figured it couldn't be too bad since there was one person in the group who actually had been here before and was coming back. It's ugly downtown but not horrible. I lived through horrible in Columbus Ohio at Riverside hospital on 6 North...That was horrible. The kind of horrible where you hate to go to work everyday. You go in with the attitude it's going to be a great day and it just never is. When you are happy to float just to see if the rest of the hospital is just as bad. Mercy isn't that bad...But it ain't Phoenix or Orlando. Those were two of my favorite places to work...Besides home that is. I think the smaller hospital, Mercy Southwest will be much better. It's just a whole different attitude over there. They open their unit Wednesday so we'll see what happens.
Here's hoping your weather is better than mine...

Bakersfield

Hey all...We made it. Our first stop was the London Bridge in Lake Havasu Arizona. It is an actual replica with pieces of the original bridge. Nice little stop, I bet it would look better at night. Lake Havasu is a very pretty little town. We stopped in Laughlin NV on the way and stayed at the Edgewater in a room over looking the Colorado River...for under $40/night!! A cute little gambling strip (that's all we had time to see) then it was off to the Hoover Dam. A little over an hour sitting in traffic but we wanted to stop for some pictures..We had my niece with us and wanted her to see it. Then it was off to Vegas...I love that town. There's so much to see and do and it's always changing. We rode the monorail from Paris to The Sahara...It's a difficult thing to find but it was worth the walk. Our feet would have never made it that far. Bellagio was beautiful... The fountains and the conservatory which also had dancing water this year. We got to go downtown and stay a night in our favorite hotel the Golden Nugget and see the Fremont Street Experience light show. New Year's Eve was spent in front of the Aladdin hotel (where we also stayed a few nights). The sign in front of Paris counted off the seconds way too early and then didn't count them off when it was really midnight...Threw off the whole crowd. We were all wondering if they would really set off the fireworks..The wind threatened to shut them down but it was a really cool sight to see. I'm not one for crowds that big, there's always that one drunk person that keeps pushing you forward into other people. I would do it again if I could go to one of the roof top parties or maybe Downtown would be better . It was $35/person to be downtown. Maybe next year.
Our trip from Vegas to Bakersfield was quicker than I thought...Only 4 hours! You know what that means ....We'll be back. I start my job on Monday at Mercy Southwest...The per diem job didn't pan out. Access nurses didn't realize (even though I told them several times) that I needed to work like this week. Of course I got the new guy and he got confused so I didn't work this week. What a pain, I really hate it when people don't listen to me, or don't listen to the whole story. Hopefully we both learned from this experience.
World Health has delivered everything they were promising so far.. 2 bedroom apartment fully furnished including pots and pans and linens, TV with cable and the phone line. We even got pictures on the wall and a fake tree. Nice little touches. I'll let you know about the hospital next week. There are 150 travelers in this apartment complex... I'm thinking of renting out the club house and inviting them too meet each other...I'll let you know how it goes! Any suggestions for my party?Or what might make you show up to a party like that?

Holiday spirit?

Hello again...I got my assignment in Bakersfield CA...Unfortunately the hospital could not start me until a week later than I wanted. But, what a great company World Health is so far, they are going to get me into my housing on the 3rd and I don't start working for them until the 10th. We also are getting free cable and dsl. Sounds pretty nice so far. A far cry from the treatment I received from RN Network. I'll keep you informed once I get out there. But, I also signed up with an agency that does both travel and per diem called Access Nurses. I will be working for them the first week that I get to CA and then if I get called off at my travel contract I can pick up time with them. Also when this contract is done I'll have more options to choose from. And it's always good to have an option.
Now on to my Phoenix story. I was in the grocery store and walking to a line to check out. I entered the line and a woman in a motorized grocery cart rolls by and says "Nice holiday spirit, jumping in front of me." Wow, I said to myself, she has some nice holiday spirit herself. I told her I didn't know she was headed into the line and she could go ahead of me. "No," she said, "I'll find another line." as she rolled away. Wow I said to myself again...so, she just wanted to spout off at me. Very nice. Do you think she was having a bad day or what? Maybe she is lonely and saw me with my husband and my neice and felt badly because she is all alone and it's almost Christmas. So, how would you have responded? Do you have any holiday stories?Hopefully nicer than my little encounter. Anyway have a nice Christmas and a great New Year.

Off again

Hello all, we are enjoying sunny Arizona and feeling sorry for those in the frozen north and east. Hello to all my friends in Cleveland and Providence Rhode Island...two places I am glad not to be in the winter. I highly recommend Arizona for the winter for you travelers out there. The Banner hospital system has been awesome to work for. I have been on the tele unit and I haven't had to float at all except within the unit. I am on to Bakersfield California and on to a new travel company....World Health. The hospital is opening an new tele unit so it should be interesting. I did get my 12 hr days!!
As for my current travel company RN Network I have even less good to say about my current experience than before. Our apartment complex informed us that we are scheduled to move out 12/27. My contract ends 1/2...oops they did it again. RN Network even sent them a notice to vacate for us for the 27th...now they don't know what to do. We offered to leave early to make it easy on them, of course they will be compensating us. But it was another error on their part, not to mention all the incorrect checks I have had in the last weeks. All in all the hospital is great but the company RN Network has not been. I will let you all know how the next one works out.
Hopefully I will be setting up some pictures on my blog pretty soon. We will be leaving here and going through Lake Havasu to see the London Bridge then through Laughlin and on to Vegas for New Years Eve!! Hope you all have a happy and fun holiday season!!

Looking forward

Well, I'm no closer to resolving my problems with RN Network. I spoke with the person in charge of the recruiters and requested a different recruiter. Yeah, I spoke with her last week and ......I'm still waiting. I'm not wasting anymore energy on it...I'm looking forward to the next company and the next recruiter. I've had a few bites and already been bitten. Some of them are just like car salesmen....no, used car salesmen. They are trying to sell you their "hottest" spot...and not listening. Some are just pain rude. Don't they know we get enough of that at work?
Speaking of work...I will recommend Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix. I have only worked the tele floor and only on dayshift but they have been very fair. I also have been working at Phoenix St. Luke's Hospital...also not a bad place. The staff there has been really friendly. It is a downtown hospital just like Good Samaritan so the neighborhood...well, I don't hang out there after work let's just leave it at that. Phoenix itself is much warmer and nicer climate than most of the cities I've been too. And I have to admit I love the palm trees. The patients and their families have been nice for the most part. They seem to be in a hurry just like the rest of the world....wonder what they are running for...or from? I still recommend travel nursing as the way to go in nursing today so much freedom and really moving every three months is not nearly as bad as it sounds. It actually gets to be fun. I look forward to packing all my stuff and unpacking in a new town. Email any questions to Travelingnurse@gmail.com. Remember first do no harm

What to do when your company turns on you

Hi all. the weather is great but I'm not feeling too sunny. What do you do when no one in your company will talk to you? No one seems to want to try to work things out or even listen to my side of the story. Besides being delayed on my contract due to miscomunication and losing money there, as well as being charged for all the housing costs for that week, I was called off last week. I emailed my recruiter that this had happened on Monday( the next business day) and asked if my hours were guaranteed. I got an email back from her assistant on Thursday that it is in my contract that I can be called off once a pay period which is once a week...news to me it's not in my contract anywhere. In fact if you want to read it and you find it I will give you a $100 and I'll call guiness because you are a remarkable person to be able to read that far in between those lines. The email went on to say that I could try to reschedule that day later in the week...once again I'll tell you I got the email on Thursday. Lots of time for me to reschedule. I didn't ask not to go to work...they called and told me not to come in...should I have showed up anyway? When I got paid this week...I got charged for housing $50 because I missed a day. WHAT? Are you kidding me? I call today to see why and of course no one is avaliable to talk to me right now they will get back to me as soon as possible. Really? I'm still waiting for a call from last month to resolve the move in fees. I am expected to go to work everyday and make this comany money....lots of money....I am nice and kind to my patients, their families and my coworkers.I try to make people feel better, answer every question they or their family or their doctor might have...I answer to everyone. Who has to answer to me? Obviously not the people in the company I work for. I stayed with this company because I liked my recruiter, we got a long well, we understood each other. She went on maternity leave and I was assigned a new recruiter. Now I found out that she is not coming back to work- I found out from the person that answers the phone at the company...not even my new recruiter that knew I was waiting for the other one to return. Nice huh? So I'm still on the search for a new travel company. I got a nice email from a recruiter who read my blog..(Hi Mike) and I'll be talking to him soon. Again if anyone else likes their recruiter and their company please let me know.

Sunny Arizona

Hi All...Yep still here. 11 weeks to go. Am I planning on staying? NO...I'm sorry I mean no. I am planning my departure already for the last week of the year and my next vacation. I'm hoping for a few days in Vegas on my way to sunny California. I am searching for a new travel company if you have any suggestions. The weather out here is just remarkable. It's the middle of October and it's still 80-90 during the day. The sun is always shining and the sky is so blue. The mountains are a great view as well. I love working during the day I feel like I am really making a difference. I can see my patients and they aren't annoyed that I am waking them up. To prove what a small world this is ,there is a traveler here at the hospital I am working in that I worked with the last time I was in Cleveland. I just walked in one morning and there he was. He's been here for a couple of months and is planning on staying until March or April. So I guess this place isn't all that bad. It's weird, but nice ,to see a familiar face. There are a lot of travelers here and that seems to make the days go pretty well. We all help each other and get through the day. I actually will be getting a visit from my family on this assignment...I can't wait. We never get company on the road. Trying to find some fun places to go..Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks for reading...First do no harm.

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.