April 07
The phone has been ringing off the wall! Everyone is sending me
email and helping so nicely. I have fourteen gazillion papers to look at
and fill out. Maybe I should have just started out with only a few companies
instead of everyone I could find on the net! HA!
I guess that
my next step is to decide what is important to me in a traveling company.
What am I looking for in a company? What am I looking for in a hospital
position? I have been preparing myself for this day all along my nursing
career, which is why I have experience in medical, surgical, telemetry,
rehabilitation, psychiatric, and emergency nursing. In addition, I have
floated to the recovery room and have done some relief supervisor at my last
place of employment. I do not know if I really like anything better than the
rest enough to call it a “specialty.” I guess that my “specialty” would be a
float nurse.
Although I am
excited about everything, I am also getting anxious and questioning if I
made the right decision. Change is always difficult, but I really believe
that the Lord is telling my family and me that the time is right for a
change.
###
April 28
Today was my
first day of orientation. I had to go to employee health and they wanted to
repeat some of the tests that already had been done. I got them talked into
letting me have my travel company fax them some of the papers again, but I
have to have another test for tuberculosis. Then they sent me to human
resources, where I was immediately given a stack of papers and told to fill
all of it out. I asked, “Didn’t my travel agency send all you the
information?” They replied that all the information also had to be on “their
forms.” Therefore, I spent the next hour and a half filling out more
paperwork.
###
April 29
Nursing
clinical orientation was today. They made it as interesting as they could. I
met some nice nurses from the other floors. Here we are starting out at the
same time, and all of us have different backgrounds. Nice to talk to other
nurses with different backgrounds, and learn of their anxieties about
starting a new job. One of the other nurses is also a traveler, and another
was a traveler when she first came here a year ago. She met her husband
while working at the hospital here. After finishing a few other assignments,
she came back here to settle down.
After hearing
so many stories about bad experiences, it is nice to know that my first
travel assignment is also a place where someone has decided to come back to
stay for a while. The only bad experience that I had today was traffic!
###
May 2
I worked my
first night in the emergency room. It was a slow night, which was a good
deal for me. Slow nights are always very helpful in getting to know the
routine; you just do not always get that lucky.
The people
that I work with are really nice and receptive of “the traveler,” which is
good. I know that I have gotten myself into a traveler friendly environment.
Some of my newbie anxiety has been relieved. I have even met two other
nurses that are travel nurses, and they state that this place “isn’t too
bad.”
After not
working for three weeks, I am not as sharp on my I.V. skills, but they
should came back as strong as ever soon. I made a few stupid blunders, but
none serious, but sure did kick myself for them. Trying to hard to make a
good first-impression, but feel like I failed at times from trying too hard.
###
May 25
I
am completing my fourth week at the hospital, and really enjoy my work. This
is probably the best place a first time traveller could ever think of going.
The teamwork is so very impressive. They really do appreciate their travel
nurses, and even the charge nurse takes your side when there is minor
conflict with ancillary departments. I talked to my recruiter about
extending my contract here for twenty-six weeks. Right now, I would like to
give places thirteen weeks to see if we “get along” and then sign up for a
6-month contract. Don’t think that I want to “hang my hat” anywhere for
longer than 9 months, maybe would consider a year.
###
June 03
I am really
having a lot of fun here. Even though I was a little scared of a big city,
like Phoenix, I have decided that it isn’t too bad. In fact, I am beginning
to like the fact that I have so many places to choose to eat out, and so
many different places to play golf!
I have now
asked my recruiter, Loretta, to ask for a continence of my current contract
for another six months. I figure that since I have found a great place that
is traveler friendly, I had better stay put. I just hope that they still
need me. Rumor is that they have hired two other regular staff.
###
June 11
Well, I went
to check in today and found that my recruiter, Loretta, has quit to further
her education and get her masters. I am happy for her, but very sad that I
lost a great recruiter. I talked to a guy named Stephan today who is
supposed to be my recruiter. We will see how this pans out. He is a
financial specialist, so we will see how well he specializes in advancing my
finances. He stated that he was going to work on getting me extended at the
hospital in Phoenix.
###
June 16
I called my
recruiter today to find out whether or not the Phoenix hospital wanted to
renew my contract for the next thirteen weeks. This other guy, Darren,
supposedly was on the phone with my nurse manager at the same time that I
was on the phone with Stephan. Moreover, supposedly the nurse manager had
this all-important meeting to go to and was in a rush to know whether I
would accept an extension for one more month. Stephan insisted that I give
him an answer that very minute.
Pretty slick
tactic, until I ask my nurse manager about the deal. See what she says on
her end. I guarantee you that if this was some tactic to get me to hurry up
and promise to sign up for another month, then I will be letting his
supervisor know about his tactics. This recruiter needs to remember that it
pays to be nice to me. I am the one with Registered Nurse behind my name,
and without the Registered Nurses of this world, he would not have a job.
Stephan also needs to remember about these tactics (if it really was a
tactic), that nothing is confirmed until it is in writing.
The good thing
about this phone conversation is that Stephan said from the email he
received from my nurse manager acknowledged that, “She would love to have me
back.”
We will see
what happens…He is supposed to call me tomorrow and then fax me the paper
work.
###
June 18
Well, it has
been two days, and I have been at home working on my home business stuff (I
also have an ePublishing business), and no phone call. I have sent Stephan
not one, but two emails, with no response from either.
He has to
realize, that there are more recruiters in the travel nursing sea, and I am
not that loyal to this company yet. This is my first assignment with them,
and I just may be moving on. Although, I might like to stay on with them and
see what this other person, Ralph, can find for me in Southern California or
Kingman, Arizona. He was the one I was talking to before I talked to
Loretta, and now I am stuck with this person named Stephan.
###
June 15
After I got off work today, we went to Sunday School here in Phoenix. I have
been a member of the Church of the Nazarene all my life, and they have one
here only a mile from the apartment. That is one thing about belonging to a
larger denomination; there is always a church nearby that can be called
home. This is especially important to me when it comes to my teenage son and
his social life.
###
June 22
The extension
has been filed! Today I sent in my contract extension to my recruiter. I
asked my nursing manager, and she stated that indeed, Stephan and Darren had
called at the same time. I feel like I am in the trust –vs. - mistrust part
of my assignment. Even though I want to thoroughly trust my recruiter and my
nursing manager, in the end, I have to be mostly concerned with my nursing
career safety. I guess that Stephan has passed to the trust side of things.
###
July 08
This evening
was great! We went the Bank One Ballpark and watched the Arizona
Diamondbacks play the Colorado Rockies. What a game! Arizona slugged out a
nine to three win over the Rockies. Although they did try to give us heart
failure in the ninth inning; took two other relief pitchers to end the game.
Magnificent thing about baseball is the low cost for great family fun.
Back at work,
things are going as well as expected. I have made a few good friends, and
one gal has kind of taken me under her wings and been there for me whenever
I needed help. My charge nurse is also great. He is always understanding
about any problems that I have, and works with me to solve those problems.
###
July 18
This week was
my toughest week since starting my assignment. On the third day of this
week, I made a medication error. Thank goodness, it was a non-injuring
error. I have been lucky that in my twelve years of nursing, I have never
made a major medical error. Some days, I believe that is only by the grace
of God that nothing bad happens as hectic as things get with patients,
doctors, and other staff yelling at you to do several things at one time.
Then, on my
fourth and last day of the week, it was just too much…First, this doctor
gets mad because supposedly I made another medication error by giving
Demerol instead of Benadryl. Then the physician gets even more furious when
the ward clerk takes my side saying, “No, you told her Demerol.” Now, why
would I give a patient who states that she is in pain a shot of Benadryl?
Then the
physician comes up to the family while the emergency room technician and I
are walking the patient, and says, “Yes, that is my thoughts exactly; that
is why we are walking the patient.” HA! The doctor had no idea why we were
walking the patient. We were walking the patient because the family told us
that the patient usually walks when these symptoms occur; not because the
doctor told us to.
Right before
the tech and I took the patient upstairs really takes the cake though. The
physician tells me to insert a urinary catheter into a patient who has
uncontrollable movements of her legs, and then the physician ordered me to
apply a leg bag to this patient. Now, how is the leg bag to drain when the
patient’s legs are up in the air? This is just too much! You should have
seen the faces on the nurses in the intensive care unit when they received
this patient!
I guess that
this goes to prove the point about being careful about taking verbal or
telephone orders, and to definitely read the order back to them, or state
verbally what you heard the physician say before acting upon the order.
###
July 26
Vacation time
is here! Well, I made it through my first three months of a travel
assignment in pretty good shape. Things went very well. So well, that I have
signed even another extension onto my contract; therefore, I will be in
Phoenix until at least the first of October. We will see about how things go
after that. My husband and I have decided to sell our “primary” home in
Arizona and move all our stuff to our “secondary” home in Idaho. The summers
are very nice in Idaho, unlike the scorching temperatures here in Arizona.
Well, I am off
to New Mexico for camping and fishing with my parents for a well-deserved
week’s vacation. I am glad that I have the opportunity to be a travel nurse.
The unexpectedness of the assignment and the challenge of performing well in
an unfamiliar territory is the change that I needed to combat the feelings
of burnout.
###
Reflections
of first thirteen weeks:
Since I have
been a nurse, I have always wanted to do travel nursing, which is the reason
why I have experience is so many different fields of nursing including
medical, surgical, rehabilitation, orthopedic, psychiatric, and emergency. I
do not want to be told where I can work because I have not have any
experience on that type of unit. Family, fun, work, and travel can be a very
exciting way of life. I cannot wait until we have more adventures.
I feel as
if I was very fortunate to get the hospital that I did. They have been more
than wonderful to me! I do not think that I could have asked for any
friendlier place. They have treated me like a regular staff employee since
day one. The new hires are even really surprised that I am a travel
registered nurse because of the fact that travelers are treated no
different.
It is also
nice to have a change in faces for patients. So many times in the emergency
room, you get what is commonly known as a frequent flyer. I do not have
frequent flyers. I have patients who need my assistance for their medical
care.
I believe that
the hardest thing for a travel nurse to do is establish credibility. You
must have credibility with your managers, your co-workers, and the
physicians. I was so nervous my first day that I, the one who started all
the “hard sticks” on acute care in my previous facility, could not hit the
“broad side of a vein.” Thank goodness that jinx did not last very long.
What would I
like to tell new travel nurses? You have to get your head into the game
early, make the adjustments, and do your job. You are an experienced nurse.
There is no excuse for looking like a rookie. Get your confidence going and
get down that hallway! As the great Samuel Johnson once said, “Few things
are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by
strength, but perseverance.”
|
