Highway Hypodermics

Annette Bolster

Question 1:

In a large metropolitan area, Nurse Floating Flo contracts to float between three hospitals within a 10 mile radius of her housing. Starting in the 6th week, the company ask her to float to a hospital 15 miles away, the 7th week she goes to one on the other side of the city, that is 30 miles away, plus one that is 17 miles away. The nurse is willing to take the first few, but after the behavior continues, she has had enough and voices this to her recruiter.

Answer 1:

Freedom Healthcare is a very strong Nurse Advocate and we would immediately involve our Client Services Manager in this issue. If the contract states that the radius is within 10 miles then we would expect that the nurse would only be required to float within a 10 mile radius.

Question 2:

Baby Nurse Betty is a skilled labor and delivery nurse, who also can float to post-pardum care after the delivery as well as the well-newborn nursery. At 7:30pm, the staffing company hotline gets a call stating that they want her to float to the NICU, which is beyond her competency level. What is your company’s response?

Answer 2:

The nurse would need to reach out to me immediately. We ask our nurses to only care for patients that they are qualified to care for and if they are asked to care for patients that they are not qualified to care for then they are to refuse to accept those patients. Our Client Services Manager would immediately reach out to the Nurse Manager or Charge Nurse and let them know we have advised our RN to only care for patients they are qualified to care for.

Question 3:

Nurse Roach is all excited about her first travel nursing assignment. She drives 750 miles to her new assignment housing. After getting the keys from management, she opens the door and three cockroaches scurry across the floor. After further investigation, she also finds a ring of mold in the shower. She can’t stand it and immediately texts you with pictures. How do you respond?

Answer 3:

I would tell my nurse to not move into the apartment and we would immediately put them in a hotel until the situation can be resolved. Our housing manager would then find acceptable housing for the nurse. These things do happen as we are not always able to inspect the housing before we place someone there so when it does we act quickly to remedy the situation.

Question 4:

You have worked with Nurse Asthmatic for 3 years now and she has done a great job for you, when she takes an assignment in Southeast Colorado. She envisions magic mountains that reach to the sky, only to find that she has landed in wheat country. Not wanting to cause problems she continues to work and everything is fine, until harvest. She has an asthma attack, ends up in the hospital, and is told that she is going to miss at least 2 weeks of work related to asthma induced pneumonia. How do you work things out?

Answer 4:

This really depends on what the nurse wants to do. If they want to continue with the assignment we can see if they can make up the time at the end. If the nurse just cannot physically stay then we need to give notice to the hospital and find another assignment.

Question 5:

You have worked hard to find Nurse Roulette a job in Las Vegas. You send the nurse a contract that she readily accepts, signs, and sends back. The next morning the bags are packed and Nurse Roulette is on the way to the assignment of her dreams. At 0800 she is out the door and to the hospital. Checking in with HR, they inform her that there is no contract between the hospital and the company, related to the fact that it has not been approved by HR. About the same time, the recruiting manager comes to you and tells you not to send Nurse Roulette on the assignment. This shouldn’t have happened, but unfortunately it does happen. What do you do?

Answer 5:

This should never happen. We have a contract hat the facility has signed as well just like the contract between the nurse and the company. If it does happen we would of course take care of the nurse either by hoteling or providing monies for the nurse to return home until we can find another contract.

Question 6:

What would you like travel nurses to know about being a great traveling nurse and making your job easier?

Answer 6:

The best thing to do is to tell your Recruiter exactly what you want and not settle on an assignment. Be upfront about shift, location and if you are going to need any time off during the contract. Your Recruiter should always have your best interest at heart and if they do not then find another recruiter.

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