Highway Hypodermics

Denise Christensen

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:

Always have your nurses back, thank you for being flexible but this is not in your contract. The facility only asked you to float to hospitals within a 10 mile radius, this is outside of that you do not need to be driving that far. I would reach out to the facility immediately and get this cleared up.

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:

Again always have your nurses back, this is outside of her competency level and the contract states you will only float to like areas within your competency. This is not safe practice for the nurse or the patients. I would reach out immediately and make sure the facillity knows they cannot float Nurse Betty to the NICU.

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 call Nurse Roach immediately, after talking to her, I find out if we need to get a new place immediately, or if we can ask for a different room at the current place. I would not hesitate to reach out to my housing manager and get her moved into a hotel for the night until we can find something different. The most important thing is that the nurse feels safe, especially since it is her first travel assignment.

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:

I would work with the nurse and the hospital, if she needs to end the contract early because of her health and the asthma, I would make sure she is cleared on good terms. I would 100% have her back in this situation, if we need to get another nurse in the hospital to cover for the remainder of the contract I would work on that, and address getting Nurse Asthmatic a new contract once she is feeling better and wanting to start looking.

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:

I would immediately call Nurse Roulette and apologize, then I would listen and empathize. This is a tough situation, but I would let her vent to me. I would then let her know I 100% have her back and I would have jobs in mind to go over with her that will move right away so we can get her working asap.

Question 6:

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

Answer 6:

I work with so many great traveling nurses, and the things I enjoy the most are the open communication, the honesty, the transparency, and relationship we build.

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