Highway Hypodermics

Jill Haney

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:

In this situation I would reach out to the facility and/or VMS and ask the reasoning for her being floated further than originally discussed. I would also find out if this is something that would continue or if this is just needed for a few weeks. If it is something they are wanting to continue, I would get my manager/client manager involved to discuss with the facility or facilities that this is not what we'd agreed upon, and not what was in the contract.

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:

Since this is out of her competencies, we would tell Nurse Betty to please speak with a manger from L&D and/or NICU and state that this is out of her competencies and she will not float.

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 this nurse that she definitely doesn't have to stay there tonight. I would try and set up a hotel for the night for her or have her check into a hotel and I'd reimburse her for that night (or a few if she needed to stay there while finding new housing). I would also start looking into new housing options for her.

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:

First of all, I would prevent this from happening by educating this nurse on the area before she gets there. This would prevent the surprise of the different landscape she had envisioned. If for some reason that didn't happen though, I would obviously check in with her to see how she was, I would find out if she'd be able to stay through the end of her contract even with harvesting going on. Then I would make note, to discuss areas in depth moving forward for next assignments to prevent that from happening again.

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:

First off, I have no idea how this would ever happen. There are so many people that double check things, the recruiter, client manager, compliance, - that I don't understand this happening. If for some reason it did, I would apologize to the nurse, have her try and relax for the day while I sorted things out. I would immediately have my client manger get in contact with the VMS or hospital and ask why we were under the impression that this nurse was supposed to start and why she was supposedly cleared. I would try and get her set to start later in the week or the next Monday. If that wasn't an option for this facility, I would find her something else in the area.

Question 6:

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

Answer 6:

Communication is key!! Don't go dark on a recruiter! Even though you might feel bad that you took an assignment through another company, that's alright. Let the recruiter know so they at least know that you found an option. A good recruiter will not get mad that you took a contract with another company. The worst feeling as a recruiter is when a nurse goes dark on you and you dont know if they took another assignment, don't want to travel any more, are mad at you for something, or if they are even alright. The least you can do is communicate with your recruiter, keep them in the loop and they will do the same for you.

Email this Recruiter!