Highway Hypodermics

Joseph Letizia

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:

First I would have her talk to her manager about her concerns. Usually that is enough to get everyone on the same page and working well together. If that did not do the trick I would have my account manager reach out and see if we cant get the situation mediated or at the least a change in the pay package to make up for the additional work and mileage being sprung on the nurse. If all else fails I would start submitting her out to new facilities and once something is locked down put in a two week notice.

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 expresses to the charge nurse that she is not competent or qualified and that she refuses the patient. Then she would contact her recruiters and then our Clinical liaison team would step in to ensure that our nurse is taken care of and that no further incidents occur.

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 tell her to immediately go find the nurse manager and tell her that the living accommodations are unacceptable for obvious health reasons and have her ask what the plan is to get the room to a livable state. Then either I or our Housing department or possibly both would immediately find a hotel option for the night. Then based on the response from the facility on the time it would take to get the housing fixed and cleaned would find a new housing option on the meantime. If she would have to report I would handle the search through either a hotel search engine or for long term solutions I would look through funishedfinder.com or Airbnb. No one shold have to stay anywhere that is not safe or clean.

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:

As a fellow asthmatic I tell her not to worry and that I will handle everything and have her send me a doctors note stating what happened and when she could return to work. We would reach out to the facility and let them know and provide the doctors note and offer to add the two weeks on to the end of the contract.

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:

With trustaff that would never happen, If this happened with a company I would never work with them again. With the mandatory compliance like drug screens, testing, and everything it takes at least two weeks to start the assignment. Plus the contract would never be able to be written which would be a red flag and I have been blocked before and was unable to send out our acceptance confirmation because the contract with the facility hadn't been signed. There so many multiple checks to prevent that at trustaff its impossible. If worked for a company that let that happen to one of my travelers who outs their trust in me i would demand we pay for their housing in the interim until the contract is signed or id be looking for a new job for the traveler and myself.

Question 6:

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

Answer 6:

Just be open and honest about who you are and what your expectations are in travel. A positive attitude is the best ting you can have. It sounds silly but its 100% true. Recruiters and Facilities are way more likely to work with you and help you over come any obstacles to make sure your assignment is great and successful if you are easy to work with. I'm not saying let anyone take advantage of you or walk all over you. However, sometimes things go slightly wrong or there are hiccups and if you approach it as we are a team lets find a solution as apposed to assigning blame and such recruiters will fight for the chance to work with you and keep working with you.

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