Highway Hypodermics

Justin Jacob

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:

I would request that my client manager contact the facility, with Flo’s contract attached to the email, and remind them that Flo’s contract notes that she is only required to float to facilities within a 10-mile radius of her housing and she will refuse to float to facilities further than that going forward.

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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:

As a traveler myself, I never floated anywhere I wasn’t comfortable floating, so my advice to travelers is to do the same. For the safety and well-being of the patients, never float to a unit where you’re not 100% comfortable floating.

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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 ask Roach if she could send me a copy of the lease she signed for the housing (if she signed one) and review the lease regarding the cancellation clause. I would then search the area for another housing option using the resources we have in our database and what I used myself as a traveler to secure housing.

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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 an advocate for nurses, I would talk with the Asthmatic and ask her if she believes she can continue to work on her assignment or if she considers continuing to work there may be detrimental to her health. If she believes she can continue to work there, I would ask her to get a note from her physician explaining why she needs to miss two weeks of work and then send it to her manager. If she doesn’t believe she can continue working, I would have her get a doctor’s note explaining why she cannot continue working there and send that to her manager as well.

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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 inform the nurse of the mix-up and immediately start looking for a backup plan. I would ask her if there is anywhere else she would prefer to go while we iron out the contract details with the facility in Las Vegas and would try to get her placed there again after her next assignment is done.

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Question 6:

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

Answer 6:

Don’t drag your feet with completing compliance items after accepting a contract. Get the requirements knocked out ASAP to help avoid getting the contract delayed or canceled entirely. When communicating with the compliance specialist, CC your recruiter, so everyone is on the same page and knows where we all stand with compliance.

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