
Lorna Roberts
Trustaff
Email this Recruiter!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:
A lot of times when something like this comes up, it's an oversight from the facility and can easily be rectified. If they were not willing to adjust we would intervene and remind the hospital of the terms of the contract. If they were not willing to adhere to the agreed upon terms, I would ask Nurse Floating Flo if she wanted to stick it out or move on to another facility. If she wanted to move on, I would recommend giving a two week notice so we could get a new contract lined up and she wouldn't have to have time off between contracts.
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:
Nurses should never be floated to a unit where they are not competent/qualified. We would never want someone to put their license at risk by working a unit that they are not comfortable on. We would advise her to decline floating to the NICU and we would absolutely intervene with the hospital if they gave her any resistance. We also have a clinical liaison here at trustaff who was a travel RN herself. She is able to step in and address these types of issues with the facility directly.
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 and tell her we need to get out of that place immediately! We have an excellent housing department that would be able to provide her with a list of alternative options so she can get into better housing ASAP.
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 immediately call up Nurse Asthmatic and get a plan together. I always want what is in the best interest for the nurse. Due to the circumstances it honestly sounds like she needs to get out of there. We (trustaff) would work out the logistics with the facility, provide documentation that the nurse was having health concerns, and end the contract early without penalty assuming that's what she wanted to do.
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:
Thankfully I can say that in the four years I've been with trustaff, I have never had this situation arise. Whenever we get an offer from the hospital, we always get a signed contract with them before we send a contract to the nurse. If somehow this situation did happen, I would get with all of my account managers in the Vegas area and get the nurse submitted out to new hospitals immediately so we could get something else lined up.
Question 6:
What would you like travel nurses to know about being a great traveling nurse and making your job easier?
Answer 6:
I know it's been said a thousand times but it's important to have an open/honest relationship with your recruiter. We are on your side and are always going to advocate for you! Let us know if you are having any problems because we are here to help and we're always going to be on your side.
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