Highway Hypodermics

Madelyne Lupercio

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’d recommend that the traveler speaks with their manager first to get the situation handled quicker. The client manager will contact the facility if the traveler is uncomfortable with this. We want to find a solution and ensure that the contract is upheld.

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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:

Without the neonatal experience, Nurse Betty should not be asked to float there. I wouldn’t want my nurse to take on an assignment that is out of her scope and endangers her license and possibly patients.

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 try to help her find another option for housing immediately. I’d recommend she talks to her property manager to get it taken care of as quickly as possible.

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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:

I wouldn’t ask her to finish the assignment. We wouldn’t want her to put her health at risk. If we do a new placement n the future, I would make sure to have all the facts in order to avoid this situation 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:

I would speak with the nurse first and keep her looped in on everything that is going on. I’d work with my client manager to see if we can get something approved quickly and get her started. If that is not possible, I’d like to look at other options with a quick start date.

Question 6:

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

Answer 6:

My biggest request is to let me know what you’re looking for from an assignment. I want to have clear expectations and understand what you are looking for from me as well. The better I can be, the more we communicate, the happier we will both be.

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