Highway Hypodermics

Mary Geer

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:

If my nurse and I agree to take an assignment only floating between 3 hospitals within a 10 mile radius then that is the agreement. I will have this written in the contract for both my nurse AND the facility before the assignment even takes place. If my nurse is voicing that this is happening, I will immediately call the facility with their signed agreement (stating the radius rules) and let them know what is happening. I would then ask my nurse if he/she would be willing to float to other facilities outside the 10 mile radius if they were earning a differential. If my nurse tells me that they would be more than willing to float outside the 10 mile radius for a higher rate, I will take this back to the facility and let them know we'd be more than happy to help fill in outside of our contracted radius for higher pay. If they agree, this will go in a new signed contract and my nurse will then float with higher pay. If they tell us no, we will no longer be floating outside of a 10 miles radius according to our original signed 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:

For each of my nurses, I will put exact agreements/stipulations in the contract before the assignment begins. In each contract I send over it states that my nurses will only float within their skill set IF agreed upon with the manager. It is VERY important to me that my nurses feel at ease and comfortable at all times during assignment. With that being said, if Betty were to inform me that they want to float her to the NICU then we would discuss how she is feeling doing this and take it from there. If she is not comfortable with this, I would have our PPR clinician (who is fantastic) discuss with my nurse and then let the facility know that we will not be able to float her due to minimal experience in the NICU.

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:

Well first, that is absolutely not okay. I'd immediately discuss with Nurse Roach how she is wanting to proceed and provide her with a few different housing options. In the mean time, I'd immediately have our PPR housing coordinator on the hunt for CLEAN, safe, affordable housing that meets her standards ASAP and do all I can to make this up to 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:

I'd discuss with Nurse Asthmatic what she would like to do, see what she is asking for and immediately get on the hunt for new assignments in areas she is looking to go. If my nurse lets me know that she has to miss 2 weeks of work, I'd immediately go to my payroll team here @ PPR and see if there is anything we can do to make up for the work she is missing. PPR is a very understanding, down to earth company and we realize unforeseen things happen. It doesn't matter if my nurse and I have been working together for just 1 assignment or 3 years, I will ALWAYS do everything I can to make sure each one of them is taken care of and has a great assignment.

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:

Well first, I've never had this happen and know this would never happen to any of my nurses. However to answer the question, I would immediately apologize and be extremely embarrassed that this happened. I would immediately go back to the facility in Las Vegas, explain to them the situation and that my nurse traveled all this way, signed a contract and there was clearly a miscommunication. I'd do all I can to convince the facility to give my nurse the position. If they still decline, I'd go to payroll and see if there's anything we can do to reimburse my nurse for the travel money/mileage she used to get to the assignment and do everything in my power to get her a positions at another facility in Las Vegas or any other area she'd be open to going to.

Question 6:

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

Answer 6:

For me, I'm all about transparency and communication! It's my job to find my nurses exactly what they're wanting or as close to it as I can possibly get! The more honest my nurses are about what they're wanting/looking for, the easier it will be for me to do my job and find you an awesome assignment. I look at my nurses and I as a team - I will always be respectful of your wishes, have your back and do all I can for you. If we can communicate and work together as a team, landing great assignments will be easy to do!

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