Download Our Free facing your fears ebookI would look at her contract first. If it initially said she would float within a 10 mile radius I would look to see if the contract had anything further than that. If the contract didn't say that I would have the account manager reach out to the client and let them know per her contract she should only be going to places within her 10 mile radius and start there and see if we could work something out. If the client came back and said too bad then I would talk with the nurse and let them know the feedback we received and at that the client is changing the rules. I would say to the nurse if this is not something you want to do and they are doing something outside of your contract that was agreed upon you have the right to not stay active in that contract. If you don't want to stay, I will find you something else. I will tell the nurse they should give a two week notice and if they do not there could be backlash from the client. I would leave it up to the nurse as far as what next steps they wanted to take.
We have a team that is on after hours that would pick up if the nurse called and talk to her. They would relay the information to me the next day and this has happened before and what we do in this situation is refer back to the contract. Most of the contracts are set up that you will only float within your specialty or ones of the same acuity. What I would then do is have her talk to our Compliance Specialist who was an LPN herself and tell her what’s going on and have a conversation with them asking specifically what are having the nurse do as far as technical aspect of the position. Our compliance specialist would then talk with the hospital and let them know it's out of the nurses realm and make sure it doesn't happen again.
I would get on the phone with the nurse and talk to them about the conditions and talk them through it. I would try to see if there are any other accommodations around that they can go to in the mean time until they find better housing options and be a source of support for the nurse.
First, I would call and talk to the nurse about it and see how they are feeling. My suggestion would be to find the nurse a new assignment. We would talk to the client and let them know the nurse is in the hospital and that it is related to the location they are working. I would suggest putting in a notice and find the nurse a new position once they are well. I wouldn't want to keep the nurse somewhere she would be sick and try to put them on top priority and get them out of that state.
These are the worst. As soon as I found out there is no contract I would call and text them, whatever I have to do to get ahold of them before they get on that plane and go. My approach is always honesty is policy, This is what happened, you are being canceled and unfortunately that does happen sometimes. I would work ASAP to get them a new position and would reimburse for travel if they had flown or driven out there and get them taken care of.
If you want to be a great traveling nurse the first thing is you have to be honest with your recruiter. Let them know what you want to do, where you're wiling to go, what shift you want to work, and how flexible you feel. Nurses have to set parameters but also be flexible. The nurses that are most successful are the nurses that are flexible. You've got to be honest, and let your recruiter know if you can't travel far, if you have kids or any other limitations. If you are honest with your recruiter they can find the right position for you. Nurses should be open-minded. Even if a nurse has traveled many times before I will go through and let them know what I expect from them and what they can expect from me, and let them know how we work so it is all up front, honest, and open communication.
