Highway Hypodermics

Ramzes Zavala

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 apologize to Nurse Floating Flo and gather all the details of the situation. I would then inform my account manager about the facility not abiding by the contract. If they needed her to float further out during her assignment, then that should have been talked about before she signed the contract. My account manager would bring up the situation with the facility and we will work on coming up with a resolution to the problem.

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:

I would contact her and advise her not float to a unit that is beyond her competency level and could potentially put her license at risk. I would inform my account manager of the situation and have them reach out to the facility to see if we can take care of their need some other way.

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 immediately place her in a hotel for the time being and we would cover it until we are able to locate a suitable housing option for her. We would also double check to make sure that there are no problems with the new housing arrangements.

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 first make sure that Nurse Asthmatic is doing well. From there we would contact the facility immediately to notify them of the situation. Most cases the facility will work with us in these types of situations. I would also reach out to Nurse Asthmatic to see if she would prefer to work a different assignment since the location is affecting her. I would make sure to assist the facility in back filling the need if Nurse Asthmatic decides to leave the 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:

In this type of situation, I would immediately contact Nurse Roulette and apologize to her for this mistake. We would work with my account manager, VIP of recruitment and the facility to find out what happened in regards to Nurse Roulette's contract. In the meantime, we would cover her travel/hotel expenses and assist her in finding an assignment where she currently at. We will make sure to take care of our travelers if they ever found themselves in a situation like this.

Question 6:

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

Answer 6:

Communication, trust and being prepared is key to being a successful travel nurse. Building trust with your recruiter and having a great line of communication between each other is going to assist you in finding the right job in a timely manner. It is our job as recruiters to be there for our travelers and having their back when a situation arises. Also, there's a higher expectation when it comes to a travelers performance compared to a staff RN. You are excepted to show up and hit the ground running your first week. My best advise it to be prepared with all your credentialing documents and don't be afraid to ask questions! :)

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