Highway Hypodermics

Sarah Abramson

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:

This would be an immediate concern to me even if Flo was okay with helping the hospital out by floating outside of the 10-mile radius a few times. Contracts are so important in this industry and should be taken very seriously on all ends. I understand that travel nurses are expected to be flexible, however, it sounds like since she agreed a few times the hospital is now taking advantage of her. I would have my account manager reach out to the hospital to resolve this by making them aware of the situation and refer back to the initial agreement of her only being expected to float to hospitals that are within a 10-mile radius

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 always make sure to include on my nurses contract that they will only float to units within their scope of practice. Here at PPR, we have multiple clinical directors on staff 24/7 who serve as a great resource to our nurses for all things clinical. I would advise Betty to first voice to her nurse manager that she does not feel comfortable floating to the NICU without proper orientation and training on that unit. It is not only unsafe for the patient but it would also be putting Betty's nursing license in jeopardy. If Betty and the nurse manager are not able to come up with a solution, I would then ask one of our clinical directors to step in on Betty's behalf to fix the issue.

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:

Housing is such an important component of travel nursing. While being away from home (and your own bed), in a new city, without your friends and family, it’s crucial to have a cozy and safe place to come home to after a 12 hour shift- am I right?! PPR is very particular with the housing options that we provide when our nurses take company housing. All of our options are proven successful (cleanliness, location, safety, etc) from other nurses in the past. When Nurse Roach sends me pictures of the housing situation, we would contact the landlord/apartment complex immediately for resolution. Other ideas would be to send over a cleaning company on behalf of PPR (covering the cost) to deep clean ASAP or putting Nurse Roach up in a hotel (cost covered via PPR) until we can find another housing option. Whatever it takes to ensure my nurse is in safe, clean housing- I will do, bottom line.

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:

As we all know, there are many things that are out of our control that we cannot predict- like getting sick, death in the family, etc. PPR is VERY reasonable and understanding because after all- we are all human and experience the same unpredictable curve balls that life throws our way! Whenever a situation like the one that Nurse Asthmatic is going through occurs, I always advise my nurse to communicate this with the nurse manager. They are usually very understanding and able to either accommodate time off needed or allow us to end the contract completely (if needed) without penalty. Keeping your manger and recruiter in the loop is crucial so that they can go to bat for you if you do end up needing time off or even needing to end the contract completely.

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:

Yikes- this is a tough one and one that RARELY happens. There is a whole compliance process that a nurse has to go through to be cleared by the hospital to start. Once the nurse is cleared to start, we are sent first day reporting instructions directly from the hospital- I can’t imagine the hospital not being aware that the nurse is booked for an assignment if first day reporting info is sent.. BUT…. Hypothetically speaking if this were to occur-I would make it a top priority to find Nurse Roulette a new assignment ASAP. I would also seek approval from my manager to front her some extra up front travel money to help out with this unfortunate situation.

Question 6:

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

Answer 6:

I want travel nurses to know that I am here to truly help them achieve their career goals in this amazing industry in the most transparent, stress-free, and supportive environment. I am big on communication and trust. I know that it’s super important to nurses to find a recruiter that they can trust. I believe that it is equally as important for me as the recruiter to be able to trust my nurses as well. The thing that is top priority to me in this job is for my nurses to never feel like they are just a number. I want them to know that they can count on me to be there every step of the way not only as their recruiter, but as their friend and support system as well. I want to know about your families, your likes/dislikes, your goals, your highs and your lows----building a genuine recruiter to nurse relationship is KEY.

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