NursingLink

i love tn how is it like, whats the cons?

I have been travelling for over 1 1/2 yrs so far and I love it.  I even travel with my wife and 2 sons, ages 5 and 6.  You do need to be able to pick up the hospitals way of doing things; charting, lab draws, docs personalities, etc. very quickly.  Usually you get 2-3 days of boring hospital orientation, classroom stuff.  Then maybe 1-2 shifts with a preceptor, then you're on your own.  Most people I've worked with have been wonderful.  Remember, as a traveller, you are there to fill holes in their staffing, so you do need to be a bit flexible as far as schedule goes.  On the plus side, you have NO staff meetings, NO committee memberships, and you can ignore the politics.  Go in, do your job, and go home.  And, yes, 13 weeks flies by.  About the time you feel like it's becomming a job, aka rut, it's time to move on.  You need to know your nursing down pat.  They expect you to come in and hit the ground running when it comes to patient care, all you will be taught in orintation is how they chart, where things are and what their policies are.  The actual patient care you must already know and be confident in. 

savedn82 how did you choose which agency to go with. I've read a lot of sites and I wonder if they just feed you a bunch of crap. They all sound good, basically. this is my ultimate goal travel the states and see what there is to see and work. Love the idea of going different places, I've kind of done this in my regular career.  My husband was Air Force so I changed jobs every couple of years, so I think traveling will be good.

Hello. I'm an LPN who would like to get involved with travel nursing. I'm only licensed in Florida. I heard about the 13 week contracts. What questions should I ask. I would't even mind traveling around the state. I havw a lot of LTC experience.

Rusty,

I was a nurse for only about 2 yrs before I started traveling.  However, I was a nurse at one of the top academic hospitals in the country, which I believe made it a bit easier for me.  Not sure if I would recommend traveling for someone with two years experience at a community hospital.  I was exposed to and had experience in the latest, cutting edge technology and treatment modalities.  This level of experience has had a huge impact on my abilities and knowledge when it comes to traveling that I'm not sure I would have had I started at a smaller hospital.  I don't think it is as much a factor of time as a factor of the breadth of your experience.  I am not sure if that sufficiently answers your question or not.  All I can say is that had I worked for 2 years at some of the facilities I have traveled to and then traveled to some other assignments, I would have drowned.  Then again, I have been told by managers that the reason I was even offered the contract is because of my previous employer.  Also, your chances of success as a traveler does have alot to do with your confidence level.  Not so much that you feel like you know everything there is to know, that makes for a horrible traveler, but more so that you are confident enough in your basic nursing skills to be able to adapt to the policies/protocols of a different hospital.  Hope this helps somewhat.

martygrn says ...

Rusty,

I was a nurse for only about 2 yrs before I started traveling.  However, I was a nurse at one of the top academic hospitals in the country, which I believe made it a bit easier for me.  Not sure if I would recommend traveling for someone with two years experience at a community hospital.  I was exposed to and had experience in the latest, cutting edge technology and treatment modalities.  This level of experience has had a huge impact on my abilities and knowledge when it comes to traveling that I'm not sure I would have had I started at a smaller hospital.  I don't think it is as much a factor of time as a factor of the breadth of your experience.  I am not sure if that sufficiently answers your question or not.  All I can say is that had I worked for 2 years at some of the facilities I have traveled to and then traveled to some other assignments, I would have drowned.  Then again, I have been told by managers that the reason I was even offered the contract is because of my previous employer.  Also, your chances of success as a traveler does have alot to do with your confidence level.  Not so much that you feel like you know everything there is to know, that makes for a horrible traveler, but more so that you are confident enough in your basic nursing skills to be able to adapt to the policies/protocols of a different hospital.  Hope this helps somewhat.

 

Thanks.  This was a big help.  Having come from an academic background in my previous professional training and life, this is what has been the most confusing to me regarding how nurses are trained.  It seems there is a broad range of teaching methods and learning paths for nurses.  While everyone has to pass the NCLEX, it seems how they get there is quite varied.  I have a friend who just finished her program that seemed more academically rigorous, but less hands-ons.  She is petrified now that she isn't prepared to actually work in a hospital.  I have another friend who is a hiring manager and she prefers to hire from programs that are associated with specific hospitals.  So, it seems like there are so many variables to making sure we are prepared when we graduate. 

I appreciate your input.