AHHHHH!!! I am so frustrated! Let me begin with a hello. I am brand new to traveling and really want to go to NYC. I have been talking to 4 companies about it and have been meeting a lot of walls due to lack of positions and high cost of housing. So, FINALLY last Friday I had a phone interview with a nurse manager from Beth Israel hospital and I just looked at some HORRIFIC posts on here about that place. I am also turned off b/c it has PBDS testing. But I have been looking for a month now for a position there and I need/ want to be there by June 1st(ish). I don't want to take a position out of pure desperation but I am afraid another won't come along...
Any advice/info/tips??
Thanks so much!
Go with your gut- if it sounds like a bad assignment, it probably is. You're better off taking an assignment somewhere else than taking it and being miserable or putting your license at risk....
What is your specialty?
If it's med surg tele, you will be slammed and it's not worth the stress. It is not a friendly place.
Columbia Presbyterian is a good place.
ICU. I am talking with the nurse manager again tomorrow. When I spoke with her the first time I actually got a good vibe, but I am still really worried...
We shall see. There are no other postings in NYC at this time and that's with 4 companies working on it. So I am debating on taking this one if it's offered to me and sucking it up for 13 weeks...I can deal with pretty much anything for 13 weeks...I hope. Then I will look for something better once I am there if it is awful.
I am actually more worried about the stupid PBDS...ugh.
I just got a job at Sloan
kettering in the ICU. At first there were no positions available except at the hospitals i didn't want to go to like Mount Sinai or Beth Israel. So I waited it out and after about 3 weeks, I got this job. Pay isn't very good, but I was able to negotiate 3200 for a stipend. And there is no floating at all! And dont worry about the PBDS, i did them in San Fran and they didnt even really look at them at all, and they were pretty easy.
Really? I have heard nothing but horror stories about them!! Do you have any tips or could you tell me the types of scenarios were involved? I feel so umprepared for this and have serious test anxiety!!!
Thanks!
Did you get the study guide I e-mailed to you??? It covers pretty much everything that is on the PBDS....
ICU, well you should only get 2 patients.
The horror stories seemed to be med surg.
Asked your recruiter if you can speak with a nurse that has worked at Beth Israel in ICU.
Sounds like you are going, so good luck.
I did get the study guide Amanda, thanks so much! I totally thought I sent you a thank you reply, I must have forgotten to? Well, again thanks so much it looks helpful. Keep ya posted on how it goes!
Hi,
I too am new to traveling and my husband has temporarily relocated us to NYC and I have also come across the same problems as you! I was wondering how your search was going. I interviewed with Beth Israel on a Step down unit and when I called the floor to ask the charge nurse some questions it sounded like a nightmare. Now, I know that it can get crazy on the floor, but the clerk couldn't even get me to the charge nurse. I also emailed the manager some questions about her unit and the way that it is run, but she couldn't possibly take time out to answer them. Needless to say, I turned down that contract. I don't know what company you are with and I have both American Mobile and Cross Country looking and American Mobile is looking quite helpless. I was speaking with one recruiter and all of a sudden a new recruiter called and I was basically back at square one with her asking me what kind of nurse I am and blah. Let me know what happens and I'll try to update you as well!
Lost Nurse in NYC!
Skip Beth Israel, also in general NYC works fast and furious and the nurse managers don't care about your questions. All they want is a licensed body..That's just the way it is. Take a walk thru the unit on your own and you will see if it's crazy. I've done that before and I can get an idea.
Presbyterian and Lenox are good hospitals.
Skip American Mobile,but keep checking in with Cross Country,
I've been with RN NETWORK, PM me for my recruiter and they are a good company.
hang in there.
meganc1 wrote:AHHHHH!!! I am so frustrated! Let me begin with a hello. I am brand new to traveling and really want to go to NYC. I have been talking to 4 companies about it and have been meeting a lot of walls due to lack of positions and high cost of housing. So, FINALLY last Friday I had a phone interview with a nurse manager from Beth Israel hospital and I just looked at some HORRIFIC posts on here about that place. I am also turned off b/c it has PBDS testing. But I have been looking for a month now for a position there and I need/ want to be there by June 1st(ish). I don't want to take a position out of pure desperation but I am afraid another won't come along...
Any advice/info/tips??
Thanks so much!
Hey, Meganc1.
From my experience, travelers usually want to go to places like NYC or New England during the summer, and then someplace warm like Hawaii or San Diego during the winter months. So, if you're really, really want to go to NYC, perhaps your best bet would be to take an assignment somewhere else for the summer months, and then try again during the fall or winter.
Good luck, though.
So I finally found my position with Cross Country at Columbia on a tele floor that does pre and post cath. So, now I have to take these online tests and two of them are for Critical Care and Mechanical Ventilators. Neither of my screening or phone interview with the floor manager mentioned vents or needing to be a critical care RN and I was very clear with my experience and level of nursing and no one mentioned needing to be certified critical care or needing vent experience. Has anyone taken these tests? Has anyone had this experience as well?
Hi Again,
1st call the clinical liason nurse at Cross Country and explain your situation, they should be able to help out and at the same time call the Nurse Manager you spoke with at Columbia and repeat your concerns and ask for a study guide from the hospital.
You are step-down correct? Have you taken care of vents? The questions are all that Fio2,Peep,etc settings and interpreting ABG.. Once again If you made yourself clear and you don't feel comfortable, Speak Up NOW to all key people, basically if you fail the test, you most likely will be cancelled. But look into it, as Columbia may teach all this in orientation..
Even if you get cancelled they will try to find you another job
Good luck, let us know how you make out
Oh It's me again, I just saw where it is online.
So now call your nurse Liason, maybe they can help to see what you should do
So in California...specifically in SF, all vented patients are in the ICU. The only vent assisted patients we see on the step down/transition floors are BiPap. It's kinda nice, but a little limiting in the East Coast.
Try Lloyd, White Glove and Gotham. I'm in NYC now through Lloyd. Hate to tell you this; but, practically all NYC (all 5 boroughs) hospitals are a nightmare to work & many dump on the travelers. You better be good at what you do because you must be careful to protect your license-the key is exhaustive charting of the truth, whether management likes it or not & if some patient care must be sacrificed for it. If you want it a bit (& I said ONLY a bit) easier, look at Long Island. Nassau County is just a short train ride into Manhattan & you can easily have a car.
Well,
what did you decide?
If you were upfront about your skill level and feel anxious, call the nurse manager at the hospital and re discuss, plus call the nurse liason at Cross Country,
Hi, I have accepted a position @ Beth Israel NICU to start 7/7/8 and am trying to find info -- I just joined this forum so haven't been able to navigate much, but what have you heard?
thanks so much!
You'll be fine in NICU? It's the med surg nurses that get floated and get too many patients. Have fun in NY...
