After doing what I thought was a tremendous amount of research, I decided to try travel nursing after one year experience as an RN at a large, magnet, teaching hospital ranked very high in the nation. I actually hated it there, plus the new building is toxic, so leaving was in my plans no matter what. I also decided I didn't like that city.
After interviewing two other travel agencies I settled on a third that got good reviews, and with a recruiter I really like. Fortunately I have a free place to live for as long as I want, lots of savings, and wanted some time off to study for the GRE for graduate school. I am 47 so I have a lot of life experience, and I have great nursing references.
On all the various sites they say that one year of experience is required. Nowhere in all my research did I find mention of the fact that, in reality, the facilities want atleast two years of experience in a specific area, and consider that the bare minimum. They really want several years experience. Knowing that, I would have left UCLA (oops) anyway but would not have wasted my time trying travel nursing.
This morning I had an interview with a prescreener named "Kathy" who works for Nurse Finders. She does these traveler prescreen interviews for facilities prior to the real interview. This one was for Kaiser in San Rafael. I wasn't keen on having to work at Kaiser since I know too much about them, but I know I can't be picky without more experience. "Kathy" knew beforehand that I only had one year experience. She was never going to pass me onto the facility for interview because of that, but apparently wanted to get her two cents in with me.
First she tells me about all her years of experience as a nurse and how good she was, then she asks how long my preceptorship (or orientation) was. She then said that those two months "don't count" as far as experience goes, so I really only have ten months experience. She then read off some quotes from my references, which were glowing. Then she said, "I know that you will do very well in the interview and most likely be accepted, but I have no intention of passing you on to them. You don't have enough experience."
What was super weird about her was that she then proceeded to tell me what I should do with my life and nursing career. I managed to stay professional, but ended up hanging up on her when she would not stop talking and telling me what to do (go to work for the local hospital where I am living right now, which is a really bad one and not even nationally accredited anymore.)
I called my recruiter immediately to tell her about it, and she was wonderful. I could get a permanent job right now if I want, and there are alot available in a city in which I would like to live. But I really want to try travel nursing. I think the varied experience at different facilities in different parts of the country will help me be a great manager, after I finish my MSN. My recruiter has promised to be more careful to make sure they really will accept only one year experience before making me interview, and I have promised to give her some more time to find me something.
My point is this: during the next couple of weeks that I have decided to give my recruiter to come up with an assignment before actively seeking a permanent position, I would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone about this issue. Did any of you have only one year of experience when you started traveling? Should I stick it out or am I wasting both my time and my recruiter's time? Despite enjoying the time off and making good use of it, I don't want a huge gap on my resume.
The other reason I wanted to do this post is to warn any potential travelers out there who have less than two years experience in a specific area (med/surg, ICU, ER, whatever.) Since I never ran across this information in my extensive research, and I read hundreds of discussion postings on several travel nursing sites, I want to make sure that others like me know about this. Thanks for listening! This site is awesome.
Yes, usually 2 years..some want more
Nurse Managers (at the facility where a Travel RN wants to work)needs nurses with some experience that a 1 year nurse does not have.
I am a bit surprised at the response you have received thus far in your attempts to travel. I started traveling in 1995 with about a year and a half experience and never had any problems. My second assignment was at a facility with a large ICU and some high acuity patients. Again, no problems despite a relatively short time as a traveler.
My first question might be with your choice of travel companies. If you are with a smaller company, they might not have the variety of positions you need. Some of the largest companies in the industry might not be the companies I would recommed staying with throughout your career, but they will get you started and once you have two or three assignments under your belt, you can shop the different travel companies.
I would not put too much stock in what the pre-screener said. If she was such a wonderful nurse, why is she not working at the bedside anymore? Besides that, if she knows that the hospital would probably hire you, then why would she decline to even give them that option? It seems counterproductive to me.
My suggestion is join up with a few more agencies. I am currently on file with over a half dozen agencies that meet all my needs for whatever contract I desire (strike work, fast response, 8-week assignments, etc.). Be upfront with them and tell them you just want to get some experience. I'm honest with my recruiters to the point of telling them I have other angencies looking for what I need and the first one who finds it wins. I do wrap that in a more diplomatic language though ;-)
Sign up with a few of the larger travel companies and keep trying.
I agree with the above post- try a different company, and stay away from Nurse Finders! They are horrible..... If you'd like to contact my recruiter with RN Network, send me a PM and I'll give you his contact info...
I also saw the one year of experience required and quit my horrible job in Knoxville, TN to begin traveling. So I have 13 months of experience and finally with the 3rd agency they found me a job in Seattle. I haven't started the job yet because to get the license there it takes 8 weeks. I got my license online just haven't received it in the mail and will start in a few weeks. Hope you've found something!
DavidRN wrote:I am a bit surprised at the response you have received thus far in your attempts to travel. I started traveling in 1995 with about a year and a half experience and never had any problems. My second assignment was at a facility with a large ICU and some high acuity patients. Again, no problems despite a relatively short time as a traveler.
My first question might be with your choice of travel companies. If you are with a smaller company, they might not have the variety of positions you need. Some of the largest companies in the industry might not be the companies I would recommed staying with throughout your career, but they will get you started and once you have two or three assignments under your belt, you can shop the different travel companies.
I would not put too much stock in what the pre-screener said. If she was such a wonderful nurse, why is she not working at the bedside anymore? Besides that, if she knows that the hospital would probably hire you, then why would she decline to even give them that option? It seems counterproductive to me.
My suggestion is join up with a few more agencies. I am currently on file with over a half dozen agencies that meet all my needs for whatever contract I desire (strike work, fast response, 8-week assignments, etc.). Be upfront with them and tell them you just want to get some experience. I'm honest with my recruiters to the point of telling them I have other angencies looking for what I need and the first one who finds it wins. I do wrap that in a more diplomatic language though ;-)
Sign up with a few of the larger travel companies and keep trying.
1995 is a long way from 2008. Pt acuity has gone waaaaaay up and nursing responsibilities have followed that trend along with the loss of nurses. i.e the nursing shortage. Without getting into the dynamics of that or the why it's a fact.
Most of the websites of Travel Nursing companies aren't kept up-to-date. Sometimes I still see jobs listed from 2007. Granted the job may still exist but do I want it? So they haven't followed suit with changing the requirements to 2 or more years either.
Is the OP ready to hit the ground running without any orientation? Is she ( I didn't look) ready to be in charge on nights without any back up? The present position I'm in as charge showed me where the med keys are kept and where the bathroom was. Will she be able to adjust to another computer system or even a new one the staff doesn't know how to use.
The Travel nurse companies are actually doing her a favor and saving themselves too, they aren't that ulturistic, by not putting her into a situation she won't enjoy or be able to handle. Maybe she could handle it but they can't be sure.
Just as with everything else rules have to be made for the worst case senario. Hospitals have come to realize that more experiences bodes well. Technology has grown so over the years that what you were doing one year ago may be ancient history now.
I left M/S 8 years ago with 15 years of experience. I wouldn't even attempt to go back as a traveler. Thank goodness no reputable (sp) company would take me.
Just MHO
P.S. Don't get excited when someone wants to refer you. They might just be more interested in the $500 than how the assignment will fit you.
Keep trying. There are agencies out there that only require 1 year, esp. if you have experience. Try Medical Solutions. Be glad to give you or anyone else interested a referral.:):):)
Thank you all so much for your replies to my post. As far as the nursefinders pre-screener: my impression was that she has mental problems. I plan to avoid anything to do with them throughout my nursing career, as well as Kaiser, for whom she was interviewing.
I did end up having an interview set up through RN Network, but the timing was terrible. My recruiter didn't tell me to expect the call, and I was literally waiting by the phone for a call from an interviewer for a permanent, local position when she called. I had to get her off the line fast. So RN Network DID finally send something my way, but I had to turn it down. By that time, two months had passed since I first contacted them...way too long. Wouldn't any normal person come to think that there was never going to be a travel job?
I had also signed up with Across America, but frankly, that recruiter was a nut. She would go on and on about how great I was and how she wanted to find me the "right" position, talking about religion and the universe, blah, blah. Again, I had been waiting for two months with no interviews. She was the one who set me up to speak with that nasty nursefinders pre-screener. This recruiter would act manic, then be out of contact for two weeks at a time. I would not recommend Across America. However, I had limited experience with them, so other recruiters may be okay.
Based upon what some of you have said, if a good, permanent position doesn't come up within a couple weeks then I might call a couple of the much larger travel agencies to see what they can do for me. That one local interviewer never called, despite the HR manager's enthusiastic response to my application, great references, and resume. I don't know what's up. She said she would set up another interview; that was two weeks ago. I really do have an impressive first year combined with student resume, and great nursing references. So much for the nursing shortage. Some of you are right: I could work with a larger agency for a while to gain experience, then switch to another agency if they are not treating me well with pay, etc.
Thank you, all, for your comments. You are not just advising me, you are also advising all those other new nurses who want to try travel nursing and who read these forums.
onetraveler wrote:1995 is a long way from 2008. Pt acuity has gone waaaaaay up and nursing responsibilities have followed that trend along with the loss of nurses. i.e the nursing shortage. Without getting into the dynamics of that or the why it's a fact.
Most of the websites of Travel Nursing companies aren't kept up-to-date. Sometimes I still see jobs listed from 2007. Granted the job may still exist but do I want it? So they haven't followed suit with changing the requirements to 2 or more years either.
Is the OP ready to hit the ground running without any orientation? Is she ( I didn't look) ready to be in charge on nights without any back up? The present position I'm in as charge showed me where the med keys are kept and where the bathroom was. Will she be able to adjust to another computer system or even a new one the staff doesn't know how to use.
The Travel nurse companies are actually doing her a favor and saving themselves too, they aren't that ulturistic, by not putting her into a situation she won't enjoy or be able to handle. Maybe she could handle it but they can't be sure.
Just as with everything else rules have to be made for the worst case senario. Hospitals have come to realize that more experiences bodes well. Technology has grown so over the years that what you were doing one year ago may be ancient history now.
I left M/S 8 years ago with 15 years of experience. I wouldn't even attempt to go back as a traveler. Thank goodness no reputable (sp) company would take me.
Just MHO
P.S. Don't get excited when someone wants to refer you. They might just be more interested in the $500 than how the assignment will fit you.
With all due respect, you are making a lot of incorrect assumptions. I apologize ahead of time if I sound a little annoyed during this post. The travel nurse agencies are NOT doing me or anyone a favor by not placing me. During my first year as a nurse I worked at the #3 hospital in the nation. I worked with nurses who had 20-30 years experience, and frankly, after a few months I became as good or even better than many of them. That is not self-delusion. I actually saved one of their patients from getting IV potassium as a bolus: the senior nurse (a charge nurse) had attached the IVPB to the port AFTER the pump. I was in the room to help her move the patient up in bed and noticed the super fast rate of the drip when the patient starting complaining of her IV burning. I stopped it immediately, of course. This is only one example. I have extremely good references from there; they were very sorry to see me leave.
I am 47-years-old, and have a lot of life and work experience that I bring to nursing. I was an LAPD police officer during the LA riots in 1992. I can handle just about anything. I have also been a supervisor and trained new employees in another profession.
I have read "From Novice to Expert" and met the author. Her research is talking about the average nurse/person when she says that it takes 2-3 years to become proficient as a nurse, and to truly think like one. There are those who become proficient much faster, and those who never get there.
I know all about the nursing shortage. I was on the Board of Directors of the National Student Nurses Association, as well as before that on the board of my state student nurses association, and the president of my school chapter. I probably know more about the nursing profession than most seasoned nurses. I attended the recent American Nurses Association House of Delegates, and plan to go to Durban, South Africa for the 2009 ICN conference.
I also read as much as I could about travel nursing before trying it. Nowhere did anyone say that you need more than one year of experience; you didn't post it anywhere, did you? And of course I know that travelers get a bonus if they refer someone who then completes an assignment. Why wouldn't I know this? Everyone wants to make a buck anyway they can. I won't "get too excited" when yet another traveler tries to get me to call up her recruiter. I am too old to "get too excited" about anything.
The purpose of my original posting was to inform other new nurses about my experience, so that they would add it to whatever else they might read about travel nursing and make an informed decision before trying it. How about we keep that intent here? If I am reading your posting correctly, you have left nursing and feel incompetent to travel. So what you said applied to yourself. Please do not assume that either myself or others are not competent or even exceptional nurses, no matter how little time we have been in the profession. I sincerely hope that your new career is going well.
rloufek wrote:With all due respect, you are making a lot of incorrect assumptions. I apologize ahead of time if I sound a little annoyed during this post. The travel nurse agencies are NOT doing me or anyone a favor by not placing me. During my first year as a nurse I worked at the #3 hospital in the nation. I worked with nurses who had 20-30 years experience, and frankly, after a few months I became as good or even better than many of them. That is not self-delusion. I actually saved one of their patients from getting IV potassium as a bolus: the senior nurse (a charge nurse) had attached the IVPB to the port AFTER the pump. I was in the room to help her move the patient up in bed and noticed the super fast rate of the drip when the patient starting complaining of her IV burning. I stopped it immediately, of course. This is only one example. I have extremely good references from there; they were very sorry to see me leave.
I am 47-years-old, and have a lot of life and work experience that I bring to nursing. I was an LAPD police officer during the LA riots in 1992. I can handle just about anything. I have also been a supervisor and trained new employees in another profession.
I have read "From Novice to Expert" and met the author. Her research is talking about the average nurse/person when she says that it takes 2-3 years to become proficient as a nurse, and to truly think like one. There are those who become proficient much faster, and those who never get there.
I know all about the nursing shortage. I was on the Board of Directors of the National Student Nurses Association, as well as before that on the board of my state student nurses association, and the president of my school chapter. I probably know more about the nursing profession than most seasoned nurses. I attended the recent American Nurses Association House of Delegates, and plan to go to Durban, South Africa for the 2009 ICN conference.
I also read as much as I could about travel nursing before trying it. Nowhere did anyone say that you need more than one year of experience; you didn't post it anywhere, did you? And of course I know that travelers get a bonus if they refer someone who then completes an assignment. Why wouldn't I know this? Everyone wants to make a buck anyway they can. I won't "get too excited" when yet another traveler tries to get me to call up her recruiter. I am too old to "get too excited" about anything.
The purpose of my original posting was to inform other new nurses about my experience, so that they would add it to whatever else they might read about travel nursing and make an informed decision before trying it. How about we keep that intent here? If I am reading your posting correctly, you have left nursing and feel incompetent to travel. So what you said applied to yourself. Please do not assume that either myself or others are not competent or even exceptional nurses, no matter how little time we have been in the profession. I sincerely hope that your new career is going well.
I've hardly left nursing or traveling. With your attitude you're gonna need much more than two years. I'd say about a life time. I've been in the profession for over 28 years and so far I don't know it all,,, probably never will.
You may have been on lots of commitees, gotten sereval awards, and traveled to the moon. None of which equal OJT. None of which equal feet on the ground.
If you are so great at travel nursing why haven't you been placed? Why haven't people just been jumping off their chairs to hire you. I'm sure your endevours precede you. Didn't your NM call every other NM in every state and tell them you saved a life. How much K was in the bag. I've given it many times without a running IV. So??????
Run out and get a job with 1 year of experience I've a feeling the rules have never applied to you.
Good luck. BTW I've been traveling for 6 1/2 years. How many days have you been traveling now?
OK, boys & girls- we're all professionals here, so lets learn to disagree without being rude or making personal attacks....
I just wanted to chime in a little on this one. I have recently started my first traveling assignment (Oct 20th) and started as a nurse with only a little over a year of experience. It was a little more difficult to find a position that I thought suited me because of this, but it can be done. I came with a very good first year of experience in a busy Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, but by no means do I consider myself an experienced nurse. I know I still have a ton to learn. I think when you don't have a lot of experience you definitely need to do your homework when looking for a job and make sure the hospital is the right environment for you. I ended up taking a PACU position at a hospital in Boston and love it! The people are great! I did hit the ground running with hardly any orientation, but everyone is very helpful and supportive. When I interviewed with different hospitals I asked a lot of questions regarding staffing, nurse: patient ratio, patient acuity, types of surgeries, etc to get a good feel for what I was going to be dealing with. Surprisingly I did turn down several positions just because I didn't think they were a good fit for me...often for more than one reason and as weird as it may sound sometimes because I just got a bad "vibe" during the interview.
Anyway, good luck, keep trying and if you want to know my recruiters info let me know!!
I think it depends on where you are from and the company. I work with a girl who just graduated and she did a year in africa and east india before she came here to work. I am not sure the company she was under but she went directly from school.
maryk650 wrote:Keep trying. There are agencies out there that only require 1 year, esp. if you have experience. Try Medical Solutions. Be glad to give you or anyone else interested a referral.:):):)
:33: who have you found to be the better travel agencies?
stinybee wrote:I just wanted to chime in a little on this one. I have recently started my first traveling assignment (Oct 20th) and started as a nurse with only a little over a year of experience. It was a little more difficult to find a position that I thought suited me because of this, but it can be done. I came with a very good first year of experience in a busy Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, but by no means do I consider myself an experienced nurse. I know I still have a ton to learn. I think when you don't have a lot of experience you definitely need to do your homework when looking for a job and make sure the hospital is the right environment for you. I ended up taking a PACU position at a hospital in Boston and love it! The people are great! I did hit the ground running with hardly any orientation, but everyone is very helpful and supportive. When I interviewed with different hospitals I asked a lot of questions regarding staffing, nurse: patient ratio, patient acuity, types of surgeries, etc to get a good feel for what I was going to be dealing with. Surprisingly I did turn down several positions just because I didn't think they were a good fit for me...often for more than one reason and as weird as it may sound sometimes because I just got a bad "vibe" during the interview.
Anyway, good luck, keep trying and if you want to know my recruiters info let me know!!
Hi! Can you let me know some of the better travel agencies out there? My fiance and I want to travel together we are both Icu nurses I have 17 months experience, he has 20 months. Any info would be great! Thanks!:rose: Nancy
I have been very happy with RN Network, PM me if you'd like my recruiter's contact info.
rloufek wrote:With all due respect, you are making a lot of incorrect assumptions. I apologize ahead of time if I sound a little annoyed during this post. The travel nurse agencies are NOT doing me or anyone a favor by not placing me. During my first year as a nurse I worked at the #3 hospital in the nation. I worked with nurses who had 20-30 years experience, and frankly, after a few months I became as good or even better than many of them. That is not self-delusion. I actually saved one of their patients from getting IV potassium as a bolus: the senior nurse (a charge nurse) had attached the IVPB to the port AFTER the pump. I was in the room to help her move the patient up in bed and noticed the super fast rate of the drip when the patient starting complaining of her IV burning. I stopped it immediately, of course. This is only one example. I have extremely good references from there; they were very sorry to see me leave.
I am 47-years-old, and have a lot of life and work experience that I bring to nursing. I was an LAPD police officer during the LA riots in 1992. I can handle just about anything. I have also been a supervisor and trained new employees in another profession.
I have read "From Novice to Expert" and met the author. Her research is talking about the average nurse/person when she says that it takes 2-3 years to become proficient as a nurse, and to truly think like one. There are those who become proficient much faster, and those who never get there.
I know all about the nursing shortage. I was on the Board of Directors of the National Student Nurses Association, as well as before that on the board of my state student nurses association, and the president of my school chapter. I probably know more about the nursing profession than most seasoned nurses. I attended the recent American Nurses Association House of Delegates, and plan to go to Durban, South Africa for the 2009 ICN conference.
I also read as much as I could about travel nursing before trying it. Nowhere did anyone say that you need more than one year of experience; you didn't post it anywhere, did you? And of course I know that travelers get a bonus if they refer someone who then completes an assignment. Why wouldn't I know this? Everyone wants to make a buck anyway they can. I won't "get too excited" when yet another traveler tries to get me to call up her recruiter. I am too old to "get too excited" about anything.
The purpose of my original posting was to inform other new nurses about my experience, so that they would add it to whatever else they might read about travel nursing and make an informed decision before trying it. How about we keep that intent here? If I am reading your posting correctly, you have left nursing and feel incompetent to travel. So what you said applied to yourself. Please do not assume that either myself or others are not competent or even exceptional nurses, no matter how little time we have been in the profession. I sincerely hope that your new career is going well.
THank you so much for posting about this. I am just starting as an RN but am looking to travel after a year as well. I had no idea that it would be so hard to find a place. I thought with all the shortage it should be no problem. Nurse Finders is actually a large company I thought. Your resume and experience sounds awesome. I do not think you are bragging at all, that is something to be worth sharing with us considering how hard it was to find a traveling job with that. Who wouldn't want to employ you? I do understand your annoyance with the post before this one on which you quoted. People love to assume and take things out of context dont they? I think you handled it well and got your point across. I agree with all you have said. Good luck finding something and let me know which company you go with!
Now it will be my turn to agree with Amanda's post :-) If you carefully read the above post, you will notice that she is not a current traveler. So, how can you be angered by her post rather than just disregard it as someone who is not well informed.
She made reference to this not being 1995, but what she failed to see is that I have been actively working in this profession for over a decade. No, that does not make me special, but it does mean that I am informed. While I myself am not a first time traveler, I have met many in my travels and quite a few of them still only had one year of nursing experience prior to traveling.
Try some of the big companies and do not limit yourself to just one company. I recommend signing up with three or four. I am currently "on file" with about six. Sign up with American Mobile, Cross Country, Trinity, and Cirrus. See what they can do for you. RN Network is a solid company, but even solid companies will have some recruiters that are much better than others. It might be a rough road in the beginning, but once you get your foot in the door, it can be such a rewarding profession.
If you would like to message me, I can refer you to my recruiter at AMH who I really like. It's not about getting you referred, it's about getting you to someone that will help you find an assignment. Keep plugging away and you will eventually find someone who is willing to get you on your way.
I agree. I like friendly forums. My wife needed 2 years of experience before we could travel.
Give a look at my blog.
TRAVEL NURSE BLOG Traveling Carruth'si agree with the need to have experience before you travel. i have been a charge nurse dealing with travelers. it is so frustrating to get a nurse who says "i have so much experience" and then when you get them it becomes very odvious that they had no experience at all
I am also a traveler.
so.
1. you should have strong organizational skills. you never know what kind of patient load you are going to get. you should be able to easily handle a load of 6-8 pts if you have to. keep in mind some places do not use nurses aides so your work load could increase even more.
2. are you able to use the computer charting system? can you jump into a new system with little effort? can you still chart on a written chart?
3. are your iv skills up to par? can you start iv's.
4. what skill base are you bringing to the facility. can you put in an NG tube without difficulty, can you place a foley, can you deal with 2 discharges and 2 admissions at one time?
it is so important for the traveler to be independent and be able to just dump into the mix and go. it is so frustrating to get a nurse that is traveling and then have to hold their hand and teach them how to do basic skills.
be totally honest with your skills. dont come across as experienced if you are not.
one time we got a nurse that had been in nursing homes for 20 years and wanted to work as a med/surg nurse. she came to work and could not even take more than one patient at a time before she was panicking.
another nurse claimed to be a great ER nurse and he could not start an iv, had no clue how to deal with a Nitro Drip let alone a dompamine drip. he could not even hook up the cardiac monitor.
so that was a very scary time. i was the charge nurse then and spent a lot of time in the ER for those shifts. it was so frustrating.
when i travel i let the facility know that i am a well rounded nurse and can float to most units but i always always tell them my exact skill set. i float to icu but i am not an icu nurse and i let them know ahead of time that i cant do ventilator patients. could i jump in and help, of course but i dont want the responsibility of the pt load.
be honest with yourself and with the facility
have fun. but be honest. if you want to travel then please work on your skill base before you go out there.
Lots of BS here. I took to traveling over 5 years ago with exactly one year experience. A friend of mine had 6 months experience on M/S and started traveling. It just depends on the company. Anyone telling you that you can not travel after one year experience is misinformed.
yeah you can get jobs early in but all i was saying was that you really need some experience behind you before you start traveling. it is frustrating to work with nurses that are traveling and dont have a clue what they are doing in some areas because they dont have the experience in. ok so how much experience can a nurse with 6 months have? unless they were an LPN for many years before. and what unit is a nurse with only 6 months exp going to work in?
I would never say that a nurse should not travel i was only suggesting that they get some sound experience under their belt. some of these hospitals are not nice to travel nurses and you need more than just hands on experience you also need to be able to deal with other people as well. especially the folks that just dont want you there.
so yeah you can get a job with only 6 months exp but what are you bringing to the floor and what job are you doing?
i still think you need some solid experience under your belt before you travel.
i said 5 years only cause then you are truly set. if you are in an ICU or ER there is no way you are experienced after 6 months. it takes up to 5 years to be damn good in those areas.
just a thought. i am sure there are plenty of other nurses here that will agree with some of this.
good luck if you are getting jobs with only 6 months. i wish you the best and i am not being mean i really mean it.
Danattherock wrote:Lots of BS here. I took to traveling over 5 years ago with exactly one year experience. A friend of mine had 6 months experience on M/S and started traveling. It just depends on the company. Anyone telling you that you can not travel after one year experience is misinformed.
I would not call it BS... Perhaps, at
some facilities, 6-12 months is sufficient experience to work as a traveler on a
med-surg floor, but it is NOT sufficient experience to work as a traveler on any type of specialty unit.
Also, as Deb said, while someone who has been a nurse for only 6 months may be able to get by as a traveler on med0surg, I can guarantee that the regular staff on that unit will NOT appreciate having someone who is supposed to be very experienced come in with little experience, making premium pay, and having to ask for help all the time.....
rloufek wrote:With all due respect, you are making a lot of incorrect assumptions. I apologize ahead of time ...
while i understand your post, and that you have a lot of experiences, i would be hesitant to hire you if i picked up on that attitude ... because i would think this could be a problem employee who is not willing to listen to others and learn and change. it isn't fair, i know, but your age and your past could work against you in an interview if you don't handle it right. i also am 47, i entered nursing as a second career about 12 years ago, and the biggest lesson i learned was that i don't know everything and i need to continually ask for help. to this day, i try to maintain that attitude and be a team player.
just a view from this side of the screen ... sometimes another POV can help us out when we hit a wall.
Your not being mean...just honest!!! :)
