Reply With QuoteI just posted something about this. I would just paste the link, but it hasn't been approved yet, so I will paste it below. I am not trying to spam, I just feel my post directly relates to this situation. If any moderator feel differently, please feel free to delete the post.
I have been a nurse for 4 years. I work almost exclusively ICU. I started traveling a year ago in California, due to the abundance of high paying positions in the area. I have now worked at 3 different CA hospitals with 2 different agencies and I have a new perspective on travel nursing for all the newbies or thinking-about-traveling nurses. I am posting my experience because I see one post after another asking for opinions on traveling, agencies, and hospitals. So, here's something to think about.
I don't know how it used to be, but with pursestrings being so tight, the glory days of travel nursing might be gone forever. Yes, the money is much better than staff positions if you happen to be from Tennessee (like me) or Alabama or some other low paying state. However, here in California, the staff nurses make more than the travelers - especially once you consider the expenses associated with traveling. I work for a small local agency who pays at the top end of the pay scale. I make more than the other travel nurses I work with from other agencies, but the non new-grad staff are making more. Some are just outrightly making more per hour, even if you don't consider their benefits, their overtime, etc and the travel nurses expenses. Once you factor those in, the money isn't what it was made out to be. My point is that if you are ready for a move and plan to stay in a place more than 6 months, then you might just want to consider a staff job.
Also, I am currently stuck doing registry because the hospital I was working (Fountain Valley Regional Hospital in Fountain Valley, CA) agreed to extend me and then reneged at the last moment. When I say LAST MOMENT I am not exaggerating. They gave me NO WARNING whatsoever. As a matter of fact, if I hadn't started asking questions, they wouldn't have even told me. I would have should up for work Sunday night looking like a moron, out of contract. I worked Thursday night. Before I left Friday morning, I went to check the schedule and I had been whited out. My original contract was due to end on Sunday (in two days), so I thought maybe someone didn't realize I had been renewed. I asked the charge nurse to ask the Nurse Manager about it on day shift. They called me to tell me I hadn't been renewed after all on Friday afternoon. I tried to figure the mess out, but it was over a weekend, and no one was there. Thank GOD I have my own housing and my own insurance, or I would have been left homeless (since you have to be out of company housing within 24 hours after your contract ends) and without any insurance. What if I had been in a car accident moving my stuff from one hotel to another? The downside is that I am planning to go elsewhere soon, and if they had been forthcoming, I could have just left earlier. However, because they told me I had a job, I renewed my apartment lease another 3 months, so I am stuck here doing registry and hoping I get enough hours to pay my bills. It's either that or break my lease and forfeit my security deposit. I am currently trying to figure out which option will cost me less. As for the nurses at Fountain Valley, there is a very distinct mix of very nice ones and extremely rude ones. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. Also, the hospital has a lot of un-travel friendly policies, and if you dare to mention that you have already been in the ICU overflow for 3 straight weeks, you are told "That's what you get for being a traveler." That is a direct quote. I guess they suddenly forgot that I come in extra every week and save their butts when they are short by SIX nurses by staying over into dayshift. This might just be a California mentality, though. I find that the people here have loyality to no one but themselves. They are really into the "whatever makes me happy" thing. Very little consideration for others.
Before Fountain Valley, I was working at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, CA. At the time I was working there, the hospital had just been bought out and many changes were made. As a result, there was NO management. Many of the charge nurses quit, the unit manager quit and her boss quit too. You couldn't get anything done. I had to be added to the Pyxis and supply computer EVERY shift that I worked. I kept getting kicked out of the Accucheks too. I couldn't access email or scheduling. And no one seemed to know what to do about it. Oh well. Also, the nurses were rather unfriendly for the most part. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, however, because they were stressed to the max with all of the changes taking place. And many of them were secretly considering job changes, which I know is super stressful.
Before Alvarado was St. John's in Oxnard. This was the worst experience by far, and I almost decided to give up on travel nursing on my very first assignment. I started in February and they were supposedly "desparate" for nurses. They hired 5 or 6 travelers. However, as they well knew, they had a significant census drop that was going to be permanent due to the fact that another nearby hospital was now receiving all the trauma patients. I kept getting called off. Over and over again. I did have a maximum call off limit, but they would let me make up one shift at a time so they could add those hours back into the call-off limit. I didn't know about this policy at first. It wasn't in my contract and when I stated this, they said it was hospital policy and that overruled my contract. Additionally, I had a contract that forced you to PAY THE AGENCY if you got called off. I will address this more in my agency review section. So, I has started getting called off the very first week of the contract and now owed more money than I had actually made. Thank God I was living with a friend, or I would have been homeless that time, too. The hospital finally fired ALL the travelers 4 weeks into their contract. It was a nightmare for all of us. Although, they were nice enough to actually give 2 weeks notice, so that is the one plus side. Also, the nurses were generally very friendly, but the manager (Claudia Lis) was a nightmare to deal with. She NEVER returned phone calls. Not once.
On to agencies - the first one I had was HealthOne Staffing out of Roseville, CA. I would recommend staying away from them at all costs. I am not sure I am allowed to post the recruiters name, but he was awful. He seemed super nice until something didn't go his way and then he started threatening me with being blacklisted if I didn't sign another contract with him. I guess I was lucky that the hospital cancelled me 4 weeks in, so I could at least get away from him. Also, they were the ones that wanted me to pay them for getting me a crappy contract.
I am currenly with Clinical Staffing Services out of Santa Ana, CA. I don't even need to post my recruiter's name because all of the folks there are awesome. They are a local agency and have some of the best contracts (and definitely the best pay) in the area. When Fountain Valley refused to renew me at the last minute, they guaranteed my pay rate, even though I would be working registry and registry is billed at a lower rate. That means they are willing to take a smaller cut. I think that might be a rare trait for an agency to have. However, no matter who picks up the phone when I call, they are always awesome and helpful. If they worked in the area I am going to next, I would definitely stay with them, but sadly they don't. But if you need an agency in Cali, you should give them a ring. They are the only positive portion of my total experience out here.
Now, I am heading back east and I will definitely be looking more closely at staff jobs. And remember, if a job is offering an amount of money that seems higher than it really should be - there is a reason. If they had tons of willing staff members, they wouldn't need to pay higher rates, so you will probably be forced to do stuff you rather not do or take chances with your license.
