I have been to a few hospitals across the country, and I have spoken to many travel nurses who feel the same way I do! There are so many things hospitals could do to help the transition for travelers and make the assignment much smoother, and maybe even retain travelers for longer contracts. I have compiled a list for healthcare facilities, managers, whoever, to help. I would love feedback and to add to this list as the years go on, so please feel free to add comments!!
1.) Make sure your nurse has a contact person (manager, educator, HR representative, the Pope). It doesn’t really matter who it is, but the nurse should have SOMEONE’s contact information from that facility in case there are questions that arise, that person can act as a guide or liaison to direct them to the answers they are seeking.
2.) On the first day of orientation (or on-boarding), make sure your nurse has access to the ALL THE THINGS- the EMR system, Pyxis (or other medication dispenser), glucometers, and their badge has swipe access to units or closets they need to be in. I mean, make sure they can actually log, scan, fingerprint, or badge in. Not this “oh well, I contacted pharmacy, or lab, or IT…and you should have access in your email…or security will fix your badge when the guy comes back from vacation in a week” ummm, NO. Sit with them or walk through the unit, and go through all those places, and pieces of equipment and don’t let them leave until they have all the access available to do their job efficiently. I cannot stress how frustrating it is, to go to grab a blood sugar on a baby who is crashing and you cannot scan into a glucometer machine, or the staff send you to Pyxis to grab a med for a mom who is bleeding, and you don’t have the access. That is precious time to save a person’s life, and it is stressful and frustrating to not only the traveler, but to the staff as well.
3.) Give them a preceptor who has worked with travelers before and knows that travelers have experience, and only need to know how that particular facility does things. It should be a staff who can feel comfortable just observing you caring for patients and serve as a resource if you have questions. You have 3 shifts of orientation (if you’re lucky), so you need to hit the ground running. You cannot have a nurse who “doesn’t trust you because she doesn’t know you” or treats you like a new grad, so you end up having a bazillion questions after orientation leaving you like a fish out of water.
4.) Be nice, and introduce yourself- we come to your facility, often not knowing a single soul. We are away from all of our family and friends. Being able to at least know the names of the people we work with, makes things a little easier. I am not saying invite us out on a Saturday with your friends, but just a simple “hey, are you new here? I’m (insert name here), I’m an (RN, tech, charge nurse, housekeeper..)” is sufficient.
5.) Do not judge based on tattoos or purple hair(or other physical appearances. This is the 21st century, and we travelers live very different lifestyles from most (like gypsies, hence #gypsynurse), and often enjoy piercings, tattoos and fun hair. Remember that this ABSOLUTELY does not inhibit our abilities to care for our patients. In fact, I have found my patients relate to me much better and feel comfortable with me because I am more “down to earth” or “on their level” and they feel as though they can trust me. In fact, I have more cards, gifts, notes etc. from patients who have thanked me for my care then some nurses who follow the dress code. (so there! :P) Also, keep in mind, that we are here as temporary agents, so if it bothers you, for whatever ridiculous reason- we will be gone before it becomes an issue. Also, keep in mind, that when you confront a traveler about such things- it can be VERY hurtful and seem “judgey”, that you look down on them for that particular reason. No one wants to work in a place in which they feel they are being judged based on something so superficial.
6.) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make our schedule reasonable!!! We are travelers for a reason- we love to explore. So when we work every other day (especially as a night shift nurse), it is impossible to get out and explore our new surrounds, therefore making us resent this assignment. It is much more conducive to our lifestyle if we work multiple days in a row and have multiple days off. Also, don’t put us on every weekend, or holiday! That is just not nice. We are all ok with the every-other or every- third weekend, as this is usually a standard. I have literally been told “well, we put you on every weekend because you’re agency and the staff doesn’t want to work weekends.” UHH, WHAT?! So, what do you do when I’m not around? someone’s gotta work the weekends, it’s the hospital for God’s sake- it runs 24/7. Thats what you signed up for when you chose to work here! Do not dump the crappy schedule shifts on us, or we will leave.
6A) DO NOT PUT US ON THE SCHEDULE THE LAST DAY OF OUR CONTRACT!!!! This is literally the worst, because most of the time we have to be out of our housing on this day, and trying to leave a house when you have to work 7pm that night is quite honestly the shittiest of situations to be in.
7.) Use us for our strengths, not to highlight our weakness. Some nurses have told horror stories of how they get stuck with the worst or most challenging patient assignments all the time. In most cases, this is the staff way of “testing” us to see if we can handle it, and of course we can because we are rock stars, but you are only making your lives more complicated because the heavier the patient assignment, the more involved they are, the more questions we ask and have to chase you down to help us. Instead of us being 100% independent and going about our business (which is what we are intended to do) we slow down the progress of the unit by struggling as opposed to a staff nurse who knows the rules of the road (polices, procedures, who to call for what reason, etc).
Also, if I tell you that I have experience with psych patients (for example), or enjoy taking those type of patients, why do you torture your staff??? Give me what I’m asking for!!! Or, if I tell you I am not very familiar with a type of medication, or piece of medical equipment- teach me about it, or let me ask questions of the more experienced nurse caring for that patient before you throw me into that assignment to leave me scrambling. Yes its a learning experience, and I love learning new things, but I want to learn the RIGHT WAY the first time.
These were the main points that I could think of (along with some of my fellow gypsy nurses who have helped me). The take home point should be “be nice to us, or we won’t extend and you’ll be left searching for more people to help you. If you are nice to us, we will stay and help you as long as we can”.
Real life, Real nurse 