Tag: traveling nurse

Back to Basics for Travelers

With Fidelity On Call, all of our travel nurses receive a contract that spells out everything that will happen during their assignment – rate of pay, days off, facility assignment, floor assignment and so much more.

Here are some of the basics you agree to:

1) Attendance

Travel nurses are the back up team. Facilities are already short staffed and when travelers are utilized, our attendance is paramount to the success of patient care at that facility.

-If you accept a travel contract, you are held accountable for the verbal and written agreement of working the shift and hours agreed to. Any personal time off must have been preapproved and in writing in the contract. Should something arise during the course of the contract, traveler should be communicating with their recruiter on the best course of action to take.

-If you have an emergency or illness that prohibits you from being able to work a scheduled shift, you would contact your recruiter. You would also alert the hospital that you are unable to make it.

-Any shifts you call off for must be made up as quickly as possible. That make up shift will not be paid as overtime. Make up shifts are paid at the contracted rate as regular hours.

2) Schedules

As a travel nurse, we ask you to send in your schedule to your recruiter once you receive it from the facility. Any changes that happen throughout the schedule provided us also need to be reported. This tracking is to help check and balance payroll and to help ensure we do not make errors on your payroll. Having your schedule also helps us figure out when to contact you if we need to reach you – helps to NOT Wake you up if you are a night shift worker.

3) Communication

They say communication is half the battle. Never truer words spoken. Communication in travel healthcare is paramount to ensure success for you as a traveler and also our success with you. If someone from the office team reaches out to you, please ensure you communicate back with that person as quickly as you are able to do so. Perhaps the calls are inquiries regarding payroll, schedule, compliance etc. All communication is important. Not responding leads to more work on both of our parts.

We appreciate our nurses who are dedicated to fulfilling every commitment of their contract. If you have questions on anything stated above, please contact your recruiter.

Protect Yourself From Workplace Violence

Did you know that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) classifies workplace violence into four basic types? Types II and III are the most common in the health care industry.

  • Type I: Involves “criminal intent.” In this type of workplace violence, “individuals with criminal intent have no relationship to the business or its employees.”
  • Type II: Involves a customer, client, or patient. In this type, an “individual has a relationship with the business and becomes violent while receiving services.”
  • Type III: Involves a “worker-on-worker” relationship and includes “employees who attack or threaten another employee.”
  • Type IV: Involves personal relationships. It includes “individuals who have interpersonal relationships with the intended target but no relationship to the business” (Iowa Prevention Research Center, 2001; NIOSH, 2006, 2013).

It is disheartening to realize that the very people who provide care, compassion, and medical assistance, and in many cases save a person’s life, are on the receiving end of violence. While we do acknowledge that many of our clients have excellent security and steps in place to help prevent such occurrences, we know there is a long way to go for many facilities and there must be an overhaul to stop such violence. Fidelity On Call acknowledges there are many contributing factors to the increase of workplace violence.

Here are some tips that we can offer travelers to help avoid and/or educate themselves for such events happening to them while on assignment.

1) De-escalation training

Knowing how to defuse a hostile situation has been shown to be more effective than having armed guards in a hospital. Formal training in how to de-escalate a tense situation or encounter can have a major impact on the safety of doctors, nurses, guards, or other staff members. There are classes available online and in-person.

2) Ask to review the facility you are contracted at WPV Prevention Plan

We must acknowledge that there is an abnormally high risk of workplace violence breaking out in hospitals and clinics around the country and arm ourselves with as much information as we can. As a traveler, you may not be receiving the same thorough orientation as a staff member would. However, you can ask what the plan is for the facility, so you know how the facility would handle workplace violence and they have a plan in place should it occur.

In short, if you have a concern about a facility you are contracted in, you should immediately reach out to your recruiter to get further information. Your SAFETY is our PRIORITY.

How Travelers Can Fight Inflation

We know everyone is feeling the effects of higher prices everywhere we turn – at the grocery store, at the pump, utility rates, housing rates etc. It is very frustrating for sure but there is GOOD news. There are many ways to save money.

Sometimes we forget that our budgets can still be very much in our control. When things are doing well, we tend to throw caution to the wind and forget the small changes we can make to save money. Therefore, we allow higher prices and convenience to dictate the way we spend our money.

We wanted to pull some quick tips together to share with you to help ease not only the financial burden but also the emotional toll inflation can take on you and your family.

1.       One of the easiest ways to control what you are spending is to TRACK it!

  •  MINT
  • Good Budget App
  • Expensify

These are three apps that you can download right to your phone that are highly recommended by financial experts! There are other apps as well.

 

2.       Fuel prices really hit the people who TRAVEL FOR A LIVING! We are thankful for the ability to reimburse our team for their mileage. We have had several travelers asking for higher stipends due to the increased fuel costs and, we would love to see the Federal Government raise the cents per mile to match what has happened with insanely high fuel prices but until that happens, we are unable to do more than we are. Until then, check out the following as options to save in fuel costs.

  • Gas Buddy App
  • Gas Guru
  • AAA Trip Tik Travel Planner

Again, there are other apps but these three are proven winners we have heard about from our team and also recommended by financial experts.

 

3.       Everyone has to eat! Grocery costs going up affect not just what you buy at the store but the costs for the mom-and-pop diners that are just trying to get by. Those dinner tickets at your local watering holes and eating establishments are going up and that leaves many people wondering if they can even afford to patronize those establishments. Here are some great ways to save money and continue to enjoy eating out.

  • Plan your meals! Make a grocery list and menu!
  • Choose the days you want to eat out and maybe opt for the special deal on those days.
  • If you eat lunch out every day, try packing your lunch a few days and eat out others.

These are just a few ways to get control over your expenses and fight inflation. We hope you will share these and any others you may know with others who are worried. We can all help each other!

The History of Travel Nursing

Travel nursing has certainly become “trendy” with a larger percentage of the nursing population in the past couple of years.  Many nurses have left their staff jobs to become a part of this industry. Some because of the increased pay that has happened since 2020. This put the spotlight on a career path that has been around for the last 40 years.
Continue reading The History of Travel Nursing

We Believe in You

When we say we’ve got your back… WE TRULY have got your back.

I think we can all agree, that shifting the blame happens in all lines of work.  A lot of people have a hard time taking responsibility for their own mistakes, errors, or shortcomings. It takes an emotionally intelligent person to be able to say, “Hey I was wrong. That was my error. Perhaps I am the problem in this situation.” When emotional intelligence is lacking, shifting the blame happens. This happens in travel nursing also. In these crazy times it does seem to occur a little more often than we have seen in the past, however we react the same as we always have.

For example, something is happening on the unit you are working on, and you are getting the blame.  When that complaint comes to the office, we have a process and we do not veer from that process.

Complaint>Investigation>Resolution

Please know that we pride ourselves in the time and effort spent in every employee we hire. Something you may not know is we do not hire everyone that applies. We are very selective in our hiring process to ensure we find the right quality candidates who will honor our mission.  We also want to be a good employer match for those we hire. We believe in you and that is why we make the offer of employment to you. With that said, sometimes there is a complaint or a concern.

If there is a clinical concern:

Any clinical concerns are immediately reported to our Nurse Manager. Whether there is a medication error, charting error etc. the nurse manager is going to ask questions and investigate the documentation that may be provided. The nurse manager will reach out to the team member and ask questions. After investigating all sides of the situation, a resolution is then determined.

If there is a professional/personal issue:

Any professional/personal issues will be reported to your recruiter. When this happens, the following is done:

The recruiter is going to ask questions from the client regarding the complaint. The recruiter is going to reach out to you to share the concern/complaint and hear what you have to say about it. That recruiter will reach out to others to ask questions, if need be, investigate and get all sides of the story. A resolution is then determined and made.

In short, we believe in you unless proven otherwise