[smbrn]

Just wondering. I'm on my second travel assignment and just started orientation this week. On Monday, day one of two days class work, we were all given this enormous stack of self-learning packets and were told these all needed to be completed and turned in by the end of the next day. No time was going to be allotted during the orientation days for this. When questions came up about how to document the hours we would have to spend at home doing these things, we were told we would have to "clear it" with our individual nurse managers to see if we could be paid for the time! I flat out refused to do anything without a guarantee of payment for my time. The nurse educator looked none too happy about that. Anyone else had this happen? How did you get it resolved?

[Sharkin]

Here's what I do...

Keep track of the non-hospital hours you spend doing those packets. Send the hours to your Nurse Manager AND your company recruiter. Between the two, it will get resolved.

[smbrn]

Thanks. Actually I did contact my recruiter and she said under no circumstances are travelers expected to do any work for the hospital without reimbursement. I've also been told that at this facility, nurses have to punch in and out for a half hour break even if you don't actually take a break. I've given my recruiter a heads up about this potential problem as well. Honestly.

[Sharkin]

What hospital or healthcare system is this? I need a heads up so I don't go there.

I'm finishing up in Florida and heading to the DC area in May.

[smbrn]

The facility is St Raphael's Hospital in New Haven, CT. Actually I just let my recruiter know today that I won't be finishing my contract with them. Over the weekend I had a supervisor refuse to sign my time sheet for the week because, as he said, "I don't know you and I can't verify that you worked the hours you put on your time card.". In other words, I might be trying to rip them off. Apparently, and it came as news to me, the only person in the entire facility who can sign time sheets is the nurse manager who, of course, works Monday to Friday and isn't available to sign on the weekends. No one thought it was important enough to mention to me, naturally. When I told this supervisor I wasn't going to be at work on Monday when my time was due he suggested I have "Anne" fax the time sheet to me at a Kinko's or something so that I can take care of it! What a bozo! Needless to say I have no intention of going back and will be damned if they are going to get out of paying me for that week. I am dealing with Preferred Healthcare and the travelers' service people were less than helpful; returning my call at 6:30PM, too late to get my time straightened out and too late for me to call them back. Funny. I never had these problems at Yale with Cross Country.