I posted this on another forum ..but this forum seems to have grown since I last visited. Hoping by sharing this other travelers might avoid the ASSIGNMENT FROM HELL!
I am a seasoned traveler and I thought I knew all the questions to ask a new company. I have never had a problem with assignments/contracts/or accommodations.. < that were not resolved by the company I was with.>I have had several excellent assignments with PRN. When I changed companies I never thought I would have to read all the fine lines of the contract..but my most recent contract seems to be all for the company. When we questioned all the fine print we were told that "all contracts are worded this way". Well ...never being put in the position to need to worry about all this ...I signed on with Aureus. Right off my travel partner was moved from ED to float pool with a change of mind by the hospital after interview and position offer..reason changed to not enough experience. Our accommodations were previously refused by another traveler..<so why did Aureus put us there?> It was shocking to regular employees at this hospital <Backus in Norwich CT> the unsafe location we were at..and we also dealt with over a week with no heat before we were relocated by company. That was just the beginning. Why as a seasoned traveler did I not pick up on the response to my number one question? "Why is there such a need at this ER ?" "Why did so many employees leave?" To go to the floor..Duh? WHAT ER nurse goes to the floor! Now week number one is not yet over. Day two in the ED I was told to report off my four patients to a new nurse comming in to take a vented patient already in the ED. I asked the charge nurse why I had to report off my four patients to a new nurse comming on as apposed to her taking the vented pt? His response was "you are not to question my decisions ..you are to do as you are told!" Well ..last time I checked as a professional I deserved a professional answer. So I assumed care of this vented patient to find at 2 am the MD called in with an order to shut off the vent on the patient per the request of her Son. OK ...now I went back to the same charge nurse with my new order ..asking for a location in ED to prepare for this order on my alert intubated patient. I wanted to obtain comfort measures for my patient ie morphine drip/time to wean my patient/and a quiet place. I also felt it was the MD who should come in to carry out this order and to assure comfort of his patient. I also addressed if this was something an ER nurse would be asked to do with several other patients needing my attention. In other words ..should this pt be alone to die..is there someone who can be with her..ect. The charge nurse now responded with "Suck it up <name> " and called respiratory to extubate my patient. I called Aureus and there was nothing done to make me any more comfortable under a charge nurse who was arrogant, sexist, unprofessional, and incompetent in most of our eyes. I tried my best to go to this job..feeling uncomfortable with the HIPPA violations, products of conception being shown to security like some freak show... OMG! There were gender comments like "if you let the orders sit there long enough "the girls" will get them!" Well I'm not a GIRL!! I am a professional and daily I delt with unprofessionalism ..and daily I contacted my recruiter Kent at Aureus ..but all remained unchanged. I questioned all the reasons I came to this assignment "flexible scheduling" "self scheduling" "ER positions for both of us <travelers>" "closer location to my family during the holidays" " a professional run ER" Well none of our reasons existed..I was not even given two days off in a row so I could travel to see my childern who were not in the same state but closer than the 5000 miles away I was at previous assignment. No where did Aureus assist us to feel safe about our job or license. No where did Aureus help me with the scheduling problems. So now this is where the FINE PRINT of our contracts come in. What can we as travelers do? Who is out there to help the Traveler? What do we do if we feel like a contract need to be broken? What would your travel company do in this situation <both company and traveler>? This was the assignment from Hell! And I would have liked to say I never needed to break a contract. Finally...Aureus kept MOST of our last checks ...OHHH and what does the word NIGYYSOB mean? What company would send your small portion of your last check to the address you just left? Well Aureus...NIGYYSOB'd us! "Now I got you..you SOB" Well I'm not a girl and not a SOB Aureus! And well..Aureus also hangs up on you rather than help you out <when I went above my recruiter to Jean Ackerman she hung up on me rather than assist me> Took NO OWNERSHIP for our situation ..all we wanted was payment four our last four days of HELL that was stupidly mailed to the address we left. Why there? We never received any mail there previously from Aureus! All of our mail went to our pernament address thus we left no forwarding address. Aureus refused to cancel the checks which could not be forwarded and refused to send to our permanent address.
Aureus needs to wake up instead of Hang up. I plan to contact CT Board of Nursing and JACHO and if anyone knows of any Legal assistance to travelers please let me know. We need to tell our stories and stick together as traveler to help each other from our horrible experiences with Companies and Hospitals. Merry Christmas to all!
So was this the only assignment with Aureus? I am just beginning to try travel nursing and Aureus is one company that is trying to place me? What other travel companies have you worked with? American mobile is another that is trying to place me. I need some info on how to decide which co. to go with. I am planning on traveling to Arizona or California.... Allie Berry RN
Yipes, seems we have at least one vote against Aureus. Anyone else traveled with them lately?
Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com
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