So.......I signed my first travel contract on Dec 3, 2021 with a start date of Dec 27. This meant I was going to have to give up Christmas with my son, which I only get every other year, that I would be in a new Country, alone, on Christmas....not even working that weekend, just waiting to start. I had come to terms with this, since that was the start date I was given, and I have been ready to get this show on the road for what seems like, so long already. On Dec 4, I reached out to my unit manager, as well as my onboarding specialist, to confirm that I would be able to start work while I waited for my ssn appointment.
According to Trusted, as long as I had my I-94, and a signed contract along with my Canadian passport, I was cleared on their end. However.... over the next couple of days I heard back from the unit manager stating that she was unsure if I would be able to start without it......ugh
I was planning to fly out on Dec 19.... yesterday... to finish up some compliance tasks and to get my bearings before I jumped into this new job. I gave notice at my staff job and changed my status to casual. Thankfully I held off on booking any flights or accommodations until I had a solid answer.
The entire week of Dec 6-10 I was told by my team at Trusted that they had been trying to contact the facility, struggling to get through, that they were unable to connect or get any solid answers.... so I just kept waiting....and waiting......and waiting...
As I have mentioned in previous posts, literally nothing happens on weekends with this stuff. These decisions are for the Mon-Fri crew and so any movement seems to be at a snails pace. I try to stay positive, to trust the timing, to remember that there are 4 or 5 people/ departments between me and the unit, but it is SO hard. I start feeling irritated.... we both agreed to this contract, knowing I didn't yet have my ssn, so why is it even a question? I only wanted to confirm that it was going to be ok, and now part of me wonders if I should have just showed up and not said anything. I didn't want to be that risky though, and I'm glad we are working through this. Maybe it will be WAY easier for the next Canadian trying to work at this specific hospital.
Dec 13 comes and I finally decide to bite the bullet and take my doggie in for her international health certificate. A 200 dollar piece of paper with 30 day expiry date.... still hoping that this week will bring some answers..... I scrambled to get some final bloodwork done so if things got delayed, it wouldn't be due to my negligence. As a nurse, we sometimes have to be tested for TB. In Canada, we typically do this via a skin test. You get a tiny injection just under the skin, then go back and have it looked at 48 hours later. A 2 step skin test... I was informed that this facility would want 2 2 step tests, which meant 4 total appointments and 5 days in which to complete them if that was the route I was going.....a bit excessive if you ask me. So I opted for the blood test instead. So many travel nurses talk about this test as being way easier than the skin test.....it's not.
I had to make an appointment with a Dr in order to get the requisition for this test, and when I got to the lab, I was told it was a pretty rare test and they didn't have the right tubes, but was told I could go to the lab at my work...Ugh, ok.... so I went to the lab at work before my shift. There, I was told I would need to make an appointment, and that my Dr would need to get special approval from the virologist on call in order to request that test. ok.... so I called my Dr. and asked her (well I had to ask through the receptionist because the Dr's don't just take phone calls) to get the special approval, to fax it to the lab at my work, and made an appointment for the next day. As I was waiting to be seen, the lab tech came out and said "did you know you need to pay for this test"... yes, I said, I just wasn't told how much. She went on to explain that they have no way to bill me there, and she would have to make a call.....I did finally get the test done, apparently they will mail me the bill, which my company will pay for, and I was able to see my results online within a few days. With this test done, all my compliance was done, and days ahead of schedule....but still no word from the facility if I can actually start working as planned.
With only 6 days left before I had planned to fly out, and still no news, I emailed the unit manager to let her know that we had been trying, but that there had been some issues getting any kind of info from the hospital end. She was frustrated as well, and within an hour of emailing her, I got an update from Trusted that the facility was planning to meet about this specifically the next morning. FINALLY... SOMETHING.
A little bit of excitement crept back in, and I felt like I might actually be able to pull this off timing wise. Tuesday came and went.....crickets..... and Wednesday too. Did they even have this meeting? Am I just being strung along here?? Why is it so difficult? Trusted is technically my employer and they have cleared me, why is the facility struggling so much?? On Thursday, 3 days before I anticipated leaving, I was told that the facility was going to meet on the following Monday. A week before my contracted start date, and a day after I wanted to arrive. So the meeting that was meant to happen on Tuesday....didn't.
Will today's meeting actually take place??? I really really hope so.
Meanwhile, it's still Christmas time...I still went casual at my job, and on top of a plethora of other personal issues, I am now faced with a delayed start date as a best case scenario. I am missing Christmas with my kiddo for nothing, a sacrifice I will never make ever again, and I still don't know what the next couple of weeks will bring.
It is not all bad though!
I feel like I have just been handed one of the most important lessons of travel nursing, without even having to travel anywhere..... Expect the Unexpected, and accept that so much is out of your control. I feel like I have been in a vice the last couple of weeks, just waiting... and so much of that stress is because I chose to accept a contract that would require me to travel over the holidays....So that's on me...I didn't anticipate the sloth paced communication, the unfamiliarity of international nurse requirements from the facilities HR dept, and so much red tape......Not knowing if I will be home for Christmas or not, has caused extra stress for everyone around me, has taken so much of my attention away from being in the present moment, and no matter how badly I want answers or how irritated I get, that somehow doesn't speed things up.
I did everything right. Rushed around to make sure I had test results in time, even wrote a prophecy exam completely unrelated to my specialty because the facility required it, met all my deadlines on time, for once had all my ducks in a row.... and that wasn't enough. Even though I did everything in my power to ensure things went smooth, as my onboarding team keeps telling me "we are really at the mercy of the facility here, and are waiting on them". I asked Friday for a pushed start date since it is because of the facility that I am not able to start on time. So far all I have heard is that we are now looking at a Jan start, just no set date as of yet. Until I hear back, everything is still kind of up in the air, which is super uncomfortable for me, but a valuable lesson in both patience, and presence.
Happy Holidays
xoxo
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