'cause I'm happy!

As far as the job, things are great! 
I have three weeks under my belt at my current hospital and I love it! In my last blog I didn't want to be overly confident, but this place is working out to be perfect. Somethings work out just the way they are supposed to. I will have to say that several of my deliveries have been challenging and on some nights (most) I am dealing with two patients in labor (for those of you reading from Pineville, you are spoiled!). This is what I love about nursing (especially traveling), it's a challenge and I am continually learning so much! I already feel like these three short weeks have made me a better nurse and I can't wait to see what the rest of this assignment brings. I have agreed to work night shift for the beginning half of my assignment because they needed help, but will be switching back to days in a couple weeks. The staff have been great and I am really enjoying getting to know them. They are used to travelers and love getting to know us; they're already asking me to extend or come work full time.

I was all packed to stay for the weekend in Long Beach while working four shifts in a row.

As far as life in LA, it's great too! 
My mom was just out here last week to visit Craig and me; we had so much fun! One of Craig's friends, Logan, is from a town that we grew up close to but they didn't meet until they moved out here (our dads went to high school together and our grandparents were neighbors). Our mom's have become friends and decided to come on this trip together, so while the guys were working I got to take the moms shopping and exploring. It was so fun to get to show them around like it was my city since they are both used to being here with guys! On the weekend, my mom, Craig and I got away to Laguna Beach. It's such a fun little town with beautiful beaches and the cutest little stores.  On their last day here, we pampered ourselves with a blow out from Drybar. I love this place and will be frequenting it more often (this is the type of place I would want to open in Charlotte!)! I'm so glad that my mom was able to visit us while I was out here! It was really nice to see family.

The girls shopping at The Grove

Logan and Karen Warner, Craig and my mom

Laguna Beach

After our blow outs at Drybar

While my mom was out here, Addie had her fourth birthday!! I can't believe that she is already four, it seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home. My dad is the best about spoiling her on a daily basis but he always does something extra special for her birthday. This year he made her a hat and got her some ice cream. I hate that I had to miss it but I know she's in good hands! 

A few weeks ago, Jillian had a friend come visit us that wanted to go to a bar called Sur Lounge. I had no idea what the place was, but was soon informed it was owned by Lisa Vanderpump (Beverly Hills housewife) and it had its own reality TV show (Pump Rules) with all of the bartenders. We had such a fun night at the bar and got to meet most all of the people on the show, including Lisa and her dog Giggy. 

I got to spend the past couple of days in Scottsdale, Arizona with a few of my sorority sisters. It was the craziest decision since I had to work Wednesday night and now again Saturday night, but I haven't seen these girls in over a year and knew it would be worth it! I only told my friend Katherine, who lives in AZ, that I would be coming so the others would be surprised since I had originally told them I couldn't make it. We had so much fun and it was great to catch up with them now that we are spread out. For those of you that know me well, it was the eight year anniversary of my best friend from high school passing and I knew there wouldn't be a better way to spend it than with my friends. 

Some of you might have seen my Instagram picture of shoes that my mom painted for me. They are designed to look like a Lilly Pulitzer print which is one of my favorite things. I have been known to wear lots of Lilly so what better way than a bold print on my shoes! If you are interested in a pair similar to mine, another print, or something else on a pair of Tom's my mom is your girl!

I can't believe how fast the time is going!! I only have two more months left out here, and only one of them will be with Jillian! She will be returning to Charlotte at the end of April and I will continue on the journey of travel nursing. I'm looking forward to the rest of the time with her and Craig and all that is left to do out here!! 

}Contracts{

I figured it was about that time to update you, and many of you have been asking... So this is what I've come up with. I'm at a point that I'm a little too nervous to be confident in this assignment, but... I'm confident in this one (if that makes sense).
Have you ever been in a point in life where you think it's right and then the door closes? Then maybe it feels even better when the next door opens, but soon after it closes again. Then another door opens and you're sure that it's never felt this good (third times the charm right?). This is where I'm at. Some of you maybe had to open a fourth or fifth door; I'm hoping to not be in those shoes, but I'll take it how it comes.
So far, my assignment has been great. A few hoops (paperwork) had to jumped through in the beginning, lots of online training, and only two days of orientation on the floor (one labor and one postpartum). This makes me really nervous because I haven't had a delivery yet, not even in orientation, and I'm going to have to rely on the help of others. I'm a control freak and learning to ask for help is one of my downfalls... Obviously going to be getting over that one real quick (a lesson I'm teaching myself that is making this whole experience worth it). I've got the computers down this time and the unit is pretty simple so I'm good there too, it's just learning how they run a delivery. I've got this!! The hospital is a smaller one, nine labor beds and fifteen postpartum beds. It's so similar to how things were at Pineville (Charlotte) that I think it will be the best transition possible for me. I am back to working with certified nurse midwives (one thing I loved most about CMC) and doctors as back up. So things, to me, look great and I couldn't be more excited to start this journey!!

That being said, I've learned a few things along the way that travelers need to know.
1. Always review your contract. If it's not in the contract then it isn't happening. If your recruiter tells you she's giving you a stipen, make sure it's there and double check your pay stubs until you see ALL things paid out. If you want time off or days scheduled a certain way make sure it's in your contract or else the hospital isn't obligated to give it to you.
2. Ask about requirements upfront. Some hospitals require you to have certain certifications or
classes that cost extra. Some of these include a fire safety class or advanced fetal monitoring or
maybe an online training of some sort. Make sure you are allowed time for this and that what your pay upfront is compensated. This also includes lab work, physicals, titers, etc., coming from someone that is TB positive (yes, it still happens in the USA), you will have to get a chest x-ray and it is expensive so make sure you are compensated.
3. Call time. Every hospital will be different but figure out what they do about call time. Can they call you off? Will you be compensated? Are you guaranteed hours? Some contracts will allow you so many call off hours before you are automatically paid for not having enough work, others will call
you off as much as they want and give you an "on call" pay. Figure out how your hospital deals with this! (By on call I mean low census, over staffed, whatever you call it)
4. Housing. Where are they going to put you if you take their housing provided? What's close by? Can you walk to anything? What's the neighborhood like? If you take your own housing always try to negotiate a higher pay ($2200-2500 seems to be max).
5. Hospital. What is your unit like? How many online modules do you have to do? What's the orientation like? How many beds, deliveries, nurses, etc.? Make sure that you are going to a place
that you are use to dealing with. If you are use to 100 deliveries a month you probably shouldn't be going to a place that does 300+ in a month unless you're really ready to roll.
6. Travel nurses are your best friends. When you go through orientation always talk to the other people in your class to see what they think of a hospital or what their experiences have been. You can learn so much from talking to others out there in this field. Each person has a different experience and a different way they've gone about making this experience amazing. The more experienced nurses will have a better idea of what hospital to go to and which to avoid. You will gain so much from talking to experienced travel nurses!

Staying in on a Friday night to complete online training!

Back to LA.. We are still having a blast of course!!
Craig and I attended a birthday party last week that was so much fun!! We had a nice brunch the next morning, including chicken and waffles (I felt back home), followed by the Oscars.It's crazy to believe that all of those celebrities were right down the street from my home!! I wish I would've gone to Hollywood Blvd but the place was a zoo. Speaking of celebrities, I did see Chelsea Handler leaving the coffee shop. I'm kind of getting use to the fact that these people are in "my" city (ha).

I know most of you reading my blog have actually been dealing with a pretty harsh winter, I'm sorry-
but that's exactly why I moved south and for those of you in Charlotte, exactly why I'm in LA. On a more serious note though, it rained for three days straight here and we almost all melted. LA treats rain like the South treats snow, and I'm not kidding. Cars wrecked, people didn't go out, and it was the talk of the town all week! No worries, it's back to sunny and 75!

Thanks for readin y'all! 

Xoxo

Hadley