The Atlas Life #61 - Travel ER RN, Lorie Nielsen

Lorie Nielsen: Well, I kind of put a bug in that recruiter's ear that ... because she actually said that basically if you know you want the job, and if you don't get the one, they'll go ahead and resubmit without talking to you. And yeah, that's kind of where you run into problems and stuff, because well, if it's been a week and you haven't heard anything, and you just kind of assume that's a done deal as quick ... as these things happens, so yeah, I'm glad I'm working with Atlas.

Erin Bluml: Hi, I'm Erin Bluml, and I'm a recruiter here at Atlas. Me and Lorie first met ... she was referred to me by another traveler that was at her home hospital in Lincoln. Steven has not worked for Atlas yet, but was referred to me by another traveler that had worked for me. And so a kind of roundabout way, me and Steven working together, haven't had a chance to do a contract, but introduced Lorie to me, and we hit it off and found a great contract for her that she's excited about.

Lorie Nielsen: Well I'm Laurie Nielson and yes, this is my first contract. I am going to Laconia, New Hampshire, clear across the other side of the country. I decided to travel, actually I've been wanting to travel since before I was even a nurse. So what pushed me over the edge is talking to fellow travelers that were at my home hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska. And yeah, it just kind of pushed me over the edge, and I decided it was time to go.

Lorie Nielsen: Probably the bad would be, I've never made this long of a trip on my own. So seven hours is about the extent. So, and I'm actually traveling down to Georgia to see Christie and Steven, and then I'll travel up the east coast. So the travel will be fun, especially with two small dogs, but I have plenty of time, so I'm looking forward to the scenery. And as far as New Hampshire goes, it looks like a very big outdoor kind of state. So biking trails, and kayaking, and the ocean right there, and mountains and climbing. So I'm excited about that, and meeting new people and seeing how things are on the east coast. Steven, and Christie, and I were all trying to get-

Erin Bluml: Yeah, together.

Lorie Nielsen: We were all trying to go to New Hampshire together.

Erin Bluml: And there was options that, obviously the ER market is a little saturated right now, but we were also trying to focus on a certain pay range, and that kind of thing too. So, and we were seeing some needs up that way, and continuingly to post. So we kind of kept going back there, and submitting, and finally had one come through.

Lorie Nielsen: Hey, good job.

Erin Bluml: There was a little snafu though where ... because again, we've talked on some of our information here about working with other companies, and we talked about that as well, that that's totally fine, but communication needs to be there. And the job reopened again, and another company had submitted her to another job that opened up, but had closed. And so, I let her know, "Hey, it reopened again." And she said, "Let's give it a go." And the other company went in and tried to ... after we got the offer, tried to kind of backdoor it, and say that Lorie actually wanted to work through them and not Atlas. And so, it was this kind of whole thing that we had to have her send an email, and let them know that that she wanted it to be with Atlas for the contract. So it's kind of an interesting thing that doesn't always happen, especially in general, but then for a first time traveler, they kind of have to have that ... I love the way you handled it with communication, and so I appreciate that.

Speaker 3: What do you think you're going to miss most about being a staff nurse?

Lorie Nielsen: The camaraderie, and basically the rapport that we build with the doctors, because I'm to a point at Bryan East where if I have a patient that's presenting with such and such, I can go to the doctor and say, "Hey, we really need this. Can I get this?" And they trust me. They trust my nursing knowledge and stuff, and 95% of time, they will go ahead and do it based on your judgment of that patient. And I feel like you're not going to have time within that 13 weeks to be able to build that rapport.

Erin Bluml: And I know in talking to Mike Spies who's the client manager, that they're really good with travelers up there. So that's another great thing for you, first time out. Having a good experience with a unit that welcomes the travelers with open arms is a good thing. So ...

Lorie Nielsen: Dream assignment? Hmm, well, actually I'd love to go to Colorado, to be honest. I love Colorado. I had contemplated moving there, just never made it happen. And yeah, it depends on the time of the year. I'd go to Texas. I really ... I don't know. I don't know, somewhere else fun.

Erin Bluml: There's no ... I mean, probably Colorado if it paid better for sure.

Lorie Nielsen: Yeah, yup.

Erin Bluml: But what do you do? We'll see.