25/08/2024
Travel nurse diaries
Chapter (contract) 7
Aug 23
Worst border crossing ever, was very close to being denied entry after a 4 hr wait because the border guy decided he needed to speak to the hospital to verify employment vs the agency who is my actual employer. Got my detainment rights read to me, had to sign a formal document stating I understood why I was being denied, got fingerprinted, and was going to have to wait in line to reenter Canada then wait in line to reapply on the US side. This was after driving for 6 hours and waiting for 3.5 with no information from the border guy. When I finally asked if he knew how much longer, he stated he was waiting on the hospital to confirm my employment….the hospital is not my employer and this has never been requested before. Ever. My recruiter has never heard of it happening either, so this was a huge shocker. They are now getting thier legal team involved as I was apparently unlawfully detained according to the requirements set forth by homeland security for a tn visa. He had everything he needed to verify my employment with my employer (the agency) and either didn't know what he was doing, or was being a dick. My recruiter came through at the end of the business day and was able to convince the unit manager to personally call this guy, but that never should have been required. They requested my visa for 3 years and he gave me one for 13 weeks. Once I was finally granted my visa, I headed to great falls, 2 more hours to my first hotel. About 5 min in I got an alert on my phone for a severe storm warning with 80mile/hr winds and a notice to take cover. I did not take cover. The storm was sort of beside me, so I pushed through and made it to my hotel by just after 7pm. So what should have been an 8 hr day was 12, tears were shed, cortisol spiked, and anxiety tweaked….but im here. Day one done. After deciding to push through the storm I was rewarded with a gorgeous double rainbow reminding me that I can get through any storm, nothing terrible lasts forever, and there is beauty on the other side of struggle, as long as you keep moving forward. Zoey was hungry af, and sick of waiting around, and me too, but it all worked out. I have full faith that this particular border guy will get his own karma, maybe he already has, he was clearly not having the best day of his life as evidenced by his demeanor towards me as well as another individual before me. If someone could just invent some ruby slippers to clack together to get me to day one of each assignment that would be great because the whole month leading up to a new assignment is intense. I have a 10hr day on the road tomorrow, and another 8 hr day on Sunday. When I finally arrive in California, I have to go in and get fingerprinted for an fbi background check, have a zoom meeting with my agency to confirm my i9 work eligibility, take a 3 hr nrp skills class, because even though I literally just did this in Canada, it's not recognized in the US, have a physical, drug screen, blood work, n95 fit test, BLS skills session, and try to find somewhere to unpack my suitcases for a few months. It's a bit extra this time because I'm with a new agency, so I've already completed mandatory education, a Canadian background check, uploaded about 30 documents…..and this doesn't even include the hospital modules I'll no doubt have to complete, orientation at the facility, payroll set up, and learning my new surroundings. Is it worth it??? TBD. Just going to keep moving forward and take the waves as they come. It's great when things go totally smooth, but it's not common, there are always hiccups in life, and especially in travel nursing, so you gotta just go with it, or go crazy. A month from now, I'm going to be settled in to the new unit in norcal, hopefully in my temp home away from home, finding my way back to some routine again, and I'll look back on today with relief that even though it sucked, it all worked out in the end. I hope….
