HCA
I have worked for 2 HCA hospitals as a traveler and I really like them a lot. They use Meditech which is not that great, but they seem to have pretty good staffing.I dont like their staffing company though, All About Staffing.

Have worked for them as a traveler. They use travelers because the conditions are so poor for staff nurses that they have difficulty recruiting and retaining staff. Equipment is old, meditech charting is ancient, their EMAR system creates additional work to dispense meds, pay is usually less than the area's going rate, supplies are rationed like gold (even flushes and IV starting equipment are in the pyxis (suremed) to be charged out for the patient-not a great idea for the emergency room (thank goodness for knowing the CN code to get emergency access when you have an unconcious patient who did not get to register

Had to assignments. They are about average, but not the greatest by any stretch.

hca
I'm working for them now. Medi-tech charting is atrocious. Their in house staffing screwed one of the travelers this past week. My story has been a nightmare. Staffing sucks. Sometimes there are techs, sometimes there are not. One Dr. back-timed one of his orders. I wrote the pt's info down and even asked the pt. to clarify what time they actually got back to the bed. It was 1 hour, 5 minutes later than the Dr. timed the order for. If things don't get better, there will not be enough money to keep me affiliated with them and continue to put my license on the line. Am in one of their Houston facilities.

with HCA it really is different from facilty to facility. i have worked at three HCA hospitals. 1 sucked terribly (although they are getting better) and other two were great. my assignments on the two that were good are normally 5-6. if we dont have a tech they knock us down to 4 with 5 at max while we do primary care. with meditech (now they have a newer version called gemms) once you learn the shorcuts its extremely easy to chart. i can do all my charting on 6 people in about 15 minutes. the emar is a pain in the ass but if done properly it will reduce med errors by 100%. now when i first graduate nursing school i worked at an hca facilty and on nights 10+ (i had as many as 13) patients was a nightly thing. were i am at now doesnt give nights more then 7.
biggest thing about traveling to an hca hospital is to go through all about staffing. all agencies go through all about staffing and that is why "florida pay sucks for travellers" i have had a recruiter for one company tell me that cause they said they can only pay 17 bucks an hour. i called all about and am now getting close to 50 so go with them.

HCA in Florida
What part of FL is getting close to 50 an hour for traveling? through all about staffing....what is the best hospital to ask for ?

Re: HCA in Florida


i am north of tampa. it depends on how well you can sell yourself. as i have said before they will low ball you and see if you accept it or not. my first contract with AAS i got like 45 on second i got more and third more.

HCA's are the pits for the most part.. I work in the OR and we never have help turning over rooms, supplies are very limited, they will not guarantee 40 hrs in a week. I work 8's only..

The other thing with HCA is they don't have insurance and once with AAS the travel division for HCA, you can't go to an HCA unless it's through AAS for at least a year. Sometimes they pay better but not always.

I have worked continuously as a travel nurse for over 10 years and traveled across the country 6 times. It has been a great experience. I have worked for 2 HCA facilities in that time and my homebase is just a few miles from one....I have no respect for that hospital group AT ALL! Anyone who has worked for one that treated and paid them well was working at one of the exceptions! A link to the HCA website is on my Favorites Bar so that I can look up a facility before accepting an interview, if it is an HCA facility I will not even consider it...there are too many places to work as a traveler to put up with the horror stories associated with them that I will not go into. I would recommend not taking an assignment with them, you are taking a chance.

HCA
I also worked in an HCA facility in Houston. By the end of the weekend you did not have any of the basic supplies to start an IV or the fluids to run....and no real way of obtaining them!!! The staff were friendly once they realized that I was not going to run after the first week! I will agree that All About Staffing is not good but FYI they are owned by American Mobile, so that should explain A LOT!!

HCA
HCA, Hospital Corporation of America is who owns AAS... they are the travel division for HCA.... not American Mobile..