Travel nurses rate Community Regional in top 10
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| Last year, 48 traveler nurses committed long-term to Community, including Diana Rae Encinias (left), Edward "Waki" Faagai (center) and Gerri Fisher. |
TravelNursing.com surveyed 4,500 registered nurses on short-term contracts and asked them to rate hospitals for friendliness of the staff, patient safety focus, best nurse managers, orientation, opportunities for learning new skills and staffing levels. Survey respondents were also asked if they would work at that hospital again and if they would recommend it to others. Community Regional was listed eighth nationally and the best in California.
“Travelers have been very important to Community Regional in bridging our staffing gaps as we transitioned services from the former University Medical Center in 2007, and added 52 beds to neuroscience and 50 beds to the telemetry and cardiac unit in the past year,” said Karen Buckley, the hospital’s chief nursing officer. “We know that it is important to make sure that the travelers get a good orientation to provide them with essential information to promote safe and quality patient care at Community Regional. We have had several nurses convert permanent staff after they have been here on a traveling assignment.”
Last year, 48 of those traveling nurses liked Community so much they signed on as full time employees, said Julie Adair, director of human resources.
Buckley credits the staff for helping convince travelers to become part of the team long-term. “As we have hired permanent staff,” she added, “we have required fewer travelers but acknowledge that they are still essential at this time. We are happy to see that they recognize the extra steps Community Regional managers and staff take to make them feel at home.”
TravelNursing.com listed the pluses of the downtown medical center: “Home to the largest emergency department in the state of California and cutting-edge technology such as the daVinci Robotic Surgical System and G4 CyberKnife, travel nurses cited Fresno-based Community Regional Medical Center for its new medical technology and state-of-the art clinical procedures. A Level I trauma center and noted teaching facility, travelers scored this facility highest in the nurse manager and orientation categories—two essential elements for a successful travel nursing assignment.”
This story was reported by Erin Kennedy. She can be reached at ekennedy@communitymedical.org.