Travel nursing in Alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks: credit, schools, cost)

[akvarmit]

Originally Posted by traveler907

My advice is just to avoid Barrow unless you want to lose your license. Barrow hospital sucks. The docs are the worst ever and the entire process of everything is just crazy. I'd definetly stick to another bush site or main town.

Okey-dokey....four posts later about your opinion of Barrow.......we GET it.

I'm not sure what you expected, but I hope you dealt with your concerns through the proper channels, and not through your posts here. I don't think it matters what state it is....messages that such-and-such s*cks aren't really helpful.

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by akvarmit

Okey-dokey....four posts later about your opinion of Barrow.......we GET it.

I'm not sure what you expected, but I hope you dealt with your concerns through the proper channels, and not through your posts here. I don't think it matters what state it is....messages that such-and-such s*cks aren't really helpful.

That is an astute observation.

There certainly is at least some basis for what was claimed, but perhaps it was more than a wee bit overboard. In fact Barrow is, as near as I can tell, much like the other Alaska regional hospitals in bush locations. They have a hard time attracting permanent medical staff and at any given time there is a mix of a few long term and twice as many short term people. Generally speaking none of them have any connection to the community.

One effect though, is that if you don't like the way things are... come back in six months and it will be different. Or wait a year and it will be totally different.

And one other effect is interesting too. Want to run the joint? Stick around... it takes very little time to gain more seniority, and more understanding of what and how things work, than almost anyone else. :-)

[JavaPhil]

I, too, noticed a lot of Barrow Med s*cks, but not a lot of specifics. How and why does it seem to be lacking? What specifically have you noticed that causes you to have this opinion? What should be done to correct the problem?

Have other people noticed this and attempted to fix it? When you resurrect 4 threads and say the same thing, without specifics, it has the appearance of a grudge more than a legitimate complaint. Just pointing that out, not saying that it isn't a real situation. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, or single you out on this. People looking for health care jobs in Alaska might need to know what the problems are, before going to Barrow for a job.

[Chymarra]

We must all be bailing on the Old North State. I am looking seriously at a job in Nome and so is my travel partner. We both live in NC. gOOD LUCK!

[traveler907]

OK, you're right. The darkness is getting too me. It's true with turnover the whole place could be different in 6 months. Both the DON and the ADON resigned during my assignment here- you can't say that often. The natives here got thier ASRC checks and are drunk all the time (sure- there are a couple of sober ones somewhere I'm sure- they are driving their snowmobiles 100mph by my apartment window all night). The docs are truly the worst I've ever worked with. It makes me wonder how they got such a group of them in one place. It's truly a recruitment miracle to gather such a group of them together. It's really cold- Which doesn't describe the cold- it's really cold here. I'm not sure how Nome is. We'd like to go somewhere else in AK but I don't know if it's worth it now. Floyd, I recommend you come up here and run the place but let me state my warning to all fellow travelers a 5th time :: Barrow Hospital sucks!!!

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by traveler907

OK, you're right. The darkness is getting too me. It's true with turnover the whole place could be different in 6 months. Both the DON and the ADON resigned during my assignment here- you can't say that often. The natives here got thier ASRC checks and are drunk all the time (sure- there are a couple of sober ones somewhere I'm sure- they are driving their snowmobiles 100mph by my apartment window all night). The docs are truly the worst I've ever worked with. It makes me wonder how they got such a group of them in one place. It's truly a recruitment miracle to gather such a group of them together. It's really cold- Which doesn't describe the cold- it's really cold here. I'm not sure how Nome is. We'd like to go somewhere else in AK but I don't know if it's worth it now. Floyd, I recommend you come up here and run the place but let me state my warning to all fellow travelers a 5th time :: Barrow Hospital sucks!!!

Not sure how you checked out your move or trip...how much it was sugarcoated or not....but you obviously are in a bad spot in your life and need to move...move to a more urban area in AK, maybe remote is not your style..not sure where you are from...but you need to move for your sanity...and if have a roomie that feels the same...she/he needs to move...I don't have as much dark as you...mine is from about 10-10:30 until it starts going down at 1:30-2....I type all day doing transcription from docs from NC...not that bad, but not great, don't think anyone likes their docs, but I don't work in that close proximity as you do...I have plenty of hobbies I can do, when not on here working...I also have snow"machines"...(snowmobiles where I come from),...whizzing by...their choice..not mine...I have plenty to do...we are now almost at soltice...days will slowly start to get longer...after last year.. all summer, I could not wait for dark, and not dreading near what I did last year..after a summer (wet as it was) of constant light...even the 4-year-granddaughter I had from MN here all summer- toward mid August, when started to get darker at night, she got scared because getting dark, after used to light all night, (was pretty funny)...you make the most of what you have and quit dwelling on the negative, (in your mind) find some positive if you can...or you have to move...wishing you the best...and I hate winter...but lovin it now...

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by traveler907

OK, you're right. The darkness is getting too me.

No matter where you run to get away from your problems... there you are! It's pretty clear from your commentary that you are your biggest problem.

The natives here got thier ASRC checks and are drunk all the time (sure- there are a couple of sober ones somewhere I'm sure- they are driving their snowmobiles 100mph by my apartment window all night).

That is racist bigotry. "The natives" are not all the same. Some drink, some don't. Some of them that do are obnoxious. Some of them that don't are obnoxious. The exact same is true of non-Natives. Painting all Natives with one brush stroke is asinine.

It's really cold- Which doesn't describe the cold- it's really cold here.

Are you insane? Why would you go to the northern tip of Alaska if you don't like cold? (Besides the simple fact: It hasn't gotten cold yet this winter. Not even close. Wait a month... :-)

I'm not sure how Nome is. We'd like to go somewhere else in AK but I don't know if it's worth it now. Floyd, I recommend you come up here ...

I've been to Nome. It isn't as nice as Barrow by a significant margin (from my perspective, which differs from others).

As far as "come up here"... you are not very observant. I live in Barrow, and have for years. Your rant isn't about Barrow, it's about you.

and run the place but let me state my warning to all fellow travelers a 5th time :: Barrow Hospital sucks!!!

Let me warn readers... you are not very observant, and have brought your problems with you. They might want to wait until you are gone... :-)

BTW, post a few more articles like these and I'll be able to figure out exactly who you are. I might just print them out and leave a few copies laying around in the right places. Just as a way to help you decide where you want to go next!

[Crossfire600]

Wow Floyd, well said.

I have always found it interesting how we can take an situation that should be a positive one and turn it into a negative one. We moved here to experience Alaska for what it was and not what we thought it should be. If I close my mind and try to fit Alaska into the mold of where I came from I do not allow myself to experience new things. I cut myself off from the things Alaska has to offer. When I accept and allow people to be who they are I remain teachable. Some of the lessons are positive and some not so much. When I die, I want to go knowing that I saw things that other people only dreamed and I contributed something positive.

I like looking at a situation and seeing what I can contribute and not what I can take.

[warptman]

Hey Floyd, maybe Traveler has no friends there and this is why he/she is saying this. Take him/her for a coffee sometime.

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by warptman

Hey Floyd, maybe Traveler has no friends there and this is why he/she is saying this. Take him/her for a coffee sometime.

Most of the medical staff seem to be afraid of the town... :-) Or, at least of the couple dozen or so that I personally have invited to get out and see something, not a single one has ever taken me up on it.

In the time I've been in Barrow I've seen 3 nurses and 2 doctors that would get "out and about". Oddly enough too, those 5 people were no two ways, absolutely the finest people you could imagine meeting too! Not that there haven't been others that I thought just as highly of, but they just don't get away from the hospital campus.

The two doctors were absolutely fascinating people, both of whom had "free clinics" in other places and were here on short term assignments to earn enough money to keep their own clinics open. We even found out one of them was making house calls to a couple of very elderly people for whom regular visits to the hospital were extremely uncomfortable. What can you say about a person like that!

And just incidentally, the husband of one of those nurses posted 1 article in the CD Alaska forum a few weeks back.