I'm sure you get this all the time....

If you sign with a travel co. you will get good benefits, like housing, $ for a car, etc, but then you may get stuck with a crappy assignment within the hospital. If you are not planning on staying for a long period and just want to do like a 6mo. assignment then go with a travel co. I dont know much about the hospital on STX, but I know you can sign as short as 6 weeks for an assignment at STT hospital. Good Luck!

Thx for the advice. I realize that within the hospital travelers tend to get the worst assignments. Are you a nurse? I would like to know how the hospitals differ, how care differs, the average nurse to patient ratio, things like that. I have a friend who took a travel assignment in London and was horrified by the quality of care and the nurse to patio ratio was ridiculous. I'd hate to get into something like that.

Okay, this about the last person you thought would write on this subject.

On Saturday we were out at Leinster and while just cooling in the water I start talking to two folks and as happens the are two travellers now working at the schneider hospital on Stt. One was an aenathesiastic tech and the other operating/surgical tech. Both had been down and were enjoying the experience although they had done a lot of travelling. They were living at Sapphire with about six others so there was a like group. The guy aenethes or whatever had a car and said he negotiated into his two week contract. The other one had an allowance but not enough to rent so would just the taxi to work.

Both seemed happy with the situation on Stt.

That's right, we Brits insist on crowding the nurses into sharing patios...I am sure that in the Good Ol' US of A, nurses have their on private patios!!!!! My health care bills sure look like they do.
Ooopss naughty bad Jane ...not about moving to the VI.
BBTQM

"their on private patios!!!!!"

Careful jumping on other's typos. 🙂 Has your nurse practitioner husband ever considered working in the UK, Jane?

I am a pediatric nurse, but I will not be working in the STT hospital till January. My sister just moved home from STT and was a nurse on the maternity floor, but she didn't sign with a travel company. She was hired as a permanent nurse at the hospital. She loved her time there and felt that the conditions were pretty good. Both of us come from working in big Philadelphia hospitals so it is very different in that aspect. As for working conditions I can only speak from what she has told me. There are some strong personalities/cultural differences that you need to get used to working with (for example: in the states we are very fast paced, etc.. not so much in the islands), ratios seemed to be decent but still busy, and technology wise they are pretty current (pyxis and everything!) If you have more specific questions I can refer them to my sister for you. Good luck with your move!

yes, he has - is licensed for both countries.

Thanks to all for your responses, it will help a lot. I have another question that maybe you can help with. My 19 year old daughter will be coming with me and will need part-time work. Will it be a problem for her to work on the islands? She is a certified pilates instructor and also teaches dance, but if that is not available she can always work in a shop or waitress. Also, how safe are the islands? I have only visited briefly on vacations and I never felt threatened in any way but then I was always with a group.

Your daughter shouldn't have a problem finding a job. There are lots of retail jobs around & depending on the time of year, waitressing jobs can be plentiful.

Safety is relative. Common sense & keeping your wits about you will help to keep you safe. There's crime here as there is everywhere.