Nursing in Texas (Dallas, Garland, Orange: neighborhood, high school, landlord)

[mckinneydeb]

I would say that while Group One can have an effect on one's employment should they have been terminated, the majority of nurses who have left in good standing have very little to worry about. And if I understand correctly, employers who do subscribe have you sign the consent for check AFTER your interview. At that point if you truly desire the job, I think I might reveal a negative situation along with a full explanation when I signed the background check saying you preferred to discuss this at this time once it was established there was a potential for hire. Than again, I have never purchased a Group One file on myself so perhaps it would be better to ask this question directly to someone who has?

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by socketz

Nurses make alot in CA because socialized medicine is king and they work nurses tails off out there....

California is the only state that limits patient loads by law. Texas doesn't so ... I'm not sure how California nurses are worked harder than Texas nurses.

I personally know travelling nurses who won't work anywhere else but California because they can't stand going back to higher patient loads in other states ... including Texas.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by sheri257

California is the only state that limits patient loads by law. Texas doesn't so ... I'm not sure how California nurses are worked harder than Texas nurses.

I personally know travelling nurses who won't work anywhere else but California because they can't stand going back to higher patient loads in other states ... including Texas.

I'm not a nurse, but having worked in nurse staffing for over 2 years I can tell you that nurses do not necessarily work harder (or easier) in California. Nurses work ridiculously hard everywhere. With that said, because of the state mandated patient to nurse ratios (5 to 1 on a med/surg floor, 4 to one in tele, etc.) Nurses tend to be able to work safer in California. This was one of the major reasons my travelers kept coming back to California. I will say that my only experience with nursing here in Texas was last month when my son was born at Medical City Dallas. Our L&D nurses were fantastic and were all nurses I would have dreamt about being able to work with as a recruiter.

[Spree]

>>my son was born at Medical City Dallas.<<

aww, congrats rb4! Hope you're getting some sleep :-)

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by mckinneydeb

I would say that while Group One can have an effect on one's employment should they have been terminated, the majority of nurses who have left in good standing have very little to worry about.

True but ... it's really the potential for abuse that's the concern here. There are reports of managers threatening nurses with a negative Group One write up if ... for example ... they refuse to work short and take higher patient loads. Like I said ... read allnurses.com ... you'll see all kinds of horror stories posted there.

I also have a problem with the fact that there's no due process here. It's not like you're notified if there's a negative report. The burden is put on you to buy and check the report and, even then, you can't get the report removed. All you can do is respond to allegations. There's no proof that you actually did anything wrong ... just a manager's word against yours. So, for all practical purposes, the damage is already done.

IMO it's probably illegal but ... it's certainly unprecedented and there are many nurses who refuse to work in Dallas because of it.

[mckinneydeb]

The thread has gotten totally off subject but I'll add one more comment regarding Group One and working in Dallas. I did read a few of the comments on allnurses.com. As a former manager at multiple levels, including DON, I would say there is always 2 sides to every story. I'm not saying people are lying, I'm saying that an individuals point of view is often colored in their favor. Maybe I'm a minority, but I would never report a nurse to any organization or body just because they refused to work short and take on a higher patient load. To be honest, staffing was one of the major reasons I left my DON positioin. I couldn't always walk out of the faciity feeling good about patient care. Not that the nurses were poor nurses, only that I thought the staffing regs places on me by administration didn't reflect the true needed based upon the acuity of patients. If a nurse felt she wasn't capable or comfortable working a particular shift either because of pt acuity or her unfamiliarity with the patient care/population, I would respect her decision. I would make every effort to bump up staffing either with a nurse or at least extra nonlicensed staff to lessen the nurses burden of unskilled care. But like I said, that is just me. I'm sure there are other managers who wouldn't feel that way.

But, as I mentioned, there are two sides to every story. Sometimes individuals fail to mention they have rec'd 2 or more reprimands for various incidents. Maybe there's an attendance issue, maybe patient or family complaints, maybe fellow staffers have issues with the employee. Maybe the employee is just one of those people who have issues with rules and regulations and likes to do things "the real way" instead of the "paper way". And in some cases, it boils down to personality issues. I can't address each situation mentioned on allnurses.com but I would wager there is more to most stories than just what is stated. There were a few nurses whom I didn't like but who performed excellent patient care. I would rather keep a good nurse with excellent patient care skills than to let he/she go over an issue that has no bearing on patient care. I would do all I could to work something out. But even then, as a manager you can't keep someone who refuses to follow protocol/policy as it will weaken your effectiveness with the rest of the staff. And who gets reported to Group One usually isn't the unit manager's call. The disciplinary action has to be reviewed by someone higher up or through the hospitals HR dept. Certain actions are reportable per hospital policy.

[sheri257]

I'm not sure how Group One is irrelevant to the topic since it's a major, controversial issue involving nursing in Dallas ...

And I do understand that there's two sides to every story. I'm not arguing that nurses shouldn't be disciplined either.

My question is: as far as I know, it's unprecedented for hospitals to share personnel information to the extent that it is done in Dallas so ...

Where are the checks and balances to make sure there's no abuse in this system? Basically they're using the Fair Credit Reporting Act to justify compiling this database but ... how is that legal?

I thought the Fair Credit Reporting Act was for credit reports ... not personnel information.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by Spree

>>my son was born at Medical City Dallas.<<

aww, congrats rb4! Hope you're getting some sleep :-)

Sleep? What's that?

[mckinneydeb]

Originally Posted by sheri257

I'm not sure how Group One is irrelevant to the topic since it's a major, controversial issue involving nursing in Dallas ...

...My question is: as far as I know, it's unprecedented for hospitals to share personnel information to the extent that it is done in Dallas so ...

Where are the checks and balances to make sure there's no abuse in this system? Basically they're using the Fair Credit Reporting Act to justify compiling this database but ... how is that legal?

I thought the Fair Credit Reporting Act was for credit reports ... not personnel information.

Well I thought the orginial poster wanted salary info and another poster wanted salary as well as relocation benefit info. So that's why I said the thread had gotten off topic. Maybe I need to re-read the whole thread, I didn't think we were talking indepth professional issues.

As for the Fair Credit Reporting Act, there is substantial description of the use of the report for employment purposes on the website listed below.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/031224fcra.pdf

And while GO may be using a loophole in the FCRA, it does fall under their jurisdiction so it is legal, maybe not ethical.

I took the time to read the 19 page thread on allnurses.com about GO. While it contained a lot of discussion it only provided a couple of instances of how to actually clear one's report. And I agree, an agency like this would have the California Nurses Association lobbying to outlaw it's practice. Too bad Texas nurses don't have that kind of power and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Didn't I see your post about GO on another City-Data forum? Perhaps we can discuss this more indepth there.

Anyway, one thing I have learned after 27 years as a nurse: healthcare is a very "incestuous" business. You are bound to run into people with whom you have had previous experience, regardless if it was good or bad and news travels fast in the small world of nursing within any community with or without Group One. Therefore be careful of the bridges you burn you never know when you might have need to cross back over them again. I learned that lesson the hard way.

[futureRCP]

any ideas on starting RN salaries for local hospitals in Dallas/Ft Worth metro area?

this is at Parkland... Nurse Resident qualification: *Must be a graduate of an accredited SON. *Must be either a RN in Texas, have a temporary permit or be eligible to take NCLEX. minimum: $23.88

if anyone knows, how do Dallas Childrens and/or Cook Childrens compare?
all I can find is that Dallas Childrens pays $4.50 night diff and $6.00 weekend diff.