Working during the months of January – March, my options are quite limited since I hate being in cold weather. I usually try to be in Florida or California during this time.
In November, I was presented an opportunity to work with Kaiser Permanente in one of their Northern California clinics. I was really interested in this offer because Kaiser is supposed to be the “mecca” of healthcare. They use EPIC EHR which is supposed to be the best – ironically, I haven’t yet come across it after working with over 15 different electronic healthcare systems.
I even spoke to a provider that was working there and they told me how much they loved it. She told me there are tons of specialists that work there so you can always get a curbside consult when needed. The orientation and training process are very thorough as well.
My main hesitancy was that credentialing takes 60 days. That meant I had to make up my mind as soon as possible. And if you recall my ‘FOMO’ post, I hate committing early on. I also wasn’t thrilled about the location. I prefer to be in Southern California. It is more my vibe and less cold. Plus, I know more people there.
When I finally decided to move forward with the assignment, I let my recruiter know that my CA licenses and DEA were going to expire at the end of the year. Thus, I needed them to cover the costs of renewal. I was surprised when the recruiter made it seem like I was crazy for asking for this. He told me these things aren’t typically covered.
I said for sure state licenses that are used for the job are usually covered. I knew that particular agency usually doesn’t cover the cost of the DEA since it’s $700+, but they had paid for it for me in the past. He tried to negotiate with me, saying if they covered the cost of the CA RN license can I cover the cost of the NP one. Obviously, I said no. I am no rookie here…
In the end they ended up agreeing to cover the cost of all CA licenses and my DEA. When they sent me the contract, of course there was no mention about paying for my licenses. I did not sign the contract. I sent it back to them requesting that information be added to the contract. I know from experience not to take a recruiter’s word for anything. Everything must be in the contract!
In the meantime, I started credentialing so that my start date wouldn’t be delayed. Fast forward to a couple of weeks before my start date, and I still hadn’t received my contract. I hadn’t mentioned anything to my recruiter because I knew without a contract I still had the opportunity to back out last minute.
So when a “cold front” hit Florida for a few days, I knew I wasn’t cut out for winter in Northern California afterall. I checked the weather there and saw it was in the 30’s and 40’s. I then checked the weather in Southern California and it was in the 50’s and 60’s – more my style. Luckily I knew had another option in Southern California.
Stay tuned for part II!
