Traveling Nurses Are Valuable to Healthcare
By Erica Ronchetti It’s no secret that the healthcare industry is becoming increasingly demanding for nurses and traveling nurses, who must now care for the rising numbers of aging baby boomers and other health care demanders. In contrast, the number of prospective nurses and nursing students who will become professional nurses and travel nurses is decreasing, despite the growing community of people who require health care and...
Department Closure Threatening Travel Nursing Specialty Care
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Going, going gone, are the days when one general family medicine practitioner could solve all or most of a patient’s health problems. As patient needs become more specialized, there is an increased need for specialized medicine. Except with the current financial crunch, the exact opposite is happening. Department closures have become a serious problem in the nursing industry. This leaves many nurses...
Design Your Dream Nursing Career
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Just as little kids mull over the possibilities of what they want to be when they grow up, nursing students custom design their dream career. A few years on the med-surg floor first, then perhaps a move into the ER or ICU, followed by a return trip back to school for a Master’s degree and later on a nurse practitioner career. Nurses with a wandering spirit are more likely to map out a career as a travel...
The Business of Exporting Travel Nurses
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN As the U.S. makes it a priority to fill empty nursing positions by any means possible, the Philippines appears to have made exporting travel nurses into a business. I mentioned in a prior blog how the Philippines is a prominent supplier of nurses to America (despite reports that many U.S. trained travel nurses remain unemployed). A Finland newspaper, discussing travel nursing, mentioned how “the...
Travel Nurses Can Help Patients Avoid Readmission
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Patient discharge teaching is one of the most important parts of the cycle of care and by no means is it the end of the care plan. Unfortunately due to short staffing, heavy patient loads and all around time management issues, discharge teaching can turn into skimming through the discharge papers, hurriedly asking the patient and their family if they have any questions and getting their signature on the...
Overtime Could Benefit Travel Nurses Most
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Now is the time to review your travel nursing agency’s policy on overtime along with your current assignment contract. One of the temporary fixes for the nursing shortage that appears to be benefiting both staff and travel nurses is increased opportunities for working lucrative overtime hours (double time in some rare cases). Since the pay scale for traveling nurses is predominantly higher than it is...