Travel Nurses Have Opportunity for Post-Traumatic Healing
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN LIVE… BREAKING NEWS… How many times have you watched a tragedy unfold live on the news in a town nowhere near yours? Is it just me or have these type of events dominated the news channels quite a bit lately? As the tearful and traumatized survivors and witnesses mill about in the background behind the on-scene reporter, desperately seeking direction and ultimately comfort, it is a nurse’s basic instinct...
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...
Insurance Companies: Finally Flexible?
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Preexisting conditions are a part of life. In fact, some say that simply being born qualifies as a preexisting medical condition. Yet it has been a traditional part of health insurance practice to charge higher premiums for individuals with any significant medical history and in some cases deny them coverage all together. This type of policy has been a long standing source of tension between insurance...
Charting Still Transitioning to Digital
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Patient care charting is a standard and often time consuming part of every nurse’s shift. Travel nurses can add the task of learning charting systems at new hospital assignments. Digital charting is the much publicized solution that would be a timesaver for nurses and other clinicians, and because of improved clarity and continuity of care, a potential lifesaver for patients. Digital charting systems...
Nurse Assignments in Skiing Communities Bring Unique Challenges
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN The tragic death of Natasha Richardson from an initially undetected and later fatal head injury is a reminder of the unique patient challenges faced by nurses working in winter recreation communities. While on assignment in popular travel nursing locations such as California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Hampshire, the travel nurse confronts a myriad of patient injuries resulting from skiing and other...
Nursing Shortage Alarms President Obama
By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN Following through on his numerous campaign promises to fix America’s ailing healthcare industry, President Obama kicked off his second full month in office by holding a healthcare summit at the White House. During the summit, Mr. Obama presumably received some of the same information that we in the healthcare industry along with the public by way of the media, have been hearing about for quite some time...