By Accountable HealthCare Staffing

August 21, 2019

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Travel Nurses Are Cool

This article provided by: Accountable Healthcare Staffing

travel nurses

Travel Nurses are just the coolest

Who else gets to travel the country for their career, do work that really matters to patients and families, use their talents and training in all kinds of different environments, and make new friends nationwide? They may not always get their due, but Travel Nurses do a lot to strengthen the healthcare industry as a whole, especially as the U.S. nurse shortage increases.

Of course, all nurses make a hugely positive impact in the healthcare world, but this blog’s devoted strictly to those of the travelin’ persuasion. Here are 5 awesome ways that writer Sarah Wengert says Travel Nurses make a positive impact in the world!

Travel Nurses Patient Care

The number one, most positive impact Travel Nurses make has to be that they help keep staffing levels safe, leading to better patient care nationwide. Because of the extra help you provide, you and all of your colleagues are able to provide better patient care as a result.

They Fight Burnout

Because they’re fresh to a facility and unit, and also because they ease tight staffing levels, Travelers do a lot to help their perm counterparts fight nurse burnout. Burnout in the nursing world not only takes its toll on individual nurses, it also increases the likelihood for a clinical error.

They Inspire Others

I’m sure most Travelers have heard from their mom, best friend, old college roomie, etcetera, how awesome their career is. I concur! The fact that you can travel for your job and choose whichever locations you like is super inspiring and it makes others around you who hear your story inspired to live their best life. Well, I say “inspired” but really, the rest of us are super jealous of your career. Lucky you!

Travel Nurses Remain Flexible

It takes a lot of flexibility to be able to touch down in any hospital nationwide, fall right in step, and make an impact in the delivery of patient care. Travel Nurses make a positive impact because of their flexibility on the job and ability to, as Tim Gunn famously says, “Make it work.”

They Share a Fresh Perspective

Because they have a unique view of many different facilities and ways of doing things, Travelers can offer a great new perspective to the facilities they grace with their presence. Of course, it’s not polite nor effective to come in the first day trying to change everything and it’s best to conform to each hospital’s unique structure. But, your fresh set of eyes on a unit can also be invaluable to a facility. Ready to Live the Adventure and see the U.S? Visit AHCStaff.com or email Travel@AHCStaff.com for more details.

Finished the travel nursing guide and are ready to look for an assignment?

Check out our travel nurse jobs!

By The Gypsy Nurse

December 7, 2017

9476 Views

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Letter to Hospitals Using Travelers

We recently asked our group of Travelers the following Question: “If you could give a hospital one piece of advice on working with travelers what would it be?”  

The responses were overwhelming! We come to your facility to help you in a time of (sometimes) dire need of staff. We have left our families, friends, and all support behind. We truly want to do our best to provide excellent patient care, but we could use your help. Let us help you help us by following these few simple suggestions.      

Provide A Cheat Sheet:

A small booklet or folder with just the most pertinent information we are going to need to do our jobs. This should include:

  • List of Physicians with Privileges –  Organized by group/practice/specialty including extensions/answering service phone numbers and any ‘other’ names that the Physician goes by. 
  • Frequently Needed Numbers –  Including a list of floors/units/dept (lab, blood bank, security, pharmacy, etc). The unit director/manager and numbers for co-workers in case we need to try and switch a shift, etc.
  • Step-by-step instructions and necessary documentation for admits/discharges (by unit) and charting requirements by department (i.e., ICU charts this, this, and this q 2 hours; tele charts this, this, and this, q4 hours; med/surg, etc.).
  • Access codes for all med/supply rooms, mobile computer storage drawer codes, on ALL units so we can get around.
  • Access to the facility’s online policy and procedure page (If it’s not included in our orientation, we need to know where/how to find this information).  

Give us Fair Assignments:

Don’t always give us the worst patients or the patient that no one else wants. We don’t mind ‘taking our turn’ but when we are given the worst patients all the time, it wears on us physically and emotionally and we won’t be able to perform to the best of our ability. Share the load.  

Floating

We know that as ‘the traveler’ we are going to be expected to float. Please give us at minimum a week to acclimate to the facility and then feel free to float us just like you do your staff (unless we’ve been hired as a float position). Give us at least one-day orientation on any floors that we may float to prior to having us work them.  

Orientation Streamline it, geared toward the traveler.

We don’t need another lecture on HIPAA, corporate compliance, or benefits that we aren’t even eligible for. Give us the information that we need to do the job at hand. Consider documentation, policies on the administration of blood products, restraints, etc. as items that we need. Anything that might be different from the hospital to the hospital is a good item to be educated on.  

Give us a Tour

Knowing where the Lab, ER, Pharmacy, Etc. are located makes running for that unit of blood much easier. Show us around and provide a facility map for reference.  

Communication

Please remember that you have (generally) not included the travelers in your facility email. So when you keep referencing to check your email for updates and changes it doesn’t mean anything to the traveler. Remember to communicate with your travelers any important information.  

Give Access

Please make sure that we have a badge and the access we need on day one or as soon as possible. Access to computers, medications (Pyxis, Omnicell, etc). Having this set up on our arrival makes a much more effective orientation since we can focus on learning the charting, med systems, etc. instead of running around trying to gain access.

By The Gypsy Nurse

September 24, 2012

152394 Views

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Nurse Board Websites

Having the resources you need at your fingertips as a travel nurse is very important. We have put a list together with all state’s Nurse Board websites for your convenience. We hope that this will be a valuable resource for you now and in the future.

State Nurse Board Information

StatePhone NumberWebsite Address
Alabama800-656-5318Alabama Board of Nursing
Alaska907-269-8160Alaska Board of Nursing
Arizona602-771-7800Arizona Board of Nursing
Arkansas501-686-2700Arkansas Board of Nursing
California916-322-3350California Board of Nursing
Colorado303-894-2430Colorado Board of Nursing
Connecticut860-509-7603Connecticut Board of Nursing
Delaware302-744-4500Delaware Board of Nursing
D.C. Boards202-442-9200D.C. Board of Nursing
Florida850-245-4125Florida Board of Nursing
Georgia844-753-7825Georgia Board of Nursing
Hawaii808-586-3000Hawaii Board of Nursing
Idaho208-577-2476Idaho Board of Nursing
Illinois888-473-4858Illinois Board of Nursing
Indiana317-234-2043Indiana Board of Nursing
Iowa515-281-3255Iowa Board of Nursing
Kansas785-296-4929Kansas Board of Nursing
Kentucky502-429-3300Kentucky Board of Nursing
Louisiana225-755-7500Louisiana Board of Nursing
Maine207-287-1133Maine Board of Nursing
Maryland410-585-1900Maryland Board Nursing
Massachusetts800-414-0168Massachusetts Board of Nursing
Michigan517-241-0199Michigan Board of Nursing
Minnesota612-317-3000Minnesota Board of Nursing
Mississippi601-957-6300Mississippi Board of Nursing
Missouri573-751-0681Missouri Board of Nursing
Montana406-444-6880Montana Board of Nursing
Nebraska402-471-4376Nebraska Board of Nursing
Nevada888-590-6726Nevada Board of Nursing
New Hampshire800-735-2964New Hampshire Board of Nursing
New Jersey973-504-6430New Jersey Board of Nursing
New Mexico505-841-8340New Mexico Board of Nursing
New York518-474-3817New York Board of Nursing
North Carolina919-782-3211North Carolina Board of Nursing
North Dakota701-751-3000North Dakota Board of Nursing
Ohio614-466-3947Ohio Board of Nursing
Oklahoma405-962-1800Oklahoma Board of Nursing
Oregon971-673-0625Oregon Board of Nursing
Pennsylvania833-367-2762Pennsylvania Board of Nursing
Rhode Island401-222-5960Rhode Island Board of Nursing
South Carolina803-896-4550South Carolina Board of Nursing
South Dakota605-362-2760South Dakota Board of Nursing
Tennessee615-532-5166Tennessee Board of Nursing
Texas512-305-7400Texas Board of Nursing
Utah801-530-6628Utah Board of Nursing
Vermont802-828-1505Vermont Board of Nursing
Virginia804-662-9909Virginia Board of Nursing
Washington360-236-4703Washington Board of Nursing
West Virginia340-744-0900West Virginia Board of Nursing
Wisconsin608-266-2112Wisconsin Board of Nursing
Wyoming307-777-7601Wyoming Board of Nursing

If you are a new travel nurse or looking into becoming a travel nurse:

Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)