Happy Nurses Week! Let’s celebrate with some freebies, contests, and more fun.

It’s that magical time that only comes once a year … it’s Nurses Week!

Nurses Week is celebrated annually, May 6-12, ending on Florence Nightingale’s birthday. It is a chance for everyone to honor and celebrate all of the hard-working, self-sacrificing Nurses out there. Nursing is not an easy job, but despite the emotional, physical, and mental toll their job can take, Nurses tirelessly give their all and in many ways are the unsung heroes of the healthcare field.

We’ve rounded up some freebies, contests, and festivities to help you celebrate this year:

Medical Solutions is sponsoring a host of Nurses Week activities. This year the pet friendly Travel Nurse staffing company polled its Travelers to see how they would want to celebrate, and with that YOUR Nurses Week was created. Visit WeLoveOurNurses.com to Share Your Best Nursing Story (with two prizes at stake: a one-year membership to Massage Envy, including 12 free massages, and $250 gift card to Scrubs and Beyond), enter the Nurses of Tomorrow Nurses Week Scholarship competition (three $1000 scholarships will be awarded to nurse scholars), submit yours or a fellow nurse’s bio and pic to be included in the Real Nurses of Nurses Week gallery, and share and download Nurses Week eCards. Medical Solutions also created the hashtag #yournursesweek, to allow nurses to celebrate with each other via social media.

Cinnabon is once again offering all nursing professionals one free Classic Cinnamon Roll or Minibon Roll per visit from May 6-12. Cinnabon faithfully runs this Nurses Week deal, due to a special connection to nurses through its work with The Daisy Foundation. According to them this Nurses Week offer “symbolizes Cinnabon’s sweet feelings toward nurses and all their valuable, hard work.” Don’t forget to bring your badge to show in order to get the deal!

Lippincott’s Nursing Center is offering free access this week to certain popular journals and articles, a special eBook discount, an image contest centered on the theme “Nurses Leading the Way,” access to a free National Nurses Week webinar titled “Transforming Health Care Through Nursing Leadership,” and a Nursing-themed word search puzzle. Click here to visit their Nurses Week page. The ANA is also offering Nurses Week gear for sale here.

Discovery Fit & Health will run a special encore schedule of great nursing shows on May 6, including Nurses, Trauma: Life in the ER, NY ER, and Untold Stories of the ER. They are also accepting nominations for your favorite nurse at their Facebook page. The winner will receive a dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake.

Scrubbed In is doing a “Wish a Day” on their blog. The first wish? A one-hour lunch break!

Mighty Nurse is giving away its first scholarship this week (submissions are now closed but will be announced during Nurses Week) and doing a Nurse Mad Libs drawing with a chance to win a $300 Southwest gift card.

Buca di Beppo has offered a coupon during Nurses Week in years past, but hasn’t confirmed anything for 2014. They did advise a follower who inquired about the promotion via Facebook that, “We haven’t announce any upcoming promotions yet, but keep an eye on your inbox if you are a member of our eClub.”

Happy Nurses Week to all of you diligent, passionate, truly amazing Nurses! If you know of any other great Nurses Week festivities for this week, please share them in the comments.

Ask a Travel Nurse: Can I work with more than one recruiter?

Ask a Travel Nurse Question: 

In Travel Nursing, it seems like a great idea work with more than one recruiter — or is it? Can I work with one than one recruiter?

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer: 

Many seasoned travelers use multiple recruiters (often even three or four). The best way to approach this is to simply be forthcoming with each. If you have recruiters who are also seasoned in the business, they will certainly understand this.

Many travelers will often negotiate contracts by using several recruiters. If a recruiter is not putting forth their best offer, then I may tell them exactly what was offered to me by another company and give them a chance to meet or beat the offer from the other company.

Working with multiple recruiters and agencies is also about the only way to know what the going pay rate may be for any given area of the country. For example, if you wanted to work in San Diego, call three companies and ask what assignments they have in the area. You may even find that multiple companies have the same exact assignment, but often with different pay rates.

Don’t fall into the trap of just taking the assignment with the best hourly wage. Evaluate each company on the total compensation package, including: pay rate, cost of insurance, housing stipend or travel accommodations, etc. You may also want to consider other benefits offered by an agency, such as licensure reimbursement, rewards programs, referral and loyalty bonuses, and more.

If you work with great recruiters, they should understand that they may not be able to offer the best compensation package on each assignment. They will also not get upset should you take an assignment with another company because they will know that they will still likely work with you in the future when they can offer you the perfect assignment options.

Hope this helps.

David

david@travelnursesbible.com

Say “aloha” to Emmet, Captain Mike, and Cheryl of Maui Charter Boat, which offers discounts and special packages to Travel Nurses.

Many Travel Nurses feel the allure of taking an assignment in Hawaii. The opportunity to live and work however temporarily in paradise is a perfect example of why Travel Nursing is such an exciting, rewarding career path. Just think of all the island adventures up for grabs! Boating, surfing, sightseeing — oh my!

Travel Nursing Blogs recently got an email from Captain Mike Sproul with MauiCharterBoat.com in Maui. He wanted to get the word out to Travelers that he has a fun and affordable charter boat service there and got our attention when he added that he happily offers discounts and special packages to Travel Nurses.

Then Captain Mike mentioned that his wife, Cheryl, was a longtime Travel Nurse, and that really got our attention!

“When we met, Cheryl was a Traveler in my small town of Salida, Colorado working in the ICU,” he says. “We fell in love and then lived together for a while. We were going to move to Australia and she landed a job with the Flying Doctor Service in Western Australia. Prior to that, Chery had applied to the Wilkes-Barre School of Nurse Anesthesia. Just before we were scheduled to leave for Australia she was accepted into the CRNA school. She graduated in 1995 and has been doing CRNA work since then.”

Captain Mike, who is originally from Oahu, says they spend most of the year in Colorado, but all summer in Hawaii. Coast Guard credentialed, with “35 years of experience in operating boats in open ocean water,” Captain Mike got his commercial permit in 2013 and has operated the Maui Charter Boat since.

“I operate during whale season and then through the summer,” he says. “Cheryl and my son Emmet spend all summer here with me. I then return to Colorado with them in the fall and open back up from Jan 1.”

Fittingly the boat is named “Ohana” — which means family in Hawaiian. And, how nice of them to offer the “family” discount to Travel Nurses!

“Travel nurses are the prefect client as they usually have a sense of adventure and a willingness to explore and try new things,” says Captain Mike. “It is a pirate boat and I don’t mix parties, so the best value is to get 4-6 people together and come do a day with me. The Lanai day trip is a great experience.”

Check out MauiCharterBoat.com for details and get in touch with Captain Mike if you’ll be in the area.

Ask a Travel Nurse: Will a hospital coordinate schedules for nurses traveling in pairs?

Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

We are a husband and wife nurse team looking forward to starting our travel nursing careers upon the graduation of our second nurse daughter. One of us is ER and the other is Med Surg. My biggest concern is: Will the hospital will be willing to coordinate our schedules — at least for the most part — so we will be able to enjoy our time off together exploring the area?

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

Your first question in the pre-employment interview would have to be about self-scheduling. Simply explain your situation to the nurse manager and see what they say. In my experience, most hospitals will try to work with you on scheduling options such as shifts off, working your “3 in a row,” etc. Most will also allow a certain number of requested shifts off per month if you have a big day trip you are planning. But ask about ALL of this in the interview before signing your contract.

I have actually spoken to unit managers, that when asked about scheduling, have said, “We’re hiring you to fill our need. We will schedule you when we need to.” I told her, “No, actually you won’t,” and gently placed the phone down. If you ask enough questions about scheduling, or even just one broad question like, “How do you handle schedule requests?” and get any negative tone, you might very well have your answer right there. Feel them out on the subject and then trust your judgment.

When your recruiter finds you an assignment, you can also ask them if they have any other travelers in the company who are at that facility and if it would be permissible for you to speak with or email them. Ask your recruiter too, if they have had any feedback on the facility.

Finally, if you want to put your super spy powers to use, call the actual unit on which you will work. Ask to speak with the person who actually does the schedule for your shift or even just a cool nurse that will give you five minutes of their day to let you know how smoothly the scheduling works in their unit … hint: all the “cool” nurses work on nights

Remember to also ask about which weekend will be your “on” weekend and make sure you coordinate that with your spouse.

Hope you enjoy your travels and if you require any assistance with finding some great recruiters to work with, feel free to send me an email at david@travelnursesbible.com

Hope this helps.

David

david@travelnursesbible.com

Ask a Travel Nurse: In travel nursing, how do I know if I’m being paid fairly?

Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

In travel nursing, how do I know if I am being paid fairly?

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

I get a ton of emails asking this, but always feel a bit defensive of the profession of travel nursing when I respond. I suppose that is because I look back on a profession that has afforded me a great many adventures which would never have been possible for it not for travel nursing. I guess it’s kinda hard to bash anything when your first assignment is in Maui

But along those lines, let me ask you a simple question; “Do you feel you are being paid fairly?”  I’ve written before that this may be a very “zen-like” way of looking at the world of travel (where nothing matters other than the enjoyment of the profession itself). But it is a question you really do have to ask yourself at some point because no matter what you are being paid, if you don’t feel fairly compensated for the work you do, then how good are you going to feel about it?

I also have to admit that I’m not really a traveler that cares what I am being paid as long as it is enough to pay my monthly bills (with some spending money left), give me a nice place to lay my head after work, and have health insurance. However, I do realize that there are those who have different priorities and money can certainly be at the forefront of those priorities.

The only way to truly know if you are being paid competitively is by comparing apples to apples on your travel assignment offerings. To do so accurately can be VERY difficult. While one company may offer a higher rate, another company may charge less for their health insurance, or have better housing, which then can negate the extra hourly. But if you are not concerned with having good healthcare coverage or staying in the nicest “digs”, then perhaps hourly rate is your only concern. If this is the case, then it becomes a bit easier because all you have to do is call several companies with which you are on file, and ask them the going rate for the area. Occasionally, you will find two or three companies with the same contract, often with a different hourly rate. It then becomes about the benefit(s) you favor most.

But, once again, if you are trying to balance the best of ALL the benefits your companies are offering, then it is tricky to have to try to weigh $2 more an hour against being put up in an extended stay hotel (verses a one bedroom apartment with the company paying less).

Try not to get caught up in the game of “what does your company pay you?” or you will always feel cheated. You can rarely know ALL the details of someone else’s contract. Call around when shopping a new assignment, weigh the benefits you feel are important, and go with a reputable company that will have your back should something go wrong on your assignment. A few dollars more an hour is NEVER worth it when your company hits you up for thousands of dollars on a contract cancellation due to no fault of your own.

I hope this helps.

David

david@travelnursesbible.com

Travel Nurses are always up for an adventure. That’s just one reason why I can’t imagine a better fit for FOX’s new reality series, Utopia, than a Travel Nurse.

The concept of Fox’s Utopia is based around the question: “Can a perfect world be created?” It is based upon a hit Dutch television show by the same name. The new FOX American version will move “15 everyday Americans to an isolated, undeveloped location — for an entire year — and challenge them to create their own civilization.” The show’s cast will start a new society with no appointed leaders and scarce supplies.

Casting Researcher, Suzanne Gilreath, reached out to Travel Nursing Blogs because the show is looking for people from all walks of life, including nurses.

“The one thing this group has in common is the desire to create a new society,” says Gilreath. “We will film them for 24 hours a day, for up to a year. During that time, some group members will leave and be replaced. At the end, there will be one ultimate pioneer. I am thinking that having a nurse or medical practitioner as part of this group would be very beneficial.”

Could you be the right fit for FOX’s Utopia?

Nursing skills will certainly be handy in this brand new society, but Travel Nurses could perform especially well considering they are used to being so flexible, traveling to new areas, rolling with the punches, and doing it all while providing great patient care!

Check out the trailer and let us know what you think in the comments!

Never Surrender: Don’t get buried by your Travel Nurse taxes!

The April 15 deadline for filing federal taxes is swiftly approaching. Travel Nurse taxes can seem a bit daunting especially if you are just starting out and it’s your first year mastering getting them filed.

Here are some tips for handling your 2013 Travel Nurse taxes:

Get an Extension

If you are just now thinking about filing your 2013 taxes, my best advice for you is to file for an extension. Like most things, getting it done right trumps getting it done right now. This is SO true when it comes to filing your taxes. And don’t worry, the old rumor that if you file late you are inviting an audit is not true!

Round Up Your Paperwork

Hopefully you have been saving all your receipts and tracking your mileage, for example. (If not, there’s no better time than now to start doing so for next year!)

You want to have any receipts related to your work as well as your travel contracts handy. Receipts for meals, fuel, housing, and other job-related costs can be eligible for deduction. Save everything in an organized manner and you are setting yourself for an easier process and a larger return.

Learn From an Expert

Especially your first year or two filing taxes as a Travel Nurse I would highly recommend that you consult with an expert — if not have them file your taxes for you.

*The* expert in this particular realm is Joseph C. Smith at TravelTax.com. Even outside of the tax-filing crunch, Travel Tax offers a lot of great pointers and resources that can help you track your monthly expenses year-round so the idea of filing your Travel Nurse taxes isn’t so daunting. Travel Tax also offers a fantastic and thorough FAQ section as reference.

Rarick Kobaly is another Travel Nurse tax specialist that caters to a Travel Nurse’s unique tax-filing needs.

Bottom Line

Don’t panic. You will get the hang of tax home vs. permanent residence, and other such hot topics regarding Travel Nurse taxes. Definitely don’t let the idea of filing psych you out. You’ve got this!

Good luck with your 2013 filings, and please share any tips you may have for filing Travel Nurse taxes in the comments.

Get zen with these tips on how to avoid Travel Nurse stress.

Nearly everybody faces on-the-job stress, but it can be especially rough on healthcare professionals. There are such high stakes to the outcome of a Travel Nurse’s work and performance that it is totally understandable to get stressed from time to time.

But you can’t let stress get the better of you! Here are 5 tips for how to avoid travel nurse stress:

Be Self-Aware

Be sure to “check in” with yourself to see where your stress levels are. It’s so easy to ignore stress when you are always go-go-going. Whether compassion fatigue or general nurse burnout, take a moment to breathe and get in touch with where you’re at and how you’re feeling. Maintaining an awareness of what you can and can’t control or fix will also help you check your stress. Don’t let yourself get too worked up over something beyond your control. Ask yourself, “What’s the best possible outcome in this situation?” Make any possible positive steps under your control toward that outcome, and beyond that, let it go!

Take Care of Yourself

Good nutrition, plenty of sleep, and regular exercise are really important for combatting stress. You also want to make time for “me time” — whatever that is for you. That could mean making time for hobbies, yoga, pampering, meditation, religious practice, a good hike outdoors, an urban adventure, a glass of wine and a good laugh with a friend, or anything else that helps you recharge.

Organize and Plan Ahead

A good defense for stress is being as prepared and organized as possible. There will always be stressful things that get thrown your way, but having other elements of your life and work organized that will work to lessen your overall stress levels.

Communicate Openly

Call up a friend or family member and chat with them. A lot of stress can melt away when we are able to simply vent to a loved one and air it all out. Also, consider your Travel Nurse recruiter an ally — that’s what they strive to be. Communicate your stresses to your recruiter in an open, honest, non-aggressive way. Your recruiter is likely to help you out in any way he or she can — even if that’s just by listening!

Practice Gratitude

Stress is real, but you’d be surprised how much an attitude of gratitude can make everything look and feel better. If you’re in a situation that causes stress, take a moment and think of three things you are thankful for, large or small. Just shifting your mindset can put things into perspective and alleviate stress.

Of course, these tips are just a start and everyone’s situation is different. Do you have any handy tips for how to avoid Travel Nurse stress?

Ask a Travel Nurse expert: How can a nursing student prepare to travel in the future?

Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

I am going to college soon for nursing and I hope to become a Travel Nurse after a year of hospital experience. I have a few questions about how I can prepare:

• Is it easy to make friends with other nurses?
• What are some skills that will benefit me in Travel Nursing?
• How did you choose the right agency?
• Is it hard being in an unfamiliar city without family and friends?

Thank you very much!

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

I cannot tell you what the climate will be when you graduate from nursing school, but currently, most hospitals are now wanting a full two years of hospital based experience. You might be able to start a little sooner with a high demand specialty like critical care, but for most specialties, two years will be the norm.

Whether or not you make friends easily is entirely dependent on you and the efforts you make in meeting new people. However, even though I tend to be pretty outgoing, I have worked assignments where I did not see a single staff member outside of work. But I’ve also worked places where I was doing something with someone from the unit at least once a week. It really depends on the unit and the staff working in that unit. I’ve worked units where many of the nurses were older with families and I’ve worked units where half the staff were other travelers around my age.

When you are ready to travel, you must have several key traits to be a travel nurse. By the time you are looking to start travel, you should be very proficient in your practice and your skills. If you are still seeking out others to help start your IV’s, that won’t fly. Neither will relying on others such as “rapid response teams” to help you assess and treat your patient as they become unstable.

You are required to be a very independent practitioner when you are on the road and must have a comfort level being the person in charge. You simply must be a patient advocate and be able to rely on good nursing skills to push for appropriate care. It is a huge responsibility and I say this not to scare you away from travel, but to make sure that you possess the skills to keep you, and your patients, safe while they are in your care. In other words, even if we do drop back to only requiring a year of experience to travel, do not hit the road until you are certain you are ready for the responsibility.

As for choosing an agency, a little premature there. Word of mouth is best and checking out the online travel forums is always a place to read up a bit. However, we are talking about years from now and there is just no way to tell what the industry will look like at that time.

Being away from family and friends will depend on your ability to cope with that situation. If you have never been out from under your parent’s roof, never done your own laundry (perhaps mostly a “guy” thing there), or have never had to deal with a situation (like your car won’t start or locking yourself out of your apartment), without calling a friend or family member for help, then taking a travel assignment in a city hundreds or even thousands of miles away might be a little much to handle.

Please do not feel as if I am labeling YOU this way. It’s just that I have heard from nurses who take contracts three states away from home and then can’t deal with all the things they’ve never had to do on their own before. You MUST be ready to go out into the world before taking a travel assignment.

Are you a person who keeps to yourself or seeks out your own fun? What happens if the unit you work in is comprised of people ten years older than you, all with families? What if you just have nothing in common with your peers? You need to be able to venture out on your own and discover the area and all the things it has to offer.

I am an avid photographer. That hobby pretty much lends itself to solo expeditions. But I’ve also taken up SCUBA diving, skydiving, flying, surfing, and rock climbing/repelling, while on assignments, simply by taking classes with others interested in those activities.

And, with cell phone receptions these days, you are likely never more than the press of a button in speaking with family and friends. Last week I actually Skyped with a friend 2000 miles away (via smartphone) while on a break from four-wheeling in the sand dunes just outside of Phoenix.

I hope this helps with some of your questions, but I’d also like to direct you to my book that I’ve made available online. It outlines ALL the traits you should possess in becoming a travel nurse as well as walking you through the entire process. Despite being written in 2009, almost all of the book still rings true today. I’m trying to get the second edition out here in 2014, but have too many other things going on right now. So, I made the first edition available on Amazon Kindle for less than the cost of your next meal at McDonald’s.

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download free programs or apps to read it from any computer, tablet, or smartphone. You can find it here.

I do recommend the book as I spent a year of my life putting in every aspect of travel nursing that I have learned over the past 18 years as a travel nurse.

One more piece of advice I can give is to specialize early. Meaning, once you get out of nursing school, figure out in what type of specialty you want to practice. Then work on getting into that area right away if you can (specialties like critical care may not be available to new-grads where you live). Also, get proficient on all your skills like IV starts, Foley and NG insertions, and assessment skills.

Hope this helps

David

david@travelnursesbible.com

I Spy Awesome: How to Find a Travel Nurse Recruiter

Finding a solid recruiter for your Travel Nursing career is absolutely essential to your success. This individual is your gateway to assignments and to the lifestyle and professional accomplishments you desire.

Some agencies now offer recruiter pages, where you can search through their recruiters’ profiles that featuring personal and professional info. This can help you get to know them and what they’re about, and if you like what you see you can call them up and pursue the relationship further.

Just like finding a partner or best friend, every person will be attracted to a different personality type or approach as part of their journey, but there are few things you definitely want to seek out no matter what. Always look for a recruiter who is:

Caring

You want to find a recruiter who cares about your personal journey and professional development. The happiest Travel Nurses consider their recruiter not just someone they do business with, but also a friend. Travel Nursing is a unique profession in that it is really tied to your personal life since you move for work. When you go to work on an assignment you could be traveling anywhere and it’s important to have someone who will go to bat for you if any problems arise.

Communicative

A great recruiter won’t just stop calling you or returning your calls after you’re placed in an assignment. The best recruiters out there will check in with you often at every step along the way to make sure you are happy in your assignment and to help you consider future assignments too. If a recruiter does not make him or herself available to you, and especially if they do not get back to you in a timely fashion, that’s a red flag and you should look for someone who values your time more.

Understands the Industry

Recruiters, just like nurses, have varying degrees of experience. Regardless of how many years they’ve been in the industry you want to make sure that you have a recruiter with a really good grasp on the industry. Remember, this person is your advocate and in many ways your guide through the world of Travel Nursing, so you want to ensure that he or she really knows their stuff. The best way to find this out is simply to talk with them. Ask prospective recruiters a lot of questions and carefully consider their answers. Again, recruiter pages are helpful for seeing a recruiter’s professional stats and experience.

Has Positive Testimonials and Reviews

What other Travelers say about a recruiter is really great evidence of how they work. Of course, not everyone is a good mutual fit. So you might find a great recruiter has a bad review here or there, but you want to look for overall patterns. Do they have more positive reviews and testimonials? That’s a good sign. What specifically do the positive testimonials say? You’ll usually see a pattern, and if the reviews/testimonials repeatedly indicate that a person has a quality or is really successful at an objective you’re seeking, you may have just found your recruiter!

We hope those just starting out will benefit from these tips on how to find a Travel Nurse Recruiter! What do you think makes a great Travel Nurse Recruiter? Let us know in the comments.