These winter car tips for Travel Nurses will help you safely through the rest of the snowy season.

With so many areas of the U.S. being hit hard this year with snowstorms and artic temps — and even more polar problems bearing down this week — we thought it was a good time to share a little checklist of winter car tips for Travel Nurses.

Cold weather can exacerbate automobile issues, so it’s important to be extra careful in winter. Follow these tips to keep yourself safely moving on wintry roads.

Check the Air and Treads on Your Tires

According to AAA, you should check your air pressure monthly. Look to your manual for your proper pressure level, test it, and add air if necessary. While you’re at it, be sure to eyeball your treads. If they look worn out, you may need to visit the tire shop.

Check Your Battery

Extreme temps can wear down car batteries, which generally have a 3-5 year lifespan. You can get your battery tested at most any mechanic’s shop. Always travel with a pair of jumper cables, just in case! Some road-warriors even travel with car battery charger, which generally require an outlet.

Fill ‘er Up!

Always try to keep your tank as close to full as possible.

Find a Great Mechanic — Wherever You Are

Too bad your awesome mechanic from back home can’t just travel with you! Ask local friends, Travelers, or even consult an online forum like Healthcare Travelbook to find a good one on the road.

Always Travel with a Roadside Emergency Kit

You could include a flashlight (LED is best), blanket(s), non-perishable food, water, jumper cables, flares, a first-aid kit, fresh batteries, Fix-a-Flat (in addition to a spare), hand sanitizer, an emergency radio, hand-warmers, fire-starters, a knife and/or scissors, and some duct tape — which always seems to come in handy.

A few other quick tips:

• Keep up on your oil changes — Use the recommended oil and be sure to check the filter too!
• Check your antifreeze.
• Have a pro inspect your belts and hoses before any long drives.
• Make sure your wipers are in good condition and your washer fluid is full.

When in doubt, always feel free to visit a mechanic or full-service gas station with questions. You are better off safe than sorry when it comes to cold weather and driving!

Do you have any other tips to share with your fellow Travelers? Let us know in the comments.

Bruno Mars and Ellen join forces to prank an unsuspecting nurse via hidden camera.

As a nurse, you see plenty of strange things and people along the way. To put it diplomatically, a great variety of people can walk into your unit on any given day! Among the even weirder is the hidden camera prank patient scenario recently put on by Ellen DeGeneres and Bruno Mars.

An unsuspecting nurse named Debra thought she’d met a real weirdo when she showed up to treat Mars — or Ramon, as Ellen instructs him to call himself — in his dressing room for a sore throat.

The setup for the hidden camera prank has Mars wearing an earpiece with Ellen on the other end instructing him with to say oddball things to the nurse.

He says he’s having a pain in his throat and that he hasn’t swallowed since the Super Bowl. Ellen directs the singer through an awkward dialogue where he says it’s like he has a chip in his mouth that’s causing his sore throat:

“I had a chip during halftime. I had either Chex Mix or Dorito or Frito … Pringle — I was wanting a Pringle, it wasn’t a Pringle actually. They didn’t give me Pringles, I asked for Pringles but there wasn’t [sic] Pringles in my dressing room. Why do Pringles come in a tennis ball can?”

Nurse Debra patiently suggests that the canister choice is due to the shape of the chip.

Just after the 5-minute mark Ellen instructs him to cry at which point the nurse is very sweet in comforting him. And then, at 6:25, Mars reveals that it was all a prank and good sport that she is, Debra laughs — likely relieved that Mars isn’t the strange patient she thought him to be.

Have you ever been pranked on the job? If so, share your story in the comments, and check out video of the prank below.

Year of the Horse: Whether you’ve got a dog, cat, or even a horse in tow, a pet friendly travel nurse company can help you.

For a lot of Travel Nurses, it is super important that they are able to bring their pets with them on the road. The majority of Travelers have a beloved dog or cat without whom the adventure of Travel Nursing just wouldn’t be complete.

But other Travelers have less common pets in tow. We’ve heard of Travelers with rabbits, lizards, fish, and pot-bellied pigs riding shotgun on their journey. Today, in honor of 2014 being The Year of the Horse in Chinese astrology, we’d like to introduce you to a very special and unique traveling pet: Eichie the Traveling Horse!

Eichie is traveling with Medical Solutions Travel Nurse Amanda T. The pair have been together for 11 years and even compete in barrel races together! To read more about Eichie and Amanda click here.

As you can imagine, traveling with a 1200-pound pet requires a bit of pre-planning in the way of logistics. But even if you’re just traveling with a cat or a dog, you may need a little help planning for them to join you on the road.

If you plan to travel with a pet, you should definitely seek out an agency that is pet friendly and will be able to offer you some assistance in that area. Here are a few things a pet friendly Travel Nurse company can do to make traveling with pets easier for you:

• First, your recruiter should inquire about your pets to get to better understand your needs when it comes to traveling with pets.
• Pet friendly agencies will offer you help when it comes to finding housing that accommodates you and your pet. Some will even pay your pet deposit as part of your contract.
• They may offer discounts that can help you care for your animals.
• They may provide resources that can help you learn about how to best manage bringing your pets on the road with you.

So, do you travel with your pet(s)? Share your traveling with pets stories in the comments.

Vroom-vroom! Bringing your own car to assignment can be an asset.

Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

During an assignment, do you get car rental expenses or do you have to use public transport?

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

If you plan to travel for any extended period of time, I do recommend purchasing a reliable auto or truck and driving to the assignments yourself.

I do realize this can be a BIG undertaking for someone who may not be used to driving hundreds or even thousands of miles, but honestly, it is part of the adventure of travel nursing. Plus, you do not have to worry about rental cars or public transport when you get to an assignment.

There are companies out there that will offer rental car reimbursements, but like everything else in life, nothing is free. The company may offer it as one of their “no charge” benefits, but that money does come from somewhere in your compensation package (often resulting in less wage per hour than someone who declines this benefit).

You do need to research the city in which you will be working to see if mass transit is even an option. If you are talking New York, Chicago, or San Francisco, no problem. But small rural destinations may require your own set of wheels or a rental.

Technology makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family while on a travel nurse assignment.

Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

I am an RN working in Toronto, Canada. Travelling has always been one of my interests, however I am too attached to my home in Toronto and everything I have become familiar with. How did you learn how to disconnect but maintain relationships along the way while traveling?

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

For me, your question is a simple one to answer. However, I know that giving up that with which someone has become accustomed can never be easy. But the first step is obviously a commitment to get out and actually do it!! After that, there are a few things that can help you make the transition.

I used to live in Ohio, which was tolerable during the summer months, but come winter, I was headed for warmer ground. I spoke with my manager and the HR department in the hospital where I did most of my shifts and they agreed to keep me on the payroll, as per diem status, without mandating a certain amount of shifts that I work each month. So it was easy for me to go do a 13-week assignment and then head back home and pick up work once again.

By limiting yourself to an assignment here and there, it’s sort of like just taking an extended vacation every so often.

If you do not have such an understanding manager or HR department, then you could transition to per diem or registry work. With this type of work, you may not be mandated any set amount of shifts and could be gone for long periods, but still resume work upon returning home.

You can also start with an assignment near home if you like. Then there is the possibility of returning home to see family and friends on your days off. As you grow more comfortable, you can start enjoying adventures farther and farther away from home.

To stay in touch while on the road, you now have access to so much more technology than when I started traveling. Nowadays, you can use a smartphone to send emails, texts, and even chat face to face in real time via Skype. This helps keep your friends close when you are away on assignment.

Your true friends will still be there when you return and you’re bound to make new ones in your travels. I do caution people that they MUST be able to have fun by themselves because not every assignment will be the same and there will be ones where you do not hang with anyone from work.

I have had assignments where I was doing something just about every week with someone from work and then there were assignments where I never saw a single co-worker outside of the hospital. When the latter happens, you can’t sit in your apartment all day long on your days off, you have to have the ability to go make your own fun and explore the area.

Each person will be different in the way they adapt to travel nursing. Some learn to love it, some absolutely hate it. You do need a strong support system for when things get tough on the road and it seems you have no one to talk to. But even if you do experience a bad assignment, the great thing is that you’ve likely only committed three months of your time.

I hope this answered your question and if you are looking at travel in the states, let me know and I can hook you up with a recruiter of mine that really knows the ins and outs of the Canadian/US work visas and requirements for working in the states.

David

david@travelnursesbible.com

Greek yogurt with fresh berries and granola is one of our 5 Healthy On-The-Go Breakfasts for Travel Nurses to try.

Depending upon your shift, breakfast can be served at a variety of times. But whether morning, noon, or night, breakfast is still the most important meal of the day. As a Traveler and a Nurse, you are always on the go; but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice healthiness. Here are 5 Healthy On-The-Go Breakfasts for Travel Nurses to try:

Greek yogurt with fresh berries, walnuts, granola

Put some raspberries or blueberries, granola, and/or some raw walnuts or almonds in a snack-sized Ziploc. That way they’ll be handy when you’re ready to sprinkle over your Greek yogurt. Buy single-serve yogurts or a larger tub and spoon into Tupperware. Drizzle honey or agave nectar over plain Greek yogurt — the healthiest option — for added flavor.

Frozen toaster waffle

If you go this route, be sure to choose a whole wheat or multigrain variety. You may also want to pay a little extra for an organic brand that doesn’t use GMOs. If you don’t want to travel with syrup, you can always spread peanut butter on the waffle which won’t be as messy as syrup on your commute.

Breakfast egg muffins

Scramble up several eggs — the amount is up to your needs, but 1 egg = about 1 muffin — and add in a few cups of veggies (broccoli, mushroom, peppers — whatever you like) and/or meat (ham, bacon, chicken — again, choose whatever you like best). Split the mixture even into a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make up a batch of these at the start of your week and you can just grab, pop in the microwave, and go all week. These can also be frozen, but they’re so delicious that it probably won’t come to that!

Cottage cheese with tomato, fruit, or mixed-bean salad

Cottage cheese is packed with protein to jumpstart your metabolism in the morning. Chop us some tomatoes, peaches, pineapples, or even mixed bean salad (think classic three-bean, or an edamame-chickpea-kidney bean blend tossed lightly in a vinaigrette) and add on top of your cottage cheese.

And, if you still need something even more grab-and-go …   

The tried and true Egg McMuffin at McDonald’s is still one of the best fast-food breakfast options, at just 300 calories.

We hope that your start of the day routine is enhanced by these 5 Healthy On-The-Go Breakfasts for Travel Nurses. Do you have any quick, healthy go-to breakfast ideas? If so, please share with your fellow Travelers in the comments.

Thumbs up to the great agencies included in Travel Nurse company rankings for 2014!

A couple of new sets of Travel Nurse company rankings have recently been released for the new year, one by Highway Hypodermics and another by Travel Nursing Central. Travel Nurse company rankings can be excellent way for prospective nurses to get started shopping for the right Recruiter and the right agency to help them plan and manage their Travel Nurse career.
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Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

I am thinking of entering the travel nurse field and I was wondering: Does taking long breaks in between assignments looks bad on a travel nurse resume?

Continue reading →

Baby on board! Yes, you can take on travel nursing assignments with a baby.

Many people ask the question, “Is it possible to travel with a baby?” Yes. Almost anything is possible if you put your mind to it. The real question is, “Will I enjoy traveling with a baby?” My hope is that by listing some of the challenges my wife, Stasha, and I have faced, you’ll have a better idea of how to answer that question for yourself.

Before I get into these challenges, I want to start by saying what any parent would say after having their first child: It has been an amazing experience that we wouldn’t change for anything in the world. Having said that, traveling would be a lot easier without Carter, our nine-month-old son.

Challenges of Travel Nursing with a Baby

Upgrading our cargo capacity

My wife and I had become very efficient when it came to packing our vehicle with everything we needed. Our little Ford Escape had a rooftop bag and a rear cargo carrier, and both were packed full of our belongings. The interior was packed so full we barely had enough room for our two small dogs.

After our son was born, we quickly realized an upgrade was needed. We traded our Escape in for a Chevy Traverse, increasing our interior space significantly. But that wasn’t enough. We eventually had to buy a 6 x 10 enclosed trailer. Think about all of the toys, bassinet, crib, baby clothes, high chair, stroller … the list just goes on and on. We didn’t have much of a choice but to buy the trailer.

Upgrading our apartment size

Our upgrades didn’t end with a new vehicle and trailer. Our first apartment with Carter was a single bedroom and it quickly became too small. Our next assignment we paid the extra $300/month for a furnished two-bedroom apartment.

Even with two bedrooms it is still challenging with all of the toys and our dedicated computer desk for my work. Our plan going forward is to leave the second bedroom unfurnished, trading the extra bed for more space for toys and other items.

Downsizing our Adventures

While Stasha and I still enjoy adventures on each assignment, they are definitely not the same adventures as we had before. Mountain biking trips and remote hikes have been replaced by walks with the stroller and trips to the park. Without family or friends to help watch Carter, we really have no choice but to include him in all of our activities.

Being Away from Family

This is a hard one. Your first baby is exciting not only for you and your significant other, but also for your entire family. Stasha and I have tried to work our way back home so that our family can spend at least one assignment near our son and vice versa but it hasn’t worked out so well. To make matters worse, Carter’s first Christmas was 3,000 miles away from our family.

Sometimes that’s the way the chips fall and you have to be prepared for that. You can say you’ll stay close to family but sometimes assignments take you wherever the wind blows. You also have to ask yourself if it even makes sense to travel if you’re only going to look for assignments near family.

How long can you travel with a baby?

The challenges above only skim the surface of what to think about when traveling with a baby. It’s hard to imagine what it will truly be like until you’re living it. Think about all of the activities you do with your baby throughout the day and try to imagine how traveling might affect them. Ever try walking two dogs while pushing a stroller? How about driving 36 hours across the country and having to deal with diapers, bottles, a cranky baby and two antsy dogs?

Stasha and I are willing do all of this because we LOVE travel nursing. It is the best decision we’ve made in our 10 years of marriage. The only question for us is how long we’ll be able to continue traveling with Carter. Sometimes a house with a fenced-in yard near family can sound very appealing. But then we get to our next assignment and experience that wonderful feeling of being in a strange, new place and all it has to offer. How long will we travel with Carter? I guess only time will tell.

Are you currently traveling with a baby or considering it but have questions? Please feel free to comment with your experiences or questions below.

Avoid Travel Nurse Burnout: Stay awake at the wheel and on the job.

The travel nursing industry greatly eases burnout among perm staff while also filling gaps in patient care created by an ongoing nursing shortage. But what happens when Travel Nurses themselves face burnout?

Here are a few tips you can use in order to avoid travel nurse burnout and remain sharp and happy on the road:

Energize

Coffee is a beautiful thing and we all benefit from it awesomeness. But don’t forget that there are other ways to boost your energy such as clean eating and exercise. Swap that pastry for a smoothie and you’ll be surprised at how your body will respond to the higher quality fuel. Take a spin class, and although it may tire you out at first, it will eventually increase your energy levels. Also, remember that getting enough quality sleep each night is crucial to your energy levels and brain function throughout the day. Try to get a full 8 hours, and if you can’t, go for a power nap — but be sure to keep it to 30 minutes or less for an optimum boost.

Take Care of Yourself

Be sure that you’re making time for yourself to do the things you need to do to remain healthy. You spend so much time treating and caring for others … take a moment to check in with yourself. How do you feel today? What does your body (or mind, or spirit) need to feel good today? Becoming aware of your threshold for stress and knowing when you’re hitting a wall is very helpful. Whether it is tending to a cold coming on, making time for exercise, or calling a friend back home, be sure to take good care of yourself — just as you would your patients.

Make Time for Me Time

A little time dedicated to yourself goes a long way. Everyone recharges in different ways. Some Travelers like to lay on the couch and watch TV on their day off; others want to get out and see the sights. Find whatever works best for you — yoga, hiking, a nice hot bubble bath, painting or crafting, making a playlist you love — and make time for it. And remember, regardless of your inclination when it comes to downtime, making time to explore the city you are working in is a great refresher — be sure to get out and about at some point. Even if you feel exhausted, getting out to experience something interesting and new to you can be very refreshing.

Reach Out to Others

Whether it is lunch with a colleague or a Skype session with a friend or family member, be sure you are making time to connect with other human beings outside of work. Travel Nurses expend a lot of emotional, mental, and physical energy. Connecting with another person can help restore some of that. Make sure that you are reaching out to others and maintaining and making friendships and your overall view on life will be sunnier.

What do you like to do to avoid travel nurse burnout? Share your tips with fellow Travelers in the comments.