Safety First: Hospital safety and violence against nurses are important issues.

The issues of hospital safety and violence against nurses were in the news this week, on the heels of a frightening attack on several nurses at St. John’s Hospital in Minneapolis.

Charles Logan, a 68-year-old patient at St. John’s, removed a metal bar from the side of his hospital bed and used it as a weapon in the disturbing attack, which was caught on video. Logan barreled through a nurse’s station wielding the bar and chased several fleeing nurses through a security door and down the hall.

Logan was followed by patient Adam Linn, a security guard by trade who’d just had his appendix removed. Logan was eventually tackled in the street by police and died at the scene; the medical examiner is investigating the exact cause of his death.

Logan’s attack injured four nurses, also terrifying several others. What motivated the incident is unknown, however, an altercation earlier in the day involving Logan, his family, and his lawyer has been reported.

The Minnesota Nurse Association released a statement that read in part:

“Once again, nurses showed their dedication by responding to the emergency situation to help all the health care workers injured in the attack. Sadly, this incident is another act of patient on nurse violence that nurses and health care workers face every day. Only their training, education and courage prevented this sad situation from becoming worse.”

While the severity of this situation is definitely (and thankfully!) rare, attacks on nurses are sadly not. According to a survey from the International Healthcare Security and Safety Foundation, 60% of workplace assaults occur within healthcare facilities.

Barb Martin, who worked 46 years in nursing, told the Minnesota CBS affiliate that violence against healthcare workers is a persistent problem, and that many nurses report “being spit at, being hit, being shoved, being verbally abused.”

Despite the statistics, nurses certainly do not deserve any level of violence or mistreatment. Here are a few tactics that can help keep nurses safe on the job, based on findings from “Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses,” in a chapter devoted to “Personal Safety for Nurses”:

• Safe staffing levels
• Well-functioning hospital security
• Empathetic and proactive administration

The St. John’s video and story are sad on many counts, but we hope to see the issues of hospital safety and violence against nurses better addressed in the future. In the meantime, we know that nurses are a tough group of folks who will do everything they can to take care of themselves and their colleagues — in addition to their patients!

The Brittany Maynard story has reignited a national debate that affects Travel Nurses.

The debate surrounding the right-to-die movement has been reignited in recent weeks, due to the Brittany Maynard story. Maynard, a death with dignity advocate, died Saturday, November 1st, at age 29. In spring 2014, Maynard was told she had terminal brain cancer and about six months to live. Shortly after, she elected to relocate with her family to Oregon in order to legally seek aid in dying. Oregon, through its Death with Dignity Act, is one of five U.S. states — including Washington, Montana, New Mexico, and Vermont — that allow assisted suicide.

Maynard’s story continued to unfold with a viral video, featuring interviews with Maynard, her husband Dan, and her mother Debbie. (A follow-up video was later posted. You can watch both videos below.) In an October People magazine cover story Maynard heartbreakingly said, “ … there’s not a single part of me that wants to die. But I am dying.”

Opinions were, and continue to be, divided. For healthcare workers the issue can be especially complex. And even more so for Travel Nurses who may find themselves working in various states where laws differ. While also acknowledging “that there are nurses working in states where assisted suicide is legal,” the American Nurses Association wrote in an April 2013 position statement addressing “Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and Aid in Dying”:

“The American Nurses Association recognizes that assisted suicide and euthanasia continue to be debated. Despite philosophical and legal arguments in favor of assisted suicide, it is the position of the ANA as specified in The Code that nurses’ participation in assisted suicide and euthanasia is strictly prohibited.”

Conversely, the Death with Dignity National Center provides a resource page for healthcare providers, which focuses on existing Death with Dignity acts, legislative efforts, and FAQs, also providing additional resources. The Brittany Maynard Fund is another site to check out, for those interested in the Brittany Maynard story.

Regardless of one’s belief or view, the Brittany Maynard story is a sad one. And it is important to remember that besides being an activist, Maynard was a daughter, wife, friend, adventurer, and so much more. If you want to learn more about Maynard’s life, check out this People article, “Inside Brittany Maynard’s Vibrant Life.”

In a final message on her Facebook page, Maynard wrote:

“Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me … but would have taken so much more. The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type. … Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!”

Ask a Travel Nurse Housing Expert: How do I go about listing housing for Travel Nurses?

Ask a Travel Nurse Housing Expert Question:

I have a property that would be perfect for a Travel Nurse! But I am unsure how to best get the word out about it. How do I go about listing housing for Travel Nurses?

Ask a Travel Nurse Housing Expert Answer:

I would recommend that you get a flyer together and post it up at the hospitals located in proximity to your property. Additionally, speaking with Human Resources at those hospitals is a great way to get your information out there.

Make sure the flyer states things like size, furnished or unfurnished, washer/dryer, parking, A/C — all the specifics, the more the better — monthly rate, deposit requirement or any other fees, and if you are pet friendly.

I would also suggest that you contact the housing departments at some of the major Travel Nursing companies out there so they have your information on hand. And, you can also try a Travel Nursing forum like Healthcare Travelbook — which even has a specific housing and locations forum — to help spread the word among Travel Nurses.

Good luck!

SuperNurse tops our list of Halloween costumes Travel Nurses can wear to work.

We’re in the home stretch leading up to Halloween. With that comes the usual array of annoying, stereotypical nurse costumes, and other such eyesores — including this year’s ultimate abomination: the sexy Ebola nurse costume. Yuck!

If you’re working on the big day, do you have your costume planned?

If not, there’s still time to pull something together! You want to choose something comfortable, non-intrusive to your duties, work-appropriate, and fun.

Here are some Halloween costumes Travel Nurses can wear to work:

Superhero

This one’s pretty topical, considering nurses really are superheroes every day. Throw on the classic Superman t-shirt and a cape over your scrubs, then, just do your job, you superhero, you! Draw or paint your own superhero logo on a plain t-shirt for an even more original costume.

Witch

It’s a classic for a reason. Black scrubs and a traditional pointy hat bring this costume together. Add a fake nose, warts, and/or green-tinted skin to take it to the next level. Or, go Glinda, and be a good witch with pink scrubs and a star wand — make her crown-esque hat with cardstock, silver paint, and glitter.

Totally ’80s Individual

Put some makeshift shoulder pads in your scrubs, think neon, pink, and hoop earrings, and rat your hair sky-high to complete the look. Alternately, a totally ’80s metal wig can transform you into a rocker from the bygone era.

Wednesday Addams

Don long black pigtail braids and a Peter Pan collar over black scrubs, and — voila! You’re the sassy, dark character from everyone’s favorite creepster clan, The Addams Family. Style your own hair if you fit this look; if not, grab a wig.

Chef

Find a funny apron to wear over your scrubs and top it off with a classic chef’s hat.

Hippie

Lots of options for executing this one: Tie-dye a pair of scrubs and/or headscarf. Put flowers in your hair. Round Lennon-esque glasses. Peace sign necklace.

Clown

Clown wig, makeup, and a red nose and you’re all set. Bonus point for balloons and/or a magic trick you can share throughout the day.

Cowboy/Cowgirl

Find a classic cowboy/cowgirl hat to pair with a red bandana. Tie a lasso at your hip with thick rope.

Whether you’ll be on the clock or not, we want to hear what you’re dressing up as this Halloween! Let us know in the comments, and please feel free to share any other ideas for Halloween costumes Travel Nurses can wear to work.

Ask a Travel Nurse: How can a new staffing agency get it right for Travel Nurses?

Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

I have opened a medical and allied healthcare specialist contract placement firm and want to make sure my travel section is offering the most attractive pay and service package for our candidates. How would you set up a new staffing agency for Travelers if you could, from scratch, and do it right?

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

The bottom line is, that you are never going to cater to every single Traveler out there. Some Travelers want to make absolute top dollar when it comes to their hourly rate, some care more about the destinations you offer, and some will want to see a well-rounded company that also provides good benefits and good housing. But again, you just cannot cater to every single Traveler out there.

I often tell nurses that one of the most important aspects of Travel Nursing is finding a good recruiter with whom to work. With this in mind, I would put my efforts into finding and hiring quality people to help give the nurses the highest possible customer service. Let’s face it, if you do not provide great customer service to Travel Nurses, there are literally hundreds of other companies with whom they can connect with a single phone call.

Many people write to me and asked me which company, or companies, are the best with whom to travel. My standard response is, that I do not recommend companies per se, but rather, great people within those companies. Therefore, I have never outright endorsed or recommended a travel “company.” But I do refer nurses to the recruiters with whom I work and entrust my travels.

Having never taken on much in regard to the other side of the coin (meaning the inner workings of a Travel Nurse company), I’m sure there are better people to guide you when it comes to the acquisition of destinations and contracting with different facilities or healthcare systems. However, I can tell you how I might start.

Your first step is going to be in growing the amount of contracts or locations that you offer. A nurse is going to want to travel with a company that provides a vast variety of locations and destinations. You then need to figure out your allocation (to the Travel Nurse) of the compensation that will be paid to you by the hospital.

Many hospitals have a blanket contract that they sign with every travel company. So if you are to receive $35,000 in compensation from a hospital, for a specific Travel Nurse’s contract, then your competition will likely receive the same compensation. Where you and the other company will differ, is in the allocation of those funds.

Only you can decide if you wish to be a company that offers the highest dollar amount in hourly rate (but then skimps on things like company provided housing or health insurance plans), or you wish to be a more well-rounded company opting for more allocation of funds toward health insurance and company provided housing, but then must offer the Travel Nurse a lower hourly rate than your competition might.

I will tell you that I do not envy your position as it does become hard to become a standout company when you do literally have hundreds of other competitors that are just a phone call away.

Again, I cannot stress enough how important your point of contact will be in attracting Travelers and retaining them. Hire and train quality recruiters that have patience and are willing to spend the time it takes to build good relationships with the nurses with whom you will work.

About six or seven years ago, the CEO of RN Network flew me out for a day, to evaluate the things that the company was offering to Travelers and ask my advice on everything from the benefits that they offered to their website design and advertising. It was actually a rather neat experience.

So, once you are up and running and have built a substantial base of assignments and locations, let me know if you would ever be interested in having someone come in and set up a training program for the recruiters that you will hire. Although I have not yet put together such a program, after my experience at RN Network, I have toyed with the idea of doing some consulting with the travel companies and lending them a perspective into what appeals to Travel Nurses.

I hope this has helped.

David
David@travelnursesbible.com

Let’s Celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

With catchy slogans like “Save the Ta-Tas” and “Fight like a Girl,” the reason to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month each October is all about knowledge as power. While there are many ways that people can promote, fundraise for, and celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it all comes down to one thing: Early detection. The best way to achieve that? Awareness!

According to the National Cancer Institute, “When breast cancer is detected early, in the localized stage, the 5-year survival rate is 98%.”

Here are some more facts about breast cancer, via the World Health Organization:

• By a wide margin, it’s the most common cancer in women worldwide.
• New cases each year = 1.39 million
• Resulting deaths each year = 458,000
• Early detection remains the “cornerstone of breast cancer control”!
• Low- and middle-income countries account for the majority of deaths, due to less awareness and lack of and/or lack of access to health services — resulting in less early detection.

As a nurse, you are likely fully aware of the major benefits of early detection. And, in your line of work, you are in a unique position to spread the word and help raise awareness in others in a way that can have a major, positive impact. What’s more, because of your expertise, people are more likely to listen to you!

Here are some ways that you can foster and celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

• Talk, talk, talk! Whether it’s in speaking with a patient or even making a post on social media, most people are more likely to take your advice — as a healthcare provider — to heart. Encourage self-exams, mammograms when appropriate, and healthy lifestyle choices — down with smoking and drinking to excess, and up with physical activity, whole foods, and weight control!
• Share resources. Send people to sites like Beyond the Shock, which offers videos and other content that helps people learn about breast cancer, ask questions and get answers, benefit from others’ questions, hear stories from real people who have been affected by breast cancer, and more.
• Let your clothes and accessories do the talking. Wearing breast cancer awareness scrubs, and other clothes and accessories, sends a message and supports the cause without you saying a word. Check out some of these great options from Tafford Uniforms. (Subscribe to Travel Nursing Blogs updates on our home page to get exclusive monthly discounts from Tafford!)

Finally, just continue being the great, supportive, awesome nurse that you are! Your presence when someone is facing tests or a breast cancer fight is immeasurably helpful. I know from personal experience — I will never forget the amazing nurse who helped me prepare for and get through on the day of the breast biopsy I had to have in 2013. (No cancer was found, thankfully.) I am forever grateful to that fantastic nurse who helped me keep it together on one of the scariest days of my life — and also to all of you wonderful nurses as we celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Ask a Travel Nurse: How do I choose a Travel Nurse agency?

Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

I’ve done a couple Travel Nursing assignments, and have loved the traveling and experiences! My question concerns getting the best pay and benefits from a Travel Nurse agency. My very first Travel Nurse assignment was about seven years ago in California, and I remember making so much more money than now.

My question is, how do I choose a Travel Nurse agency to work with? What criteria do you look for in a Travel Nursing company to sign up with them?

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

I never know how to answer the question you have asked because how I evaluate a Travel Nurse company or what criteria I look for, may not be the same as yours. It may sound cliché, but you have to choose the company that is right for YOU.

First, figure out your priorities. Are you looking for a company that pays the highest hourly rate? Do you want a company that offers above average housing? Do you need a company that offers a great healthcare plan? Everyone wants great pay, great housing, and great benefits — not to mention great service. But if ONE company offered all of that….then there would only be one travel company and that would be the one with which everyone would travel.

Once you know your priorities, research the factors that you can. For example, you cannot compare pay rate until you are looking at a specific assignment. However, if you need great healthcare benefits and one company’s policy is less money out of pocket and costs less than another’s, then you have a clear-cut winner.

I always encourage Travel Nurses to be on file with several companies and to do any type of rate comparison, this is a must. I also encourage nurses to find a specific recruiter with whom to work, rather than concentrating on a specific company. I cannot over-state the importance of having a great recruiter. It’s so important!

As you have already noted, the pay is less than it was pre-2009 (when the economy had a big impact on the industry). But I have written many times that I don’t feel that travel today is for those looking for a big paycheck. Sure, there are still opportunities to earn a good living while being a travel nurse, but currently, it has to be more about the travel, or I don’t feel people will be happy with the experience.

If you need any direction in choosing a company, I always offer to refer nurses to the people I use and trust with my travels. Just email me at david@travelnursesbible.com and I’ll be happy to get you hooked up with some great people in the travel industry.

Hope this helps.

David

david@travelnursesbible.com

Baby on Board: A scene from the Jimmy Kimmel sonogram prank.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel scrubbed in last week to play a little prank on his famously curmudgeonly Aunt Chippy.

L&D nurses especially may get a kick out of this — considering the super-odd fetal behavior, I doubt this is a baby any of you’d like to see delivered in your unit!

Aunt Chippy has occasion to witness her first ever sonogram, when accompanying her pregnant daughter Micki to an appointment. With the help of Dr. Lang — who is in on the prank and not a doctor — Jimmy, Micki, and crew treat Aunt Chippy to a sonogram of the baby supposedly clapping, picking his nose, and even flipping the bird — the latter which the “doctor” chalks up to reflexes.

Next, the baby stands up and does jumping jacks, further confounding Aunt Chippy just before the big reveal that it’s all been a prank. Check out the Jimmy Kimmel sonogram prank video below! Then be sure to revisit this great nurse pranking, perpetrated by Ellen DeGeneres and Bruno Mars.

Ask a Travel Nurse Question: 

Ask a Travel Nurse: Should I take agency housing or find my own in Hawaii?

I’ve been traveling for two years now and have always found my own housing, but coming up in January I’m planning to take the plunge and head to Hawaii, so I was thinking I’d like to eliminate some stress and just have my agency handle my housing for this assignment. Do you think this would be smart? Or will this unpack my pay too much and not be worth it?

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

I’m sorry, but this is simply not a question that I can answer for you. Let me explain.

In 19 years, I have never taken an assignment where I arranged my own housing. This is for precisely the reason that you mentioned, it is just too stressful. But that is actually not the reason for not being able to answer your question.

The reason I cannot answer your question is that I have no idea what dollar amount we would be talking about, nor do I have any idea if this dollar amount would equate with the amount of stress relief it provides. Again, I always think it is worth it to have someone else find the unit, arrange the lease, pay the deposit, take care of issues should they arise, and about 20 other things that I would have to deal with on my own should I not have my company’s housing department to do it for me.

Even if I were to know the dollar amount, what might be worth a pay cut to me, might not be worth it to you.

Find out the dollar amounts, research how hard it is finding housing on the island where you are headed, and then maybe hit the travel nursing forums and see what others have to say about finding housing in Hawaii. The three times I have gone, I have always had company housing and no complaints.

Sorry I could not answer you more directly, but this is personal decision once you have all the information. Good luck!

David

david@travelnursesbible.com

Click here to celebrate!

If you’re like me, you embrace any festive reason to celebrate. And this Friday, October 10th, there’s a really good occasion: Travel Nurses Day 2014!

Medical Solutions, a pet-friendly Travel Nurse staffing company, introduced Travel Nurses Day in 2013, in order to set aside a day specifically to honor and celebrate Travel Nurses and the unique, important work they do in hospitals and facilities nationwide. Travel Nurses lessen the impact of the nursing shortage, also providing relief to their colleagues, preventing nurse burnout, and ensuring safer staffing levels. Not to mention all of the hard work and great patient care they put forth! While working hard, Travelers also play hard and explore hard — embracing the awesome adventure of cities unseen and sights unknown.

So, a day just for Travel Nurses is the least the world can do, and, there are some pretty amazing prizes on the line this year for Travel Nurses Day:

• One paid vacation of your choice — a $2500 value
• Three Kindle Fire HD 6 Tablets (8GB) — each tablet a $114 value
• Three $50 gift cards from Tafford Uniforms
• Fifteen $50 gift cards from Zappos, Amazon, and Starbucks

And, becoming eligible to win one of these great prizes is literally fun and games! Here are this year’s amusing Travel Nurses Day activities:

• Find the perfect location for your next assignment with the “Where should I travel next?” quiz. Land in a spot that’s juuuust right, based upon your unique style, favorite things, and preferred surroundings. It’s like having your very own crystal ball, plus who doesn’t love an online quiz?!
• Three Photo Finds allow you to take advantage of your keen perception skills. Simply spot the inconsistencies between each set of photos.
• Write your own Travel Nursing tales with three Travel-Libs. Just fill in a few words and watch your distinctive, and likely pretty funny, story unfold.

Games are live now, so head to TravelNursesDay.com to get your celebration on, play games, and (fingers crossed!) win prizes. Happy Travel Nurses Day 2014!