NuWest provided this article.
“Work Smarter, Not Harder.” We’ve all heard this common advice, and some of us are better at putting it into practice than others. With a demanding profession such as nursing, the need to steal back time each day becomes even more important. Less time wasted on mundane tasks means more time focused on the well-being of ourselves and our patients.
The challenges and responsibilities of travel nursing often spill over into our personal lives, leaving too little time for self-care and relaxation, and left unchecked, can contribute to burnout. Luckily for us, we are living in an unprecedented digital age. As scary as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) might sound, these technologies can help us win back our work-life balance, allowing us to spend more time on what matters most.
We don’t know what the future holds, so let’s set aside the talk of a machine takeover for the moment. Instead, this article will focus on how modern tech can help travel nurses save time and energy, or as we call it, the Top 5 AI Tools & Lifehack Apps for Travel Nurses
#5 – Plan To-Dos on Your Next Travel Assignment
Resource: ChapGPT
Travel assignments offer flexibility, freedom, and fun. But with that comes added challenges that can take up your free time. The sheer amount of planning and coordination it takes to get through the hiring process, compliance requirements, and onboarding at your next travel nurse job is hard enough. But when you add to that the need to find accommodation, plan your travel, and fill your free time with local activities — it can all become overwhelming.
The newest AI tools like ChatGPT can help you save time when researching your new city to discover the best things to do, must-try restaurants, and other local experiences. You can ask ChatGPT to create a three-month itinerary for you based on any interests and preferences you set. For example:
Acting as a [role], perform research for [audience] to [action verb(s)] things like [essential info] that are [descriptive adjectives] for my 3-month travel assignment in [location].
Check out this example prompt we put through ChatGPT to get recommendations for a 13-week travel nurse assignment in Denver, Colorado. Use the template above for any city, and use the time you saved exploring more fun activities!
#4 – Create the Perfect Playlist in Seconds
Resource: Spotify
Music is an essential tool for most travel nurses. For starters, music has long been the ultimate companion for long road trips. Even better, music is scientifically proven to help reduce anxiety, manage pain, lower blood pressure, improve sleep quality, and positively impact overall well-being.
So whether you need a playlist for your next 17-hour cross-country trek or you’re just trying to find the perfect song to get you home from work, AI can help. Earlier this year, Spotify introduced AI DJ to offer customers an easy-to-use machine learning tool to customize their listening experience.
Need Spotify’s AI DJ to curate the perfect song for the moment based on your own likes? Check out what it is all about, or try it on your own Spotify today. Just search DJ on Spotify, play the top “DJ” link, and then sit back and relax.
#3 – Sleep Better to Improve Wellness
Resource: Aura, Calm, Headspace
Doctors, athletes, and the world’s most successful people generally agree on one thing: Good sleep is the most important thing we can do to improve health, performance, and wellness. Quality sleep and stress management are essential for nurses to maintain physical and mental health.
While digital screen fatigue and social media anxiety are real issues today’s tech has created, when used properly, these same tech advancements can improve our relaxation, meditation, and sleep. In general, to sleep better, start with these basics:
- Create a quiet, dark bedroom with a comfortable temperature.
- Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bedtime
- Exercise each day, but not within 3 hours of bedtime
- Limit daytime naps to 30-45 mins and none after 3 p.m.
- Commit to a scheduled time and bedtime routine.
Then, add a few of these tools and apps to your routine until you find the one that’s right for you. Here are a few of our favorite options:
Aura is a mobile app that provides users with guided meditations, stories, and other tools to help them improve their mental health and well-being. The app is designed to be personalized to each user’s individual needs and goals, and it offers a variety of content to choose from, including personalized AI-powered recommendations and a huge library of various sleep-enabled programs.
We love that the Calm app is easy to use for beginners of all types, and its Sleep Stories section has tons of bedtime programs to fit individual needs. Bonus! Many of these programs are read aloud by celebrities with soothing voices, like Matthew McConaughey. Try Calm Premium to unlock more Sleep Stories, guided meditations, music for focus and sleep, and more. Compared to Headspace, the Calm app is more oriented toward relaxation and sleep.
Headspace is one of the most popular guided meditation apps and is also great for sleep. Compared to Calm, this app is a better choice for people who want to learn how to meditate and manage mindfulness throughout their day. The Headspace Sleepcasts are long-form audio experiences (think adult bedtime stories) that help create calming experiences. And with new stories every night, you’ll never get bored. Headspace also has a wide variety of guided meditations, music, and short video options to help you feel more relaxed while making it easy to fit into your day.
#2 – Control Your Finances Like a Pro
Resource: Monarch Money and Mint
Modern apps and AI tools can empower nurses to take charge of their financial well-being and achieve their long-term investment goals. Intelligent financial management tools use machine learning algorithms to analyze spending patterns, set budgets, and offer personalized financial advice. Nurses can track their expenses, identify saving opportunities, and plan more effectively. These tools can alleviate financial stress and provide a sense of security quickly and easily, giving you time back in your day to what more of what you love.
Monarch Money uses artificial intelligence to help people save money. The company’s platform also allows users to track their spending, set financial goals, and find those pesky recurring subscriptions you forgot to cancel.
Mint brings together spending, balances, budgets, credit scores, and more into one powerful app for managing your financial life. Plus, the Mintsights™ are designed to provide personalized insights to spend smarter, save more, and pay down debt.
#1 – Safety first!
Resource: Noonlight, bSafe, and FirstNet powered by AT&T
Nurses often have to walk to and from their cars in the dark hours of the morning and night. And worse, travel nurses end up taking these short but sometimes dangerous walks in unfamiliar areas. Thankfully, some modern apps and AI-driven tech are focusing on personal safety.
Noonlight can help offer an added layer of security outside of the workplace. It’s a safety app that allows users to connect with emergency services with just the press of a button, track the user’s location, and send an alert to emergency services in emergency cases. It can even be connected with Uber, Lyft, Tinder, and other tools so users can share important calendar and location details with friends, family, and local first responders. Connected to Smart Home devices, Noonlight can even offer certificates that help with discounts on homeowner and rental insurance rates.
bSafe was created by a father whose daughter was raped in response to the need for more personal safety and to help fight violence against women. Globally, 1 in 3 women experiences violence or sexual assault. With bSafe features such as SOS Alarm, Live Streaming, Voice Activation, Follow Me, and more, users can leverage the app to increase personal safety in all situations.
Finally, when talking safety, we can’t end this article without talking about your mobile cellular service itself. Did you know that as a nurse, you can join the emergency services network, First Net, powered by AT&T? This amazing program acts as a normal cell phone service in your everyday life, but for any public safety crisis or emergency response needs, your phone is part of dedicated network band open only to first responders.
Always-on priority of FirstNet ensures that when emergencies happen, first responders can reliably communicate without public demand jam their Band 14 Federally-protected spectrum. FirstNet is the first-ever nationwide network with comprehensive tower-to-core network encryption based on open industry standards. This public safety need is why NuWest Group offers FirstNet to its nurse employees as a regular part of our perks and benefits. What you do as a travel nurse is more than just a job. It’s a mission and a calling. Reliable communication is vital to both your and the public’s safety.
Do More of What You Love
Machine learning and digital transformation are changing our world faster than ever. As a healthcare professional with a lot of demands on your time, it’s important to prioritize well-being and find ways to simplify your life. These AI tools and Lifehack apps are designed to do just that: to help you achieve a better work-life balance, reduce stress, and optimize your personal time. Leverage this technology to save time, pursue your passions, and do more of what you love.
Our job board is a great place to search for your next travel nurse assignment. We have you covered with our housing page if housing is an issue. You can search for what you are looking for.
