Some traveling healthcare professionals may opt to take some time off and stay home for the holidays, but others may see this as an opportunity to grow financially and fill in the gaps that are created when permanent med staff takes time off. One exciting benefit of being a healthcare traveler is that you get to choose whether you work during the holidays or not.
You may find that your contract will overlap with Christmas or New Year’s, and you can agree to work or not. There may also be the option to work a contract but have some time off for the holidays, similar to the permanent med staff. You will have to discuss that with your recruiter and the facility during the interviewing process.
As one of your travel healthcare companies, RTG Medical wanted to give you some advice on helping you choose which is best for you!
Holiday assignments often offer added benefits, such as more assignment options, increased holiday pay, and the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. Regular facility staff takes more time off during the extended holiday season, resulting in an opening. Because of a higher incidence of injuries during the holidays, hospitals are also busier during this time.
Overtime and travel bonuses are often included in holiday pay. You must do extensive research and discuss it with your recruiter to determine how much more you could make and whether or not it is right for you. Working over the holidays and celebrating later is always possible. For those who live far from their families, the holidays are the ideal time to look for assignments closer to them. Consider traveling somewhere warmer during these months if you live in a cold climate.
How to enjoy the holidays while working
Work during the holidays can be done in various ways to make you feel at home. Make your travel family your priority. Depending on your assignment, this might be coworkers, new friends, or fellow travelers. No matter whom you choose, you can celebrate holiday traditions with these new people. There is also the option of celebrating before or after the holidays.
You can also keep your spirits high by getting festive. Decorating the facility boosts your and your patients’ moods. Despite the changes to the holiday season, adopting a grateful mindset can help you continue to enjoy them.
Your travel healthcare companies care
Working as a healthcare professional can be challenging, especially during the holidays. It can be increasingly complex when there are talent shortages staffing medical professionals at your travel healthcare companies. There is still an excellent adventure to be had, being on a holiday travel assignment.
The value of a traveling nurse in today’s world is nothing less than a big diamond ring or a heavy gold bar. What nurses deal with out on the road, away from family, and in unknown, stressful situations is extremely challenging. Nurses are needed and what they do is oftentimes life-changing. So how do they stay healthy? If you are a traveling nurse, here are some ways to develop mental toughness so you can keep making a difference in the lives of your patients.
Make a Commitment
Sometimes the hardest part of doing a job is choosing to do it. Once you have decided to go on the road, commit to giving it all of your energy while you are out there. Programs that can help you maintain focus, like the 75 hard program, supply the encouragement, information, and support to succeed in a mentally challenging situation. You can draw strength from the mental fortitude that commitment brings by using the reasons you committed as motivation to stay true to your path. It may be useful to write down the reasons on a piece of paper to keep in your car or on a small chalkboard you post in your rental space. Whenever you feel your resolve weakening, use this list as a reminder of what you need to stay strong for.
Stock Up
It is easy to crack under pressure when you don’t have what you need to get the job done right, so make sure you are stocked up on whatever supplies you can bring into your job. You are often limited on what you can carry with you, but be as prepared as the situation allows to give you confidence and peace of mind.
Take Care of the Basics
It is difficult to take great care of others when your basic needs are not being met, so make sure you get sufficient sleep, eat a healthy diet, and exercise every day. Doing this will build and maintain mental toughness, so you can help those who need you. It takes a lot of self-discipline to do these things but sleeping enough will keep you energized, eating well will give your body the nutrients it needs to stay healthy, and exercise keeps you strong and flexible to prevent injury.
Build a Support Network
One of the most important things you can do for yourself to develop mental toughness is to build a strong support network of people you trust and respect who care about you. These people will be a source of comfort when you are mourning the death of a patient or will lift you up after dealing with an ethical dilemma. Family, friends, and colleagues are also important to stay in touch with and nurture meaningful relationships with so you do not feel isolated on the road or lose connections with the important people in your life due to distance.
Keep a Journal
When you are in a situation that you cannot talk about, writing it down in a journal can be a great solution for maintaining mental health. Being on the road can introduce you to things you are not familiar with and therefore not prepared for, so being able to write about it can help you sort through your feelings and express your thoughts in a safe environment.
The demands on traveling nurses today are extreme because of the pandemic and shortages of nurses all over the country. These demands make it important to develop mental toughness for your health and your career. These techniques will help you succeed so you can continue to help your family, your patients, and yourself.
When healthcare professionals enter the field of travel nursing, they may wonder, “Can I work with two travel nursing agencies simultaneously?” The short answer is yes, although you’ll want to consider the pros and cons of working with more than one travel nursing agency before deciding to do so. Overall, it depends on what experience you’re looking for as a travel nurse, how much you’re looking to work, and if you can handle the demands of more than one agency.
Let’s find out the advantages and disadvantages of working with more than one travel nursing agency and what you should consider as you choose the right travel nursing agency for you.
There can be many advantages to working with two or more travel nurse agencies, including the following:
1. More Opportunities
First, working with multiple travel nursing agencies allows you to take on more assignment opportunities. This is one of the most common reasons travel nurses decide to have more than one agency to fall back on. With more job prospects, you are less likely to deal with the stress of long breaks between assignments and how that may affect you financially.
Additionally, more job options mean you are more likely to find assignments that fully meet your wants and needs rather than accepting subpar assignments that don’t meet your expectations.
2. Salary Increases
If you inquire about a travel nursing assignment from a few different agencies, each agency will likely offer a different salary amount. With this information, you can accept the assignment from the agency offering the highest salary amount, increasing your overall income.
Working with multiple agencies not only helps diversify your assignment options but also allows you to foster close relationships with more than one recruiter.
Your travel nurse recruiter is someone who should act in your best interest and be a constant support system for you. Working with more than one gives you more people to fall back on if you need additional help and support during your assignments. If your travel nursing assignment is canceled, you have more than one recruiter to support you and transition you to a different location.
4 Cons of Working with Multiple Travel Nurse Staffing Agencies
There are some caveats to consider if you decide to work with multiple travel nursing agencies at one time, including the ones listed below:
1. More Paperwork
Unfortunately, working with more than one agency does mean you will likely have to complete and keep track of more paperwork. Many documents and records will follow you throughout your travel nursing career, including records of your credentials and other qualifications. When you work with multiple agencies, you may double or even triple the amount of paperwork you must complete, making it more challenging to keep track of your records.
If more paperwork is keeping you from trying out other agencies, consider developing an organization system that works for you so you can properly keep track of any documents and easily find them when you need them. Then, if an assignment ever becomes problematic, any contracts and legal documentation will be easier to find and fall back on.
2. Taking On Too Much Work
When you work with more than one travel nursing agency, there’s always the possibility that you will bite off more than you can chew. Taking on too much work at one time can be incredibly stressful and quickly lead to compassion fatigue, which is a common reason many nurses decide to leave the healthcare field completely.
While there can be many perks to working with more than one travel nursing agency, it’s not wise if it comes at the expense of your mental and physical well-being. If you find yourself taking on more work than you can handle, it’s likely time to step back and reevaluate whether it’s the right situation for you or if you’d benefit from having one less agency to answer to.
3. Scheduling Conflicts
Scheduling can quickly become conflicting if you’re trying to meet the demands of more than one agency. For example, assignments may end up overlapping, or you may not be able to accept an assignment from one agency all because you already accepted one from another.
Also, if you’re choosing to take on more than one assignment at once, you may find it difficult to create an effective daily schedule based on the demands of each position, leaving you with little to no downtime outside of work.
4. Travel Nurse Agency Policies
It’s important to remember that some travel nursing agencies may have a conflict-of-interest agreement that you must sign. In this case, if one agency finds out that you’re working with another and it’s against their policies, they may terminate your agreement to work with them.
For this reason, read all angles of your employment contract terms to ensure that working with more than one agency is allowed, and don’t make any assumptions before doing so.
3 Ways to Manage Working with Multiple Travel Nursing Agencies
While working with more than one travel nursing agency can come with its challenges, it can be possible. Consider the following tips as you talk with more than one recruiter.
1. Don’t Talk About Your Other Agencies Directly
Honesty is always the best policy, but you also don’t have an obligation to get into the specifics of each agency. While you shouldn’t get into the specifics of other travel nursing agencies you’re working with, you should be upfront with each recruiter so they can place you in assignments effectively.
This way, your recruiters are aware that they may be working around different assignment schedules, but they don’t have an abundance of information that could lead to conflict down the road.
2. Retain Control Over Your Applications
It can be difficult to balance the trust level you have with your recruiters when it comes to submitting applications for new assignments. On the one hand, having too much trust may lead to being put in an unideal assignment. On the other hand, not having enough trust may mean that you miss out on job opportunities.
Because of this, try to retain a certain amount of control over when your applications are submitted to a new travel nursing assignment. One way to do this is to establish clear guidelines with your recruiter and create a system that works best for both of you. This may mean allowing your recruiter to submit on your behalf only when an assignment fits your needs but consulting you first before submitting if the assignment doesn’t have everything you want.
In addition, if you are working with multiple agencies, you’ll want to consider whether you’ll need more control over when your applications are submitted to ensure you don’t run into scheduling conflicts.
3. Be Honest and Upfront
Being upfront about the fact that you’re working with more than one agency can help ensure that your recruiters place and schedule you in the most effective way possible. Having an honest relationship with your recruiter also means they’ll be more respectful of your situation and more willing to work with you, helping create a stronger nurse-to-recruiter relationship.
Most recruiters know they can’t always offer you everything you want in an assignment, and they know there are recruiters elsewhere who can. A great recruiter won’t hold it against you if you decide to work with another agency, but they’d also rather know this upfront.
While working with more than one travel nursing staffing agency is a great option for securing the position you love, our recruiters at OneStaff Medical are here to help ensure you receive a travel assignment with everything you’re looking for. Contact us today to learn more at 877-783-1483.
Medical insurance is a necessity for everyone. It covers the treatment that you will receive if you are hurt or injured. As a contract employee, there are several options for you to consider as you make plans for your next assignment. Here are a few ways to use this coverage as a traveling nurse.
Before you can utilize medical insurance, you have to have it. There are a couple of options available for you to consider. First, you can join the plan that the company that you are employed by offers. Although you may be several miles away from your home office, there might be insurtech that can assist you in filling out an application. This option is cheaper and has better coverage than the other potential solutions. However, if you switch from one corporation to another for each assignment, you will have to continually change programs. This can be difficult to keep up with and could cause issues for you if an emergency arises, and you are between policies.
Buy a Policy On Your Own
Another option for you to consider is to purchase medical insurance on your own. This can be an expensive venture. However, you can be sure that you will always have the coverage you require. Research agencies that offer policies to traveling nurses. Look into what it will pay for and what you will have to take care of out of pocket. This is a great opportunity to look into other types of insurance, such as life or pet. Once you have found one that works for you, contact an agent, and ask what steps you must take to get it started. Be prepared to put money down immediately for your first month and have whatever documents they ask for to get everything into place.
Talk To Your Employer
There are a few questions that you should talk to a representative from the organization that you work with before you determine what to do about your medical insurance. You want to find the best option that will save you money but take care of as many expenses as possible if you were to get sick or injured. Ask what the premium will be for you and your family and how much they will be paying for you to take it. Find out if they have a policy that will extend past your employment with them to bridge the gap with your next assignment. You can also inquire if they will give you cash back or raise your pay if you choose to get your own. You can use these answers to leverage what is the best solution for you.
Think About How Your Lifestyle Relates To This
Consider what your life is like as you make these decisions. Your family will need continual care. In this situation, you should purchase a policy of your own outside of the company that you are contracted with. You may also consider being included on your spouse’s medical insurance and pay the fees. Another debate to have with yourself is what level of coverage is right for you. You may need dental, vision, and prescription, which could be difficult to come by with an independent provider. Be sure that you can contact the corporate office to get new cards and any additional help when your schedule allows, which can be a challenge when you are away from home. Medical insurance is an important part of your employment. As a traveling nurse, finding the right policy that will fit what you do can be challenging. Determining whether you should partner with your employer or find coverage on your own and be sure that it relates to your lifestyle will help you find one that is affordable and takes care of your needs.
Looking for good gift ideas for travel nurses? Well, it can be challenging to find a gift to get for the holidays for the special nurse in your life.
Travel nurses usually live a different lifestyle than floor nurses; giving them job-specific gifts can go a long way! It will also score you major bonus points on their book!
In this post, we’ll walk you through some of the best travel nurse ideas that you can get:
1. Experiences
Usually, travel nursing doesn’t attract the usual homebody types. Most travel nurses always seek out excitement and adventure.
They consider every new assignment as a chance to explore another city, culture, and experiences! With adventure running through the course of their veins, a lot of travel nurses long for exciting new experiences.
So, why not let them scratch the itch and give them a chance to experience a new city?
Here are excellent examples of gifts that you can give them:
Tickets to a local museum, opera, concert, or theatrical performance
Your nurse BFF may spend much time standing or running around during their shift. Eventually, their legs will start to feel it, and their ankles and feet will become all puffy.
In fact, this is one of the most common problems older nurses complain about- their varicose veins! (If you don’t know what they are, Google it.) One of the best ways to prevent this is through compression socks.
3. Personalized travel notebook
If your special nurse is the type who loves to write and journal their experience, then a travel notebook is a good gift for them.
You can even have these personalized so that you can place their favorite quote or add their initials so they can quickly get started with their journaling adventure.
4. A customized photo book
If you have access to your nurse BFF’s digital files or recently went on an exciting trip together, personalized books for adults can make a good gift.
You can even print multiple copies and give them to everyone who went on your trip. It is a compact way to store photos, and its design interface is also relatively easy to use!
5. Personalized work accessories
Aside from compression socks, there are also plenty of ways that nurses personalize their work uniform. Depending on the rules of their workplace, you can easily personalize anything from ID badges to stethoscopes!
6. Cold remedy kit
Nurses are more susceptible to colds and flu during winter. Not to mention, they deal with sick people regularly, which places them on a higher exposure than the rest of us. So, it isn’t a surprise that they might find themselves sick every once in a while.
Ensure the cold remedy kit includes cough drops, tissues, soup, and other essentials. This can be a fantastic emergency kit when they’re hit with those winter sniffles!
7. New Luggage
Aside from a tote bag, new luggage can be a handy gift for travel nurses. This is because they’re always traveling to a new assignment or location every couple of weeks.
Thus, having a sturdy and easy-to-use suitcase is absolutely essential. While it isn’t a common gift to give, getting them a piece of brand-new luggage that’s both mobile and compact ensures that it will last for a long time.
8. Fleece Jacket
A jacket will always look great if paired with any scrub color your nurse friend might be wearing. Most nurses know that a great fleece jacket is king, especially for those working the night shift when temperatures seem to drop on the unit.
Fleece jackets can also make them look stylish and professional at the same time.
9. Tumbler
Whether your nurse friend is a coffee, tea, or water drinker, they’ll always need a handy tumbler. Gifting them a tumbler is a great way to help them keep hydrated, especially during long shifts.
Get an excellent tumbler with a double-walled insulated cup. It keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold.
10. Space Savers
Some travel either live together or take advantage of a nomadic lifestyle in an RV. Getting them space-saving essentials can be a fantastic gift option.
If you have a space-conscious travel nurse in your life, then here are some of the things that you can get them:
A toiletry bag with a hanger so that they can hang it on a bathroom doorknob.
Closet organizers
Compact hangers
Under-the-bed storage solutions
A high-quality insulated mug that keeps their morning coffee hot.
Over to You
Most travel nurses often live a life of adventure, constantly traveling from one assignment or city to another. We can guarantee the nurse in your life will appreciate these perfect holiday gift ideas! Do you have any other good gift ideas that we should include in our next holiday gift list? Comment below.
It’s hard to believe that 2022 is already ending, and a new year will soon begin. It feels like the past few years have all blended together for many of us. Covid-19 completely changed the healthcare industry, and since it swept the nation in 2020, the future of healthcare staffing has been uncertain.
Earlier this month, we attended the annual SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit in Houston, Texas. The Healthcare Staffing Summit is an annual event to give updates and changes in the industry. This year, the focus was on healthcare staffing beyond the pandemic. Let’s look at some of their projections for travel healthcare in a post-pandemic world.
Job Openings to Hires Ratios Will Increase
As we move into 2023, we will continue to see the ratio of openings to hires increase. For the last ten years, ratios remained steady at 1.67. In August 2022, that number jumped to 2.4. Staffing shortages were nothing new prior to Covid, and that gap will continue to grow. We are no longer in a staffing shortage but a staffing crisis. As a healthcare traveler, this means more job opportunities. There has never been a greater need for healthcare employees than there is now.
Burnout Will Drive Professionals Out of the Field
It’s no secret that healthcare providers have been put through the wringer these past few years. Long hours, high patient ratios, and devastating loss of life at the height of the pandemic led to many feeling helpless and wanting to leave the industry entirely. Statistics show that 27% of healthcare professionals will reduce their hours in the next 12 months, and 29% will leave their current practice altogether in the next two years. This, unfortunately, will only add to the shortage and give more burnout to those who stay.
The Demand for Healthcare Professions Will Increase
As the staffing crisis continues, the need for certain specialties and professions will also increase. The top 3 professions with increasing needs are nurse practitioners (52.2%), PT assistants (35.3%), and OT assistants (34.6%). Allied professions will have the highest need, a positive for those in the field who are looking for more travel job opportunities.
Hospitals Are Under Financial Pressure
In 2022, more than 50% of hospitals in the nation were operating in the red. Because of this, they are being pushed to lower bill rates, therefore, lower compensation. Not to mention, there is a 96% likelihood of a nationwide recession in 2023. Many healthcare professionals start a travel career for the higher compensation, but depending on the facility they are working, it may not be the case.
While these statistics seem bleak, there is hope for the future of healthcare staffing. Hospitals are opening themselves up to more flexible staff and schedules. Modern technology is transforming the way travelers find jobs. The 2022 Travelers Conference in Las Vegas was the most attended ever, which proves that despite the odds, travelers aren’t going anywhere. The number of travelers in the workforce continues to increase. In 2022, we saw a massive increase in travelers. The need isn’t going away, and neither are the travelers.
So, what does this mean for you? As a full-service healthcare staffing company, our travelers can expect us to continue to provide the absolute best service. We will work hard to find you the best fit for the best pay possible. Just because you are traveling alone, it doesn’t mean you are alone. As the needs of facilities continue to adapt to the market, so will we. As hospitals send out new requirements to their staff, our compliance team will be on top of it. As jobs change and needs arise across the country, our recruiters and client managers will be there. No matter what is to come in 2023, know that your healthcare staffing agency will always be there for you.
The holidays are upon us, and it’s time to start thinking about what gifts you might want to get the nurse in your life! I have put together a holiday gift guide for travel healthcare professionals. I’m breaking down these gift ideas into three categories: Nurses/Student Nurses, Travel Nurses, and RV Travel Nurses. A lot of these are functional, but some are also just plain cute and would make for some great work accessories.
Nurses/Student Nurses
Badge reels. These are always great, inexpensive gifts to get the nurse in your life. You can find them on Amazon or Etsy, and can be personalized to the nurse you are purchasing for! Here’s a super cute option, but there are tons of others.
Badge pens/markers. These come in handy and are another great stocking stuffer/inexpensive gift you will be thanked for!
Personalized water bottle/coffee cup. You really can’t go wrong with this option because 1) most nurses love cups/bottles with cute or funny sayings and 2) getting nurses motivated to drink more water during their shifts is never a bad thing!
Fleece/jacket. Hospitals get CHILLY. Bonus points if you get the jacket personalized!
Blue light glasses/safety glasses. Nurses spend long hours staring at computer screens/charting. We also spend a lot of time at the bedside performing interventions that could potentially expose us to a lot of germs. A great gift would either be to get regular blue light glasses for all the time spent at the computer or a combination of blue light blockers/safety glasses like these.
Travel Nurses
Packing cubes/vacuum storage bags. It’s no secret that travel nurses do a lot of packing/moving. Why not get the travel nurse in your life something they can use often and they will be forever grateful for? Packing cubes and vacuum storage bags are great gifts and will help them stay organized every time they have to move!
Digital Photo Frame. Photos help you feel close to friends and family when you are physically far away from them, but traveling with dozens of picture frames can be difficult. Get your travel nurse a digital photo frame that can hold hundreds of photos in one, so they don’t have to worry about taking tons of individual frames.
Portable battery. Bound to be either on the road or on an adventure, your travel nurse may run into a dead or dying phone battery or may need to charge their cameras up to capture their latest adventure. Portable batteries are so handy to have and should be on everyone’s wish list!
White Noise Machine. Sleeping in a new place can be noisy, especially if your travel nurse is asleep during the day. White noise machines are a great and thoughtful gift to help them get their Zs. Opt for one with an optional timer so they won’t have to worry about it going off in the middle of their sleep!
RV Travel Nurses
Propane Fire Pit. Part of the fun of being a full-time RVer is getting to feel like you are camping all the time. What gets you more in the camping spirit than a campfire? Some RV parks, however, do not allow your traditional wood-burning fire pits, so propane fire pits are a great gift for the RV travel nurse in your life!
Roadside Assistance Emergency Kit. When you have a full-time RV, you do a lot of driving. You never know when an emergency will happen, and it’s always good to be prepared.
Small space heater. RVs can get cold in the wintertime, and space heaters come in handy always! This is a relatively inexpensive yet thoughtful gift for the RV travel nurse in your life.
Harvest Hosts Membership. Harvest Host campgrounds are places RVers/van lifers can stay all over the country and are typically found at wineries, breweries, farms, and other unique places. In order to stay at these places, though, you need to be a member. This is a great gift to give the adventurous RV travel nurse, you know to give them a full year of cool overnight stays!
National Parks Pass. Give the RV travel nurse the gift of one year of free access to all the national parks in the United States with this awesome gift!
We hope you found this holiday gift guide helpful. Do you have any other ideas that we should include in our next holiday gift guide? Comment them below.
2023 is weeks away, and a new year brings new opportunities. Many nurses use the fresh start of a new year as the perfect time to leap into a travel nursing career. If you’re considering starting 2023 as a travel nurse, the time to prepare is, well, now.
There are hundreds of agencies and thousands of recruiters. What’s the best way to narrow down this pool of possibilities? Look for what makes an agency or recruiter stand out from the crowd.
A quick way to make a top-five list is to consult reputable review sites, such as The Gypsy Nurse, to see which agencies travelers voted as the best of the best. Narrow that down to the agencies that have certification by The Joint Commission, which requires agencies to undergo an extensive evaluation process every few years and demonstrate the ability to offer high-quality and competent nursing services.
With that list, it’s time to explore each agency’s benefits, support, and perks. You’ll want an agency that steps forward to support you on the road with traveler-focused benefits, like day-one insurance and paid sick leave, mental wellness resources that meet you wherever you are, and a 401(k) plan to invest in your future.
Additionally, you’ll want to be able to rely on an agency’s well-structured, experienced support teams. Look for agencies with a QA team that ensures you’re meeting all compliance requirements, a housing team helping you find the best accommodations within your budget, and a clinical support team available to coach you when you need it.
Last but not least, you’ll want the agency you work with to have various travel nurse jobs available so it’s easier for you to get your first assignment to start your travel nursing career.
Pick a Travel Nurse Recruiter
Once your top few agencies are sorted out, you’ll want to connect with a great recruiter. Use social media networks, like The Gypsy Nurse’s Facebook group, to ask other experienced travelers which recruiters they recommend. Your recruiter should know what the agency offers and the current state of the travel nurse market, listen to your career goals and put you on a path to reaching them. You should feel like a priority to your recruiter, not just another traveler on their list.
Your recruiter is responsible for submitting your travel nurse profile to a job; you’ll work with them to get it prepped. Your travel nurse profile will consist of your resume, licenses & certifications, immunizations & titer records, references, and more. If you need to update specific certifications or obtain another state’s license, now is the time to get it done!
Meanwhile, your recruiter is hunting for a few contracts that match your requirements – whether you want to work specific shifts, go for a particular pay, or try for a certain state.
When you and your recruiter have found a few that meet your needs, and your profile is ready, it’s time to apply! You’ll begin applying to open jobs about three to four weeks before the start of the assignment. (Tip: One essential thing to consider before applying for any job is the housing market in the area. You don’t want to accept a job only to discover that you can’t find reasonable housing nearby.)
3. Interview and Land a Job
Once your application is submitted, this next step could move quickly. It takes approximately 72 hours to hear from hospitals about profile submissions. Suppose a hospital wants you for an assignment. You could have a phone interview with a nurse manager, a voice-automated interview, or an auto-offer without a formal interview. Once you agree to a contract, you can put in a two-week notice at your staff job.
4. Compliance and Housing
Congrats, you’ve secured your first travel nurse job! Now, you’ll have to think about assignment compliance and housing. If your agency has a QA department, they’ll contact you to ensure you get all assignment compliance items out of the way. Your agency might even be able to set up any appointments you need and pay for it all. At the same time, you’ll want to find accommodations near your assignment. If your agency has a housing department, they can relieve stress by finding a safe, affordable place for you to stay.
5. Now, The Fun Begins
You’re officially ready to take off for your first assignment! The good news is a lot of the hard part is over. You’ve picked a great agency, established a relationship with a recruiter who is getting to know you and your lifestyle needs, and you’ve got everything together for your travel nurse profile. With all this work behind you and one assignment on your resume, it will likely be much easier to apply for your next travel nurse position or to start your travel nursing career!
As one of the biggest cities anywhere on the planet, New York City has a chronic shortage of good-quality medical workers. Indeed, according to Spectrum News NY1, that’s been the case since the 80s, when nurse shortages were described as an ‘emerging public protection issue.’ As such, there are few better places for good work, both in terms of As such, there are few better places for good-paying work, both in terms of consistency and volume. New York City is, of course, a huge place with countless sights to see. However, underneath the bubbling surface of the metropolis are a number of exciting sights that can be experienced while still enjoying the necessary downtime that nursing requires.
Smells, sounds, and Socrates
Just over the East River from Manhattan in Queens, and within that, a lesser-known gem of a natural attraction. The Socrates Sculpture Park is listed by Time Out as one of the top fourteen lesser-known New York City attractions, and for good reason. An example of fantastic urban regeneration, the site actually sits atop a disused landfill. It offers amazing local artwork and sculptures, plus views over Manhattan that aren’t to be sniffed at.
There is also a huge range of plants and flowers to get acquainted with in what is something of a wild landscape. Don’t underestimate the power of nature and natural sensations in the relaxation process – individual floral scents and herbal compounds can delicately impact the mood. It’s why a bath at a luxury hotel is also one of the best ways to unwind after a tiring day working in the medical field. At Socrates Sculpture Park, those scents will be even easier to pick out of the crisp air in winter.
Out of the cold
New York City gets bitterly cold in winter. The snow is something to behold, but, at times, the freezing rain and wind can put a real damper on the trip. It’s important to get out of the cold, then, and to experience the city’s more cozy side.
According to City Signal, one of the best places to do that is The Back Room. An authentic speakeasy from the prohibition era, it has retained the charm and bohemian culture of the era. With a brick fireplace and old-fashioned vintage furniture and music, it’s a real way to experience the joy of New York City life with a serious sense of older era class.
Lapping up the history
New York City has an iconic theater scene that many flock to the city just to see. What about the other side of the curtain, though? It has been the dream of countless thespians to get a taste of what Broadway is all about – and, increasingly, that’s something becoming available to the average person.
According to a roundup of hidden gems in NYC, North Jersey online highlights the increasing number of fully behind-the-scenes tours popping up. They do, of course, cost money, but there are increasing studios and production companies that will give full access to their production areas and the real sense of what it takes to make a show. This gives you a chance to enjoy some of the histories of New York City that made it more than just a center of business, but an international cultural capital, too.
For a traveling nurse, New York City has a lot to offer. In the vastness of the city and its cultural landscape are embedded hidden gems that can give an incredible sense of time and place – marrying relaxation with intrigue.
