Clinical Educator and ER nurse, Partrice Ballard, combines a love of travel with preparing nursing students for bright futures American Traveler caught up with Patrice Ballard, MSN for a chat about her experiences working as a Nurse Educator in Arizona. Part I of this two part nurse interview introduces RNs and physical therapists keen on combining work and travel, to a fellow professional who currently enjoys the best of both worlds. Patrice is a wife, mother and full-time Clinical Educator, with the admirable ability to work, also, in the ER once a week. Here, she shares commentary and tips for making the most of an 8 month long travel nursing assignment. Q: What prompted you to pursue a travel nursing career? A: You know, it’s a little ironic—albeit in a wonderful way—that I began a travel nurse career after 15 years in the ER.  Friends and family used to describe me as a “hover mother” – couldn’t picture me on an out-of-state assignment, but when the opportunity to work 34 weeks in Globe, Arizona came, I jumped on it. Q: You secured a unique position. How did that come about?[+]

American Traveler continues its dedication to making its web site the most comprehensive and user-friendly resource possible for clients in the health care industry. New features were added to the Hot Jobs page including hourly updates on the latest health care jobs  and a Healthcare Jobs RSS feed for instant access to all the best nursing jobs and physical therapy jobs. American Traveler also reached out into the social media networks with an active presence and interaction in  Facebook and Twitter communities, which are both growing daily with new healthcare job seekers fans and followers. More details about these enhanced features are available in the latest American Traveler press release.  Read entire American Traveler Healthcare Job Search Press Release.

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There’s a lot of talk about the growing shortage of doctors and registered nurses, which is likely to be exacerbated by any health-care-reform package that adds millions of patients to insurance rolls. According to a recent story in the New York Times, “the American Academy of Family Physicians projects a shortfall of 40,000 physician generalists -- family practitioners, pediatricians, general internists and geriatricians -- by 2020, even without significant changes to the current health care system.” This shortfall, experts predict, will increase the importance of the nurse practitioner -- because nurse practitioners will be needed to do even more of the tasks now performed by physicians. The nurse practitioner is a registered nurse who has received specialized education (usually, a master’s degree) in a selected field.  These positions offer the chance for work in health education, counseling and customized care.  Nurse practitioners’ duties vary by state depending on regulation; but generally, they include diagnosing and treating illnesses, ordering tests, prescribing drugs and making referrals to specialists. Nurse practitioners typically work in primary care, whereas physician assistants generally work for specialists.  But either way, these specialized areas of the nursing profession are going to be [+]

Karen Murphy, Ph.D. Pennsylvania, birthplace of American independence is famous for other things too, like the Pennsylvania Dutch and Liberty Bell; it’s also the childhood home of our sitting Vice President, but there are other Pennsylvania fixtures, CEOs, like Karen Murphy, R.N., Ph.D. who make their mark—using extraordinary education, talent and skill —on the great Steel State. Dr. Murphy’s career began in surgical nursing, when, in 1977, she received her diploma from the Scranton State Hospital School of Nursing. Soon after, she earned an MBA at Marywood University and, eventually, a doctorate in Business Administration from the Fox School of Business in Philadelphia. To say the least, Dr. Murphy has enjoyed a long and prosperous career, but her achievements are far from over. She has, as of this January, been selected as CEO of The Moses Taylor Health Care System. Read more about Dr. Murphy’s latest accolade here. It’s no wonder her nursing career is making headline news. Dr. Murphy is living the American Dream, a career idol and inspiration for all healthcare professionals, especially women in RN jobs. Balancing work and home life, Dr. Murphy has it all: with two [+]

Pink ribbons have long been synonymous with Breast Cancer Awareness, but there’s another advocacy group helping women who face a different cancer diagnosis: ovarian cancer; its ribbon is teal blue. RNs are a critical part of the medical team treating a woman with cancer, which, you could say, is women helping women; according to the U.S. Department of Labor, women make up 91% of the nursing workforce. If you want to use your skills to help cancer patients, American Traveler Nursing Professional Resources page has a link to the Oncology Nursing Society web site. No matter her specialty, RNs should recognize the symptoms of ovarian cancer (bloating, a feeling of fullness before meals, frequent trips to the bathroom, Pelvic and abdominal pain) to help their female patients, as well as know their own bodies well enough to stay healthy themselves. The deadliest of all gynecological cancers, ovarian cancer and the research conducted everyday to beat it, is supported largely by The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA), where teal ribbons and a host of products in the same robin’s egg blue (bracelets, necklaces, pendants, art and more) are devoted to raising money for increased [+]

Learn more about our Hot Jobs by signing up for our Healthcare Jobs RSS feed or follow us on Twitter. Our Hot Jobs are refreshed hourly, with a call right now for critical care nurses, Case Manage,  physical therapists, occupational therapists and Med/Surg nurses across the nation. You should know that Hot Jobs offer more specialized positions in telemetry, dialysis, Pediatrics and PACU. You can apply for a job that lasts a mere six weeks, or up to five months; a 13 week assignment is the norm. Every week, we showcase our Top 10 hot jobs. When travel nurses apply, they begin work immediately upon hire. Do you crave an assignment in New England, the nation’s capital, heart of America or somewhere out west? Featured jobs at American Traveler are diverse, well paying—you could earn up to 110K a year!—and scattered across the country. As we mentioned earlier on, you won’t need to check in regularly to see the latest in Hot Jobs, because when position openings come to Washington D.C., LA, even Wichita, you’ll feel like a little bird told you, just by following us on Twitter or better yet, get it in your [+]