Hospital hiring trends may be looking up. Analysts with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) project that private and public hospitals will add more than 500,000 healthcare jobs to payrolls over the next eight years. Robust clinical employment opportunities include ER nurse jobs, med/surg jobs and a bevy of critical care nurse specialties. Director of talent management at the Cleveland Clinic, Lois Bock, told Hospital & Health Networks that during the first two months of 2010, the Clinic filled 500 physician and RN jobs, along with numerous clinical support positions. Hospitals doing well as the economy recovers will be ones focused on quality patient care, said Deborah Bacurin, clinical coordinator for American Traveler Staffing Professionals, a leading employer of ER and med/surg nurses. With healthcare reform’s emphasis on performance and efficiency, Bacurin said, hospital’s looking for maximum reimbursements can’t afford to cut back on staff, as fewer nurses can lead to increased medical errors, a breakdown in patient-doctor communication and a drop in positive outcomes. At University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, patient admissions are up by 14 percent, prompting the hiring of 50 new nurses in recent months, reports the Iowa City Press-Citizen. [+]

Checklists are Promoting Safer Standards in US Hospitals Travel nurse jobs give R.N.s the distinct advantage of exposure to a wide variety of charting systems, familiarizing many with what has today become a popular practice in surgical jobs: making checklists. Surgical checklists are creating a sizeable dip in errors and patient mortality—and it’s not just their content changing patient outcomes and hospital efficiency for the better—it’s also the teamwork required from everyone on the surgical team committed to seeing checklists work. Borrowing a strategy from the aviation industry, healthcare is also using teamwork and briefings, to improve safety and efficiency during operations. Surgical checklists are a component in this, so effective they are becoming a new standard in healthcare; even the most highly regarded US hospitals are improving thanks to checklists. Surgical checklists document every step of a patient’s surgery and hospitalization, from admission to discharge, and are reducing the risk of dying after surgery and suffering other types of complications. In one study that addressed a pool of 7,600 patients, surgical checklists decreased mortality by half and morbidity by one-third; these statistics were generated in six different Netherlands hospitals, on 11 separate checklists comprised of [+]

Studies show that using safety techniques from the aviation industry may be the answer According to a study based on surgical teams from hospitals around the country, safety techniques—similar to ones used by the aviation industry—cut death rates from surgery by an astounding 18%. This is compelling news for those in operating room nurse jobs and other healthcare professionals in med surg jobs, interested in the benefits of teamwork. Known as "briefings" in the airline industry, the meetings are conducted before and after each flight, so that crews can anticipate and prepare for potential and/or future safety hazards. In a healthcare setting, "briefings" aided surgical teams in making important discoveries about the specifics of each patient's illness or condition prior to and after each surgical procedure. Checklists are a Must for Team Building in Surgical jobs The aviation industry doesn’t like surprises and either should operating room nurses and professionals in med/surg jobs. So what kinds of tactics are being used to eliminate surprises, and strengthen professional relationships among the operating room team? Operating room nurses are asked (to learn) to recognize red flags Med surg and OR nurses are expected to challenge colleagues should safety risks come up Operating room nurses are expected to develop [+]

Are nursing jobs and allied health jobs really on the rise? Economic think tank, The Conference Board, seems to think so. A global provider of business insights, The Conference Board, reported in October that almost 27,000 jobs were added to online healthcare job boards. Remarkable news in light of an economic downturn that sent the U.S. economy spiraling into oblivion and unemployment soaring into the clouds. Analysts at American Traveler relied on their own numbers to confirm conference board findings and guess what? Client side demand at the agency is up more than 50 percent, which means nursing jobs - and jobs for physical therapists, occupational therapists and other allied health jobs – are indeed on the rise. But qualified candidates beware! The competition is rigorous, as many healthcare jobs professionals who were laid off due to economic woes will be looking for their jobs back, and many of them are ultra-qualified and immediately hirable. What’s a healthcare jobs seeker to do? Call a qualified agency, says American Traveler recruitment VP Mary Kay Hull, as high-level agencies are positioned well with top hospitals and outpatients centers to immediately deliver qualified healthcare jobs candidates [+]

Link into Travel Nurse Wardrobe Resources, Get Scrubs Coupons, Here! Scrubs have come a long way since they catered exclusively to surgeons “scrubbing in” for the OR; no longer strictly blue or green, color choices in medical scrubs abound—and today the majority of registered nurses are proud to wear them. Laura Ashley, Disney and Timberland labels are just a few designers behind fun scrubs, relegating the starched white dress and hat of yesteryear to the back of most registered nurses’ closets. There are, however, a few hospitals in Ohio, Georgia and Utah—the later being one of 24 compact nursing states in the U.S.—that mandate the white uniform for nurses, a rule that eliminates patients’ confusion when it comes to distinguishing among hospital staff. Considering that scrubs outfit so many in healthcare—from doctors and nurses to food and housekeeping personnel—it’s important to note hospital I.D. badges. Travel Nurse Jobs Feel Most Comfortable When They are Outfitted with the Right Resources American Traveler wants members of our team to have access to the very best nursing career resources, so with the spirit of this in mind, we’ve provided a shortlist of some of the best places to find quality [+]