With 2011 in full swing, healthcare professionals and recent hires across the board are enjoying the fruits of the previous year’s trend toward job growth, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting a December increase of approximately 35,700 jobs within the healthcare sector—that’s a lot of allied health and nursing jobs! The majority of these recently staffed healthcare jobs are in the ambulatory care setting, with rosy labor statistics forecasted for therapy jobs through the year 2016! Fourth Quarter Gains in the Healthcare Sector “Zero in” on Best Regions for Nursing Jobs Job growth statistics for November of 2010 also cited big numbers for nursing jobs in hospitals and in ambulatory care; in fact, Bureau of Labor Stats for healthcare professionals at large, show that their employment figures remained high throughout the entire fall season of 2010. The HWS Labor Market Pulse Index (LMPI) has determined where job demand is highest for healthcare workers. It includes Florida nursing jobs, near the Tampa Bay area, and Arizona nursing jobs near Phoenix, both regions ranked very high in the 4th quarter for job gains. Online Job Postings for Nursing and Therapy Jobs Are a Huge [+]

One of American Traveler's Recruiters, Sara Zamora, just had to share this romantic story that a travel nurse sent her on Valentine's day. Jenna S., who is on a Wisconsin nursing job, reports that it has been an unforgettable assignment -- for several reasons! Jenna writes: "I have always wanted a white Christmas because we don't get those very much around Tennessee, where I'm from. On Christmas morning here in Wisconsin, it was so beautiful outside. There was snow on the ground, and some of the biggest snowflakes I've ever seen were coming down. My boyfriend and I decided to take a drive to visit a harbor near the hospital where I'm working. We had a great view overlooking Lake Michigan. I was standing on the pier, in awe of the scenery. When I turned around to get my boyfriend's attention, he was down on one knee. He asked me to marry him and told me that I would make him the happiest man alive if I accepted. He said that he couldn't imagine another day without me. He'd been in a serious car accident a few months earlier and neither of us wanted to be apart like that -- ever [+]

Find out which Healthcare Employers Topped Fortune’s List of 100 best places to work Fortune Magazine, well-known throughout the business world, has published this year’s results for the top 100 best companies to work for; not surprisingly, it includes 11 different hospitals and health systems across the United States—this is fantastic news for a leading nurse staffing agency that fills travel nursing jobs from coast to coast, and even better news for R.N.s who come to work for us! Our healthcare staff enjoys luxury private housing and other comprehensive benefits with some of the best travel nursing locations in the country as the backdrop—and the cherry on top? American Traveler is proud to be affiliated with America’s best hospitals, ranked year after year by U.S. News & World Report and frequent spot-holders on Fortune’s annual list. Need a Quick summary of Fortune’s list? Then feast your travel nursing eyes on this! Several of the hospital systems that made the cut are in coveted U.S. travel nursing locations, spanning the sunshine state—where Florida nursing jobs employ tens of thousands of registered nurses —to the west coast, where California nursing jobs are [+]

Penny Krause, R.N. has fallen in love twice; first with her husband, and now with her travel nursing job! Her current assignment is in the southeastern part of the Wisconsin and close enough to Chicago that she can’t resist traveling there every chance she gets. Thanks to the flexibility of travel nursing jobs, Penny is in the Windy City quite a bit, and kind enough to share stories with us, of how she’s making the most of her travel nursing career, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Year Round Travel Nursing Fun! Penny and her husband spent New Year’s Eve on Chicago’s Navy Pier, watching a fantastic fireworks display. The pier is a place, says Penny, that is absolutely beautiful at Christmastime, especially with its indoor skating rink—and Chicago—is known for their deep dish pizzas, ethnic eateries, galleries and nightlife. And, Penny tells us, they are also looking forward to this summer when they can attend a Cubs game in the famous Wrigley Field. For Penny, it’s just a 20 minute drive or short trip on the Metro from her Wisconsin travel nursing job to reach Chicago, and once she’s there, a mere $18 [+]

Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy Treatments Get the Facts on the Penguin Cold Cap R.N.s in oncology and med/surg jobs figure prominently into the care and treatment of breast cancer survivors; keeping patients’ morale high during chemotherapy is an absolute must—and that’s why compassionate professionals in registered nurse and travel nurse jobs should prioritize keeping up with the latest in alopecia solutions, recognized worldwide. The Penguin Cold Cap is such a solution, and grabbed the interest of the healthcare community at large, recently, when its related non-profit, The Rupunzel Project, which subsidizes the cost of cold caps for women with breast cancer, was featured on Good Morning America. The reason Cold Caps are increasing in popularity; It’s good news for your patients!      Cold caps have been around for decades, but are only recently achieving success and popularity. First introduced in 1994, with FDA support pending until more studies are run on the risk of developing scalp metastasis, Penguin cold caps recently calculated a miniscule 1.1% risk. These studies were on women with cancer in the early stages, and further showed an 80 to 90% success rate among patients whose treatments allowed them to use the caps correctly.

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Top 10 healthcare employer hazards to correct in 2011 Some things in the hospital staffing blogosphere just cannot be overlooked. "Top 10 Healthcare Technology Hazards for 2011" published by Media HealthLeaders is one. This list is enough to make any healthcare employer evaluate and revaluate again patient safety standards, practitioner safeguards and equipment reliability and training. Medical research group, ECRI Institute compiled the list, say authors, to encourage healthcare employers to take preventive measures and to "formulate programs to minimize dangers." Additionally, say hospital headhunters, extra attention to hospital staffing and healthcare recruitment tactics could result in higher quality candidates, increased patient safety and a reduction in clinical errors. Standards used for the list include recall information, medical device problem reporting and investigation of  "device-related" incidents. The following includes excerpts from the list.* 1. Radiation overdose Forty healthcare employer incidents of software errors, manufacturing-required software modifications or dose calculation errors for radiotherapy systems, linear accelerators and radiation treatment planning systems occurred between July 2009 and July 2010, reports ECRI. 2. Nursing alarm fatigue Nursing alarm fatigue can happen when the number of alarms begins to overwhelm healthcare staff, causing them to modify alarm settings to reduce the number of alarms [+]