Find Out Why People Are Excited! For PTs, National Physical Therapy Month—an event celebrated every October—makes Fall a stand-out season in healthcare, with reminders of how important maintaining our physical strength, mobility and, ultimately, our independence is in a life well lived.  With over 33,000 DPT graduates in 2010 and more graduating from accredited schools each year, physical therapists are well poised to become top earners in a field Time Magazine calls the sixth most recession proof career in the country! Now in full swing, National Physical Therapy Month is touting its considerable benefits on the APTA site, with statistics and talking points designed for the media, public and the physical therapists who deliver a healthier alternative to surgery and medication; it’s a message that resonates with millions. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting a sharp 27% increase in physical therapy careers between now and 2016. This Year’s NPTM Theme Inspires Physical Therapists to Get Moving! A theme of sports injury prevention across the lifespan has inspired PTs across the nation to get moving, promoting physical therapy’s benefits in the lobbies of hospitals, out-patient centers and therapy clinics from coast [+]

California Physical Therapy Association Conference Report: The inside scoop on our iPad 2 raffle winner, the 'Barefoot Debate', Recent PT School Grads and the Tax Advantage Plan Located just 20 miles south of Los Angeles, nestled along one of the west coast’s most picturesque waterfronts, Long Beach is a pretty sweet place to catch up on the latest news in the physical therapy field. Conventions like the CPTA are a great resource for practitioners seeking to connect with other PT’s and learn more about the latest developments in the industry. And conferences are also a great opportunity to expand your employment horizons and think about a PT career in a new way. As part of American Traveler’s program to reach out to allied health professionals, Dennis Grandic, PT, Clinical Resource Manager and Account Manager for Allied Health -- and Kimberly Mayhue, Account Manager -- two of American Traveler’s key contacts for allied health job seekers -- attended the recent California Physical Therapy Association convention in Long Beach. The 2011 CPTA featured noteworthy physical therapy experts like John Meyer PT, DPT, OCS, FAFS and Irene Davis PT, PhD who, respectively, led classes in Intraarticular Hip Pathology and [+]

Meet Dennis, a native New Yorker, with a Master’s of Science in Physical Therapy and an MBA in Healthcare Administration. A native New Yorker, Dennis had a ten-year physical therapy career in Manhattan. Dennis shares his tips on why he choose to leave his permanent position and take a travel physical therapy job. Dennis shares, "After working ten years in physical therapy pediatric and cardiac rehab, the fast pace lifestyle of New York was exciting, but I was starting to wonder what else was out there. I was also finishing up with my business degree, and thinking about the next stage in my career. At that point I decided on a travel therapy job. My brother and his family live in South Florida, so taking a physical therapy job that put me close to family — while trying out a new clinical setting — sounded like a great fit." Like many travel jobs, Dennis' three-month assignment was extended to almost a year.  Many travel therapy jobs work out so well for the therapist and for the facility that everybody agrees to keep things going; some even become permanent. After ten years as a practicing [+]

Legislation Aims to Help Physical Therapists Pay Back High Cost of Education Loans In June almost 1,000 physical therapists met on Capitol Hill to lobby in favor of legislation that advances the profession. They were lobbying in support of the  Physical Therapist Student Loan Repayment Eligibility Act of 2011, which would make physical therapists eligible for repayment of their student loans under the National Health Service Corps (NHSC)  Loan Repayment Program. The bill forgives up to $30,000 in student loans per year, for a maximum of 2 years, in exchange for service in a disadvantaged area. The Loan Repayment Act provides incentive for physical therapists to practice in certain rural and urban communities, chiefly by easing the educational debts of physical therapists. The hope is that some of these therapists may continue to practice in these locations, once their NHSC service is complete. How to Speak Out You can track the status of this bill here. If you would like to weigh in on this legislation (H.R. 1426/S. 975), you can email your Congressional representatives directly or through the APTA’s Legislative Action Center . Travel Therapy Jobs - Managing Educational Expenses Some physical therapy grads have looked [+]

Earn $1,000 Referral Bonus and Up to $3,000 Completion Bonus for Travel Nurse Jobs and Travel Therapy Jobs Travel nurses and travel therapists have the best of both worlds; a great career that allows them to help others while earning top pay and a chance to travel and work at different locations throughout the United States. As a travel nurse or travel therapist, you get a lot of perks and benefits with each assignment, such as free private furnished housing, tax advantage plan, matched 401 (k) plan, free group health, dental and life insurance, and bonuses! Now, in addition to the regular referral bonus American Traveler offers our nurses and therapists, we are also offering a limited time referral bonus of $1,000. We are looking for: RNs in the following specialties: OR, L&D, PICU or NICU Allied: Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists

In addition to the $1,000 referral bonus, we are also offering a completion bonus of up to $3000.00 on these specialties. Must start by Sept 30, 2011 to qualify for bonus. For more referral bonus and completion bonus details, call us at 800-884-8788 and ask for your consultant. Don't wait any longer, send your [+]

Employers continue to leverage temporary staff to meet increased business demands. One of the nation’s largest online job boards announced last month that 29 percent of employers responding to a recent employment survey said they hired temporary workers in the first quarter of 2011. Twenty six percent planned to do so in the second quarter, according to a March 31, press release. Though the survey doesn’t specifically address healthcare staffing, survey results come from a broad spectrum of more than 2,800 hiring managers and 5,600 workers. "A good indication that travel nursing jobs and travel therapy jobs are picking up," said Mary Kay Hull, from American Traveler, a leading supplier of travel nurses and therapists to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient rehab, ambulatory surgery and home health providers. Trending was most positive for companies with 500 or more employees and least promising for companies with 50 employees or less. Hiring was hottest in the West and coolest in the South. Nurse job pay, as indicated by survey findings, is expected to change little in 2011. Fewer than half of employers planned to issue pay raises. Of those, only 15 percent anticipated increases beyond cost of living. "Here’s where travel nursing [+]

If you want to practice in the state of Colorado - You need to and act on this important information prior to April 1st Colorado is now one of about six U.S. states requiring the registration and licensing of surgical technologists and surgical assistants. The new law, effective April 1, 2011, will help ensure hospitals and surgery centers do not inadvertently hire surgical technologists with a criminal background or with a history of jeopardizing patient safety. Additionally, the legislation will allow employers to share information with other potential healthcare employers concerning impaired work function, drug diversion, patient abuse and violent crimes. The legislation is significant, said State Representatives Debbie Benefield and Sara Gagliardi, drafters of the new law. "Our bill will require surgical technicians to be registered with the state before working with patients. Employers must verify with the state that a prospective employee's [surgical technologists and technicians, surg assistants] registration is in good standing before he/she can start working in an operating room. Additionally, if a surgical technologist or assistant is fired or disciplined, the employer must report this information to the state within two weeks," lawmakers told DenverPost.com when drafting their bill. If you have [+]

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 [+]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has good news for America’s unemployed healthcare workers. Of the 19,200 jobs add to employment rosters in November, 8,000 were hospital jobs and 7,400 were reported in ambulatory care settings. Nursing and residential healthcare jobs increased by 3,800. Starting in October, leading travel nurse agency, American Traveler, saw a spike in monthly nurse job postings and allied health positions, indicating an uptick in client side demand, said a company official, bringing to an end the worst two years in healthcare employment in over a decade. Of the Bureau’s published list of 30 occupations projected to have the most job growth through 2018, registered nurses, therapists and physicians rise to the top, along with home health aides, personal care attendants and nurses aides. Though the increase in healthcare jobs promises to put thousands of caregivers back to work, job seekers face extreme competition, as nurses and therapists laid off during the recession look to get their jobs back. American Traveler has staffed over 75% of the USA's best hospitals as rated by US News & World Report. Want to learn more about available nursing jobs and therapist positions at American Traveler? [+]

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 [+]