R.N.s and physical therapists who work for American Traveler take every precaution to avoid the flu. They know their first and best defense is to get a flu shot or nasal spray. Like most top tier staffing agencies, our healthcare professionals must show proof of vaccination once a year, and are glad to provide patients with everything they need to know about protecting themselves during flu season, October through December. Spreading the word about the importance of an annual flu shot means you’re in good company with the Center for Disease Control. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months-old and up get vaccinated. The 2011-2012 flu strain is identical to last year’s, including the H1N1 virus; that means if you were vaccinated last year, you need only receive 1 shot this go around. Click here to find flu shots near you and be sure to post a comment on our Facebook page when you’ve done your good deed for the day! American Traveler Encourages Flu Prevention Tactics For R.N.s Some controversy has surrounded mandating the flu shot for medical personnel. Interested Registered Nurses can read about this on a related healthcare [+]

Dennis Grandic, our Allied Health Clinical Resource Manager, attended the NYPTA conference back in October and gave us the updates about Jeanette B., the winner of American Traveler's iPad drawing. She's a Physical Therapist with 6 years of experience who's looking to become a travel therapist. We wish her continued success in her career and hope she enjoys the many benefits of her new iPad and the excitment of her new travel PT job's career! Picture to the right - Dennis G. and iPad Winner Jeanette B. Now, for all of  us that attented the NYPTA conference, remember the snow that hit us during the conference? That got us thinking about a warm-weather escape plan -- we've got some terrific physical therapy positions available in California and Arizona right now. If you've visited either state in the winter months, you're probably a fan already.

Check Out These Top Jobs in Sunny Spots

Specialty City State Apply PT » Prescott Valley AZ Quick Apply PT » Yuma AZ Quick Apply PT » Hot Sierra Vista AZ Quick Apply PT » Hanford CA Quick Apply PT » Hayward CA Quick Apply PT » Burlingame CA Quick Apply PT » Los Angeles CA Quick Apply You can register with American Traveler at any time. There's no obligation; once you register, you'll receive periodic updates from us with news, articles, blogs, research, [+]

Raffle winner Melina with her new iPad2 The winner of American Traveler's iPad2 raffle at the California Physical Therapy Association Conference. Melina A. writes, "I was super excited to hear that I had won an iPad2 at the CPTA conference in Long Beach! American Traveler has been great in helping me learn more about traveling physical therapy jobs and the vast opportunities that await my future. I would like to thank them for their professionalism and for being there to answer all of my questions." To which we reply, "You're very welcome!" American Traveler's goal is to help advance physical therapy careers any way we can. Melina is a PT with three years' experience, who is looking to broaden her career horizons with a physical therapy travel job. Visit our featured travel therapy jobs listings anytime to browse our always-updated hot rehab therapy  jobs. [+]

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 [+]

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 [+]

Answering calls for faster, more convenient service in an outpatient setting, hospital systems, big and small, are branching out into the outpatient surgery business. Margins on outpatient surgeries are superior to inpatient counterparts – sometimes by as much as 20 percent, which could lead to a spike in travel nurse jobs in hospital-based surgery centers in select markets. Growing from about 240 outpatient surgery centers in 1983 to about 5,000 today, the Wall Street Journal reports that 65 percent of all surgeries in the U.S. don’t require an overnight hospital stay, compared to 16 percent in 1980. Minimally invasive techniques, improvements in anesthesia, smaller incisions and less blood loss have all enabled outpatient surgery to gain a stronghold at U.S. hospitals. In addition, financial incentives for hospitals to shift to less complex surgeries amid rising health care costs and changes in Medicare and insurance reimbursements has encouraged the development of both freestanding outpatient surgery centers, as well as hospital-based surgery centers in all 50 states. Opportunities for operating room techs, med/surg nurses, ER nurses and advanced nurse practitioners are expected to be abundant in coming years, as in addition to medically needed surgeries, the popularity of [+]