A Delaware Travel Nurse Impresses a Patient So Much He Reaches Out to Give a Great Review! This is April’s Story When American Traveler sat down with April S., R.N. to discuss her rave patient review, she revealed that she had comforted not just a young patient suffering from AIDS, but his Mom and Dad as well, and it was the parents of this 22 year-old who called American Traveler to make sure the message got back to April. This is what she recounted to us about her experience: American Traveler: We’re so glad to have an opportunity to ask you about this great nurse/patient experience. We understand that it happened during your first travel nursing job, correct? April: Yes. I’ve been an R.N. for a very long time, but had never worked in a travel nursing job before. I’m originally from Mississippi and being in Delaware was a big change for me. On the day I met this special patient, the hospital sent me to the ER because they were short-staffed. I’ve been in Telemetry my whole nursing career and was a little bit nervous in the frantic pace of the ER, [+]

To meet the needs of the current and projected state of healthcare, The White House has earmarked millions in federal spending to expand the nation's health workforce capacity and distribution of primary care providers. The following are positive outcomes of these White House initiatives, effecting registered nurses all over the country. Continued support and funding for the Title VIII nursing workforce development program Advancement in the nursing sciences through funding of the National Institute of Nursing Research A stronger commitment to ensuring all Americans have access to high-quality care, by increasing access to nurse managed health centers as well as primary care health providers Reduction of costs by decreasing the need for more invasive treatment, preventable through early and continuous follow-up care, managed or overseen by care coordinators/navigators; this is a new process and nursing position that is a result of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act�. Promoting the importance of advanced educational degrees in nursing that bolster the R.N.’s role in the country’s evolving healthcare system. Ensure that survey figures released by The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) continue to rise. (According to the AACN, enrollment in all types of professional nursing [+]

Read This if You Are Among the R.N.s and Therapists Looking to Make a Change What registered nurse or therapist wouldn’t hope for a scenario like this: living close to work, great views from private luxury housing, and seamless transitions from one healthcare job to the next, with appreciative patients and colleagues along the way, all helping to create memories you’ll never forget. According to CareerBuilder, more than a third of healthcare workers plan to look for a new job in 2013; this is a sharp rise from last year. More than 34% of those surveyed plan to stretch their hunt for ideal nursing or therapy careers into the 2-year range—and an overwhelming portion of those (82%) say that they would be open to a brand new experience, given the right opportunity. And that’s what travel nurses can expect: a brand new experience. They are helping pave the way in a healthcare system that is evolving, thanks to healthcare and Medicare reform. In fact, it’s travel nurses who are helping bridge the gap between the number of R.N.s needed, and the number of staff there are to meet the challenges in American healthcare today.  [+]

It’s Hurricane Season, June 1st—November 30th! Here’s What You Can Do to Prepare For many healthcare professionals in nursing and therapy jobs across the United States, hurricane season registers as a far-away news story; however, for those living near the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes and tropical storms pose a very real threat—especially as Hurricane Season gets underway. National Hurricane Preparedness Week, May 26 through June 1st, is a good time to take stock of emergency resources in your home and community. These are a few guidelines for setting up an emergency plan. Build up Your Water Supply: A gallon of water per person, per day is recommended. Having a 2 week supply of bottled water on hand is highly recommended. In preparation for a serious storm, it’s a good idea to clean and fill your bath tub, in case a power loss cuts water off. You can use the water to wash up, as well as flush toilets. Make Sure you Have Plenty of Food and a Can Opener: A supply of non-perishable food that could get a family through at least 5 days is recommended. Consider canned nuts, beans, fruits, vegetables, soft [+]

The healthcare landscape is changing, in part because of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), patient-centered medical homes and other initiatives coming from the Affordable Health Care Act; these new jobs are about community-based nursing, and take advantage of skills R.N.s already have, giving them plenty of room to expound on that expertise. In ACO, registered nurses assume responsibility for a patient population and its advocacy; in this emerging role, RN’s educate and engage the patient to a point where some view it as a perfect storm of medical science and the psychology of nursing—a smart move in the wake of healthcare reform creating the need for more care at a higher quality, and lower cost. Nursing jobs that make up a successful ACO are primarily case management jobs, growing by leaps and bounds as technological advances improve patients’ experiences and clinical outcomes. Travel nurses are using a blend of clinical expertise, financial and resource management skills, to earn top paying nursing jobs across the country. These R.N.s are skilled in data analytics, in addition to ensuring patients take prescribed medications, follow through with appointments and follow treatment guidelines. This results in fewer readmissions to the [+]

2013 Theme: Delivering Quality and Innovation in Patient Care As a registered nurse among some 3.1 million R.N.s in America, you can always count on National Nurses Week as a time that brings pleasant surprises to the workplace—like a guest speaker who is a big advocate for nurses, commemorative luncheon or party, or other appreciative gesture made by your hospital employer. While it’s a time for some well-deserved celebration, countess registered nurses look forward to this week in May for its outreach potential as well. Whether it’s nominating a colleague for a special award this week, or winning honor and recognition personally, National Nurses Week is something to look forward to, as hospitals across the United States focus not just on thanking hard working R.N.s in staffing jobs and travel nursing jobs, but on patient advocacy and innovation in times of healthcare reform and a nursing shortage. Besides wearing an official "RN Pin" this week, these are some other things nurses can do to celebrate the profession in ways highlighted by the American Nursing Association. Be an innovator: Innovative thinking helps patients find solutions to their most troublesome problems; innovation can also reduce fall rates [+]

Registered nurses make up the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, which is why shortage predictions from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)* point to a potential crisis. The BLS is projecting a huge deficit in qualified R.N.s to fill nursing jobs between now and 2025. The reasons for this are attributed, not just to the surge in Baby Boomers seeking medical care, but in the imminent retirement of the nurses treating them.

Over the next 20 years, the average age of the R.N. will increase and the size of the nursing workforce plateau, as many nurses retire. The hope for filling these vacant positions is that nurses coming into them have strong clinical backgrounds, in graduate and baccalaureate programs in accredited nursing schools. As it stands now, many American colleges are struggling to expand enrollment in nursing programs, and are getting help in collaborative efforts made by company partnerships, grants, and legislative initiatives focused on hiring more qualified nursing staff—enough to meet the needs of the current population. 30 million plus Americans have been added to insurance roles as healthcare reform takes effect. BLS’ Employment Projections (2010-2020) released in February [+]

How Brain Mapping Research Could Improve Patient Outcomes & Lead to More Jobs Healthcare professionals who work with patients following a traumatic brain injury or stroke will be excited to learn all they can about the BRAIN initiative, a 10-year-project that President Obama unveiled this April. Congress is deciding, sequester or no, whether to grant $100 million for this groundbreaking research initiative; it would begin in 2014, with the goal of creating new healthcare jobs and better treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism and wide spectrum of brain disorders. The news from Capitol Hill comes on the heels of Mr. Obama’s February State of the Union speech, in which “Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies� (BRAIN) is expected to help neuroscientists understand how we think, how we remember, and how we learn. BRAIN is a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation, as well as private partnership with organizations like the Allen Institute for Brain Science—with backing like this, BRAIN is sure to take the healthcare industry by storm, just as mapping the human genome did last year. Obama’s BRAIN mapping project differs [+]

Healthcare Initiatives and Talking Points in the Face of Cuts Since its creation in 1965, Medicare has long been one of the most beloved federal programs in the U.S. Now that program benefits are on the table for deep cuts, healthcare professionals and the patients they care for are optimistic that the Obama Administration and Congress can achieve small cuts to Medicare—just 2% across the board. Current healthcare reform proposes $500 billion in Medicare savings by exempting older patients from cuts, and relying on the lobbying and advertising clout of healthcare employers.  Endeavors such as these have led to Medicare Advantage plans that offer, in some states, programs like “Silver Sneakers� that encourage seniors to use the YMCA gym, free of cost. Other Medicare Friendly Advice to Pass on to Patients For registered nurses specializing in geriatrics, or for those who work in skilled nursing facilities, the state of Medicare seems fragile; with 81 million seniors expected to enroll by 2030, healthcare initiatives are becoming more popular. According to the CDC, heart disease and stroke, costs the United States $312.6 billion each year in health care services, medications and lost productivity. In the lifestyles of those who [+]

 "Running into seasonal Maui residents like Steve Tyler is just another day in the life of this travel nurse!"

When nurses consider joining forces with a healthcare staffing agency that could land them in any one of the fifty U.S. states, visions of Hawaii might not be the first thing that occurs to them; yet it is a vision that became OR nurse, Kim J.’s reality when she began her travel nurse job in Maui in the Fall of 2012. American Traveler got in touch with Kim, so she could share her story about living and loving life in one of the world’s most enchanting places. AT: Hi Kim! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Kristin Zandee, your travel nurse consultant said that when asked if you’d be open to chatting with us you said, "Why not? I am only sitting on the beach listening to the waves lap on the shore today." Do you have lots of days like that? Kim: Yes, this Hawaii travel nursing jobs has been wonderful enough that I just started my second assignment here in Maui. I work [+]