Social Media is a lot of fun. It’s ideal for sharing photos and stories with family and friends and in the travel nursing world has become invaluable in journaling exploits and networking professionally.  But caution is to be had for nurses engaging Social Media, especially in nurse jobs search and communicating in online forums.

To help working nurses maximize the use of Social Media while protecting themselves from getting stuck in a permanent nurse cyber-rut, American Traveler benefits include FREE CEU Courses. Topics include Social Networking; Putting Your Best Post Forward, plus many more educational topics of professional importance.

The goal of the course is to inform nurses about the impact social networking has on their professional image and careers. With more healthcare employers searching Social Media websites everyday for potential candidates, the last thing any nurse needs is to be found unintentionally violating patient privacy or posting controversial comments or pictures on a Facebook page.

Even if a nurse deletes or edits compromising Internet content, it’s typically already cached on a server somewhere. By using legitimate channels, employers conducting background checks and the courts can harvest it, experts say.

“Taken in the wrong context, content posted to the Internet can do irreparable damage to a nurse career,” said American Traveler Clinical Liaison, Deb Bacurin, RN.

Learn More about the Social Media CE course – talk too an American Traveler consultant to learn how you can take this course for free. Call us at 800-884-8788

Related blog about CEU for travel nurses

Liability for nurses engaging Social Media is imminent and altogether can be unintentional. Next week American Traveler will list tips on avoiding conflict in the cyber nurse world. Your career may depend on it. Stay tuned!

It’s that time of year again! U.S. News & Report has just released its top ranking hospitals for both rehabilitative care and pediatrics—some of the names on this list are our trusted affiliates. American Traveler is proud to have staffed over 75% of the facilities ranked “AMERICA’S BEST HOSPITALS” By U.S. News & World Report.  Our nursing jobs and therapist jobs are offered nationwide and you might just find yourself working in one the America’s best hospitals!

Whether or not your workplace appeared in 2011-12 rankings, we congratulate all our R.N.s and therapists on a job well done. It was a banner year for high quality healthcare and we hope we see more of your good work in years to come.

When it comes to name recognition and prestige, PICU jobs from the Northeast to the West Coast and the Midwest region in between are HOT!   American Traveler is proud to offer Pediatric nursing jobs in a wide variety of high-paying and rewarding specialties. Call 1-800-884-8788 or apply online today for your pick of flexible nursing jobs in all 50 U.S. states. We provide comprehensive benefits and your chance to “make the list” in your nursing career this year!

It’s catching on as quickly as a smoking habit itself: more hospitals in more states putting an end to hiring registered nurse smokers. So far, Pennsylvania and Georgia, Missouri, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Texas lead the pack. Others are expected to follow.

“Hospital administrators say it’s about improving worker productivity, reducing healthcare costs and promoting healthy living,” said Clinical Account Manager, Deborah Bacurin for American Traveler Staffing Professionals, a leading provider of Florida nursing jobs.  “We’re getting more calls for travel nurse nicotine screens and the buzz nationwide is to expand the practice.”

In a readers poll conducted by media giant, Tribune Company, more than half of 522 respondents said healthcare employers should ban smoking. Thirty-nine percent answered “no way,” it’s a violation of smoker’s rights, and five percent were undecided.*

Cleveland Clinic director, Paul Turpeluk, told the New York Times** earlier in the year that his organization had received numerous requests in recent months from healthcare employers looking to transit to non-smoking environments. Cleveland Clinic stopped hiring smokers in 2007, pioneering a contagious movement to cut costs and improve employee performance. On average, smokers cost healthcare employers almost $3,400 more per worker per year for lost productivity and health care, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Though worker’s rights groups like the National Workrights Institute and American Civil Liberties Union object to smoking bans at hospitals, saying the practice discriminates against smokers and those who use “lawful products” – it’s unlikely either will win this battle, Bacurin said. There are simply too many proven health risks, including cancer and death, associated with smoking.

Join the Great American Smokeout

Every year on November 17^th, the American Cancer Society holds the Great American Smokeout, a day dedicated to encouraging smokers nationwide to quit and to live healthier lives. Now in its 36^th year, the saying for the day is “Help create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.”

While some healthcare employers will celebrate the Great American Smokeout for just one day, others will ban smoking permanently, and even more will ask for nicotine screens in travel nurse drug tests.

Want to learn more about Travel Nurse Jobs, Nursing Jobs in Florida, or other spectacular communities? Call American Traveler at 800-884-8788 or apply online today.

Read about living longer and happier as a travel nurse

American Cancer Society Guide to Quitting Smoking

*Poll: Should hospitals ban smoking? Sun-sentinel October 18, 2011. Results not scientific.

**A. G. SULZBERGER Hospitals Shift Smoking Bans to Smoker Ban, New York Times, February 10, 2011.

What will nursing education look like in the future? Beginning this fall, The National Simulation Study (NSS) aims to find out. Researchers and volunteer participants spanning 10 different U.S. schools are familiarizing nursing students with SimMan, METIman, and Noelle with Newborn Hal; not actors but high-fidelity mannequins, with chests that rise and fall. Studies find that many nursing students prefer this to the traditional clinical experience of live patients. Just click on the Meet the Sims link to read more about why they appeal to faculty and students alike.

In Sim settings, nursing students make decisions and see the results without posing risk to a living person, as well as better predict how the patient will respond to care. The NSS study also revealed that Sim patients allow students to fully take on the role of a nurse, and that faculty like the option of role playing a doctor—or even a member of the patient’s family.

If you’re in med/surg nursing jobs you may know why simulation training is catching on like this. Using a med/surg environment as a clinical training site is a challenge, as the number of nursing students the faculty supervise impede the ideal clinical experience; it’s much the same in pediatric units where more nursing students continue to receive Sim training to eliminate risk. With all its advantages, hospital employers predict that simulation training is here to stay.

Video – NCSBN National Simulation Study Overview

American Traveler Reports the Latest Healthcare Trends, Offers Superior R.N. Jobs

Nursing students in the NSS study are evaluated for clinical competency and judgment, better preparing them for the PBDS test most healthcare employers give upon hire. Click here to read more about this important nursing test. Know that we report on trends, gadgets and technologies that are improving hospitals nationwide, like the mobile vans that will travel to schools and hospitals offering simulation training, and centers. It’s the shape of things to come in nursing education. You heard it here first!

A premier staffing agency, we welcome registered nurses with a minimum of 12 months acute care clinical experience, and urge you to learn more by liking us on Facebook. Remember that once you fill out an online application, it’s easy to return and update your skills in our database. Before you know it, a recruiter will be calling with travel nurse job opportunities from coast to coast. It’s a chance to reap the rewards of referral bonuses, as well as free private housing and other amazing benefits. Who needs Sim City when you could be working in the real life city of your dreams? Call 1-800-884-8788 or apply online today!

If you enjoy technology, you’ve often heard “there’s an app for that.” Well, get ready to hear it again. Registered nurses and their female patients will be heartened to know that, now, there’s a free app for tracking the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer. It is easy to upload, view and work with this app on their smart phone or iPads—just click on the Ovarian Cancer Symptom Diary App to register.

Once that’s done, you’ll notice the color of the app’s interface: a tranquil crystal blue; just like the ribbon for National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in May, observed by American Traveler every Spring. Like the OC National Alliance, we’re eager to increase awareness on a cancer that has been called “the silent killer”; yet with as many as 21,000 women diagnosed with this disease every year, we cannot afford to be silent, or unknowledgeable. Please take the time to click on our related blogs about healthcare technologies and gadgets, doing their part to increase patient survival rates in the face of ovarian cancer, and wide range of illnesses.

R.N.s Will Love this Smart Phone App Because…

The stand-out feature on the ovarian cancer app is its ability to track symptoms on the day to day, and get an alert if the symptoms’ persistence warrants a visit to the doctor for further testing. Because ovarian cancer symptoms, i.e. frequent urination, difficulty eating and abdominal pain mimic a host of other illnesses, the app helps women create a consistent and more helpful report for the doctor. Users can create personal risk profiles, email full symptom reports, and update the account by phone.

Get a full tour of the app by watching the video below; hosted by a 24-year ovarian cancer survivor.

Use Your Smart Phone to Apply For A Groundbreaking Nursing Career!

We don’t have to remind our RN travel nurses and other healers on the nursing career path that knowledge is power. Take the short time required to register for the free Ovarian Cancer app today; a few minutes spent there may be worth a lifetime down the road. You can do it all on your phone! Dial 1-800-884-8788 or apply online for groundbreaking nursing careers offering free healthcare as part of a generous benefits package. We have opportunities in all 50 U.S. States! But no matter where you go as a compassionate R.N. or travel therapist, listen to your body and continue caring, just this well, for your patients and yourselves.

In a recent New York Times article entitled: “When the Nurse Wants to Be Called ‘Doctor’ ” author Gardiner Harris emphasizes the modern day struggle that exists over the growing number of registered nurses achieving a doctorate of nursing practice (DNP) degree and introducing themselves in a clinical setting as ‘Doctor.’

In the article, Dr. Roland Goertz, Chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said nurses who do this can confuse patients. It’s a misuse of the term, he said.

President of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Dr. Kathleen Potempa, doesn’t see it that way. She told Harris the nursing doctorate is about staying current and advancing in the practice, not competing with MDs.

“Professionals who achieve that academic level of education are entitled to be called doctor,” said Deborah Bacurin RN, Clinical Coordinator for American Traveler, a leading healthcare staffing firm. “With advancements in healthcare education and a system growing in complexity, we will see this issue either dissolve or be resolved.  Nurses are all about delivering safe and effective patient care.”

Richard Hader, PhD and Chief Nursing Officer for Meridian Health, shares a similar view – professionals who have earned a practice doctorate have the right to be called doctor. It comes with the territory after achieving a higher level of academic performance.

“The public will need to be educated on the fact that doctor is no longer used exclusively for professors or physicians—it’s a term used to denote excellence in academic achievement in a chosen profession,” Hader writes.*

Though terminal degrees and doctorates are commonplace in academia and across math, science and arts disciplines, nurses and doctors face a unique situation: generations of patients who for more than a century have called doctor, “Doctor…  and nurse, “Nurse…”

Harris poses the question: Do nurses have the right to introduce themselves as doctors if they achieve a DNP or terminal equivalent in another profession, such as economics, business or biology? How about a Physical Therapist who earns a DPT (Doctorate Physical Therapy)?

With DNPs growing in numbers and more states adopting laws that grant nurse practitioners the ability to diagnose, treat and prescribe – all without doctor’s consent – public awareness, no doubt, will happen quickly. Presently almost half of all U.S. states allow nurses to practice without a physician’s supervision or consent.

“It’s just a matter of time before DNPs become the norm and the argument over titles moot,” Bacurin said, adding that the number of DNPs has doubled in the past ten years and the doctorate soon to grow into the minimum educational requirement for certain nurse specialties.

Nurses chiming in to an active online nurse forum at allnurses.com generally agree that nurses earning doctorates have the right to use the doctor title, as long as they introduce themselves to patients clearly by the role they play on a patient’s healthcare team.

Still, seven states prohibit nurses from identifying themselves as ‘Dr.’ if they indeed are not a bona fide medical doctor: Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Oregon. Moreover, the American Medical Association (AMA) recently lobbied against 28 states proposing liberal nurse practitioner laws, claiming such laws degrade patient safety and result in a lower standard of care.

What do patients think?

In a survey published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing aimed at assessing patient views on care, patients saw doctors and nurses in two distinct roles. Patients said they preferred doctors for medical aspects of care, but for routine care, education and family support, patients liked nurses. Survey respondents indicated no problem distinguishing nurses from doctors or with confusing DNPs with MDs.

The debate over ‘Dr. Nurse’ has been long and will likely continue as federal and state laws aimed at universal healthcare and lowering costs put more ‘doctor duties’ in the hands of DNPs. It’s unlikely the AMA lobby will go quietly into the night as it becomes easier for nurses to practice independently and grow a ‘nurse share’ of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, a major concern of the lobby.

Are you a DNP interested in a permanent or traveling nurse position? Or perhaps you are looking for corporate nurse careers? American Traveler staffs top hospitals and nurse-managed clinics in all 50 States with travel nurses and more! Call 1-800-884-8788 or Apply online today.

Related blogs

• Effective Patience Care
• Doctor of Nursing (DNP)

*Hader is quoted in a May 2010 edition of Nursing Management

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 current approaches to treating runners. Dennis reports that Dr. Davis’ class on the “Barefoot Debate” triggered a lively discussion. Changes in Medicare regulations were also a frequent topic of conversation among physical therapists and healthcare employers alike.

In addition to sessions that focused on treatment and practice, there were also presentations on legal issues and payment policies, along with exhibitors demonstrating new orthopedic and administrative technologies.

Many of the attendees who Dennis and Kimberly talked to were curious to know exactly what is a travel therapist and how travel therapy jobs might enhance their careers.

Kimberly put it this way, “PT Travel jobs are a great way to try before you buy.” What if you think you might enjoy working in a particular area of the country, but you’re not 100% sure?  Before you pull up stakes and make what could be a huge commitment, you can try out a new location with a traveling physical therapy job.

And if everything goes well, employers often extend positions beyond the original assignment length. In fact, many make offers of permanent employment. But if you still think there’s something better out there for you … no harm, no foul. At American Traveler, PT’s have an extensive array of travel jobs from which to choose.

Dennis and Kimberly also found many conference participants were interested in American Traveler’s tax advantage plan. Besides offering compensation that is often above and beyond that of full-time staff positions, travel therapy jobs can provide even more take-home pay through the tax advantage plan.

And, no surprise, one of Dennis and Kimberly’s most popular talking points was who would win American Traveler’s iPad 2 raffle,  held at the close of the conference. The lucky winner was Melina A., a physical therapist with three years’ experience who’s looking to travel. We wish her much happy surfing, of the digital kind.

Conferences like the CPTA also attract physical therapy students and recent grads who are looking to get a better understanding of what “real working life” is like. In search of more information about graduate employment, several students at the CPTA wanted to know if American Traveler worked with new grads and with students who are about to graduate. The answer is a resounding, “Yes! American Traveler places new grad hires in permanent and contract positions.” Travel therapy is a particularly attractive option for recent grads who want to try out different locales, different practice concentrations or types of physical therapy facilities, to see which suits them best.

It’s always energizing and educational to connect with the physical therapists we work with, whether they’re seasoned practitioners or professionals who are just starting out. But there’s no need to wait for the next conference; feel free to contact us at  800-884-8788 if you have any questions about your physical therapy career.

Like the idea of living in Long Beach after the conference ends? Or Sacramento? Or Monterey? California physical therapist jobs with American Traveler could be a great way to sample the west coast lifestyle.

Many healthcare employers are planning to increase the use of supplemental labor as a means of filling critical RN jobs with travel nurses, boosting nurse quality and reducing nurse staffing costs. Hospitals report the rapid hire rates of travel nurses can trim overall labor costs and save organizations time. The hiring trend for travel nurse jobs remains positive, with more growth expected.

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 jobs rise to the top for nurse job seekers and travel therapists looking to maximize salaries,” said Hull.

As hospitals and healthcare employers regroup in the face of economic recovery, highly skilled temporary RNs and therapists are being utilized to maximize patient care efficiencies – fueling demand for travelers. Salaries for travel nurses and therapists can be 20 percent higher and benefits such as free private housing, free health insurance and a company matched 401(k) result in significant lifestyle advantages, in turn attracting higher quality caregivers to employers’ doorsteps.

With healthcare reform promising to flood the healthcare system with more than 40 million newly insured patients over the next four years, thousands of nursing and therapist jobs will be created. Hospitals and healthcare employers will source a mix of permanent and temporary RNs and therapists and staffing agencies will be on the lookout for highly skilled caregivers with competitive credentials.

How do your qualifications and experience stack up?

Take a moment to browse available therapist jobs in parts of the U.S. you may want to explore. Then call 800.884.8788 with any questions or click on Travel Nursing Job & Travel Therapy Job Questions to learn more.

American Traveler is proud to staff rewarding nursing jobs and therapy jobs in hospitals, outpatient care centers and clinics in all 50 U.S. States—don’t miss your chance to be more than just a spectator in this upward trend for healthcare jobs across the board. Call 1-800-884-8788 or apply online today for the perfect springboard to launch your nursing career!

Clinical Resource Manager for American Traveler, Deborah Bacurin, said there’s an uptick at her agency for Med Surg jobs certified in ACLS. Though not all hospitals require Med/Surg nurses to be ACLS Certified, more hospitals are asking for it.

“The more certifications a travel nurse has, the easier it is to place them,” Bacurin said. “It shows they’re interested in furthering their education and advancing their nurse career.”

The American Heart Association has found that patients in cardiac arrest have a 6.4 percent better chance of survival with ACLS than with conventional CPR. Hospitals and healthcare employers are finding that Med Surg nurses and allied health professionals certified in ACLS, PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) and TNCC (Trauma Nurse Core Course) add value to healthcare staff and foster an environment of patient safety and care excellence.

In addition to FREE deluxe housing and FREE health insurance, Travel nursing jobs at American Traveler include FREE unlimited Continuing Education Units, so nurses can keep professional credentials up to date and maintain their marketability in a competitive healthcare staffing marketplace.

To learn more about the benefits of travel nursing jobs or to get a recommendation on ACLS courses for Med Surg nurses or other documents for travel nurse jobs, call American Traveler Staffing Professionals at 800.884.8788 or apply online today.