As much fun as Social Media has become, it can ruin your nurse career if you’re not careful. By following a few simple rules when conversing in online nurse forums and posting on Facebook, Twitter and others, nurses can freely enjoy Social Media and avoid common pitfalls that lead to conflict. Don’t post personal information. Outside of a basic online Profiles nurses use to network with employers, it is best to remain anonymous when participating in cyber discussion groups and posting on public and private Internet sites.  Anonymity can be effectively accomplished by utilizing avatars and clever pen names. Avoid using your real name (including just your first name) or actual thumbnail photos of you. Don’t post pictures or names of patients. Adhering to patient privacy and disclosure laws as mandated by state and federal governments (HIPPA) is paramount to avoiding conflict and liability as a nurse on the Internet. Avoid posting information that can potentially reveal who a patient is or where they’re being treated.  When sharing clinical information and experiences with others on the Internet; be sure not to refer to “a patient,� “the patient,� or “patient x.� In [+]

Get romantic travel nurse ideas and other "hearty" facts here RN's in the nation’s best travel nurse jobs are setting a great example for colleagues and patients by showing their hearts are in the right place. On February 4th many of them will observe "Wear Red Day" to help raise awareness on stroke and heart attack prevention. But every good travel nurse knows this isn't enough. Throughout the calendar year, it's important to raise cardiac health awareness and practice what we preach by living an active, smoke-free lifestyle and eating right. A Travel Nurse Career Makes Your Heart Fuller! Valentine's Day has amazing potential for RN's and therapists in featured travel nurse jobs from coast to coast. Leave your heart in San Francisco in high-paying California nursing jobs, or get cozy for the rest of the winter in New England nursing jobs. Don’t like the cold? Catch a romantic sunset in Florida nursing jobs—no matter where you go on the nursing career path, when it’s with American Traveler you decide the length of your assignment and work closely with our recruiters to find ideal free private housing in the city of your dreams. If you need inspiration, click on these related Valentine's Day stories:[+]

FREE CEU Course for Working Travel Nurses Helps Keep RNs Safe in Cyberspace 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 [+]

Nurse jobs and therapist jobs will be delivered right to your mobile phone, giving you the opportunity to apply for jobs even faster! Sign up for email alerts and get them on your mobile phone. You won't need to be sitting at your computer to view the latest opening for travel nurse jobs, physical therapy jobs, occupational therapy jobs and more. Select your specialty below and get started now! Nursing Jobs Sign up for ER Nurse Jobs Sign up for Labor & Delivery Nurse jobs Sign up for Med Surg Nurse jobs Sign up for NICU Nurse jobs Sign up for Operating Room Nurse jobs Sign up for PICU Nurse jobs Sign up for Critical Care Nurse jobs Sign up for Telemetry Nurse jobs Therapist Jobs Sign up for Physical Therapist jobs Sign up for PTA jobs Sign up for Occupational Therapist jobs Sign up for COTA jobs [+]

Meet Cindy Burbatt, R.N. and her Pets American Traveler had the pleasure of checking in with a new member of our travel nursing staff, Cindy Burbatt, R.N. who shared some of the details of her first travel nurse job in Kansas City, Missouri. We talked with Cindy on the eve of her birthday. She was full of excitement for the road trip planned the following morning, departing from North Carolina en route to the heart of the Midwest. As the mother of three grown children, Cindy decided it was the right time to change up her 16-year background as a permanent staff telemetry/med surge nurse by accepting a travel nurse job in America’s heartland. While the truck she drives may not be anything that unusual for a R.N. moving to Kansas City, one standout detail is the 17ft. long trailer attached. It accommodates her longstanding and beloved pets, George and Ash; these are Cindy’s horses, and during the car trip to Missouri they’ll be staying in farms sprinkled throughout various states—places Cindy found through an online network called Horse Motel. When they arrive in Kansas City, Cindy will take up residence in a townhome, compliments of American Traveler’s private housing arrangement. George [+]

Is your Healthcare Employer joining this year’s Great American Smokeout? 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 [+]

Everything You Need To Know and More Looks like you just landed a new travel nurse or travel therapy job. Congratulations! Your next step is to pack light and relocate to your new city. You brought your skills, bright smile and determination; your consultant at American Traveler is handling the rest, and will soon send a detailed driving route and other vital information to make your assignment worry-free and the ultimate healthcare travel job experience! Travel Nurse Housing Essentials For a complete pack list, click on up-to-date Suggestions for Completing Your Apartment, and be sure to bookmark the American Traveler Housing Tips page for future reference. Here are the basics! Kitchen: A good set of kitchen knives, complete set of cutlery, silverware tray, waste basket, coffee maker & mugs,  toaster oven, veggie peeler, can opener, cork screw, strainer, cookie sheet and frying pan. Don’t forget to pack or purchase, a dustpan and broom, and all the bowls & plates you’ll need during your travel nurse assignment. Electronics: Your important electronic possessions may include a T.V., DVR , cell phone, PC or laptop,  printer, alarm clock, iPad, stereo system. Bring all that apply, and don’t forget the phone charger, spare [+]

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.

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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, [+]

Find Out What Happens When They Come to Your Hospital 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 [+]