If your travel nursing lifestyle includes a dog, cat—even canaries—you’ll be pleased with American Traveler’s client support services, designed to accommodate the furry friend accompanying you on your travel nursing adventure. Here, we provide pet-lover tips and resources that get both of you (and in some cases, all of you!) off to a great start.

Bookmark these nurse career resources where you’ll find free pet sitter locaters and a “people with pets” directory that dishes on pet-friendly hotels, products and services. Remember that planning before the big road trip, in your travel nursing career or for any occasion, is critical. Each year approximately 100,000 dogs are injured or killed inside moving vehicles; pets may even fall from a car’s open window! Avoid potential dangers by outfitting your car with a pet carrier, big enough to let your dog or cat lie down. You can also shop for tethers that safely anchor your pet to the seat while permitting a near full range of motion—or shop crash tested dog car seats. See the kind of gadgets we’re talking about on this video.

These kinds of devices are particularly ideal for the travel nursing long haul. Say, for instance, you land the ultimate in California nursing jobs. While you’re more than ready for a travel nurse career in the Golden State, maybe you’re worried your Golden Retriever isn’t—that’s why we’re happy to point out appreciative feedback from registered nurses, who joined the American Traveler family with a pet.

Once you read these travel nurse testimonials, you’ll check your reservations at the door. These accounts describe the ease and convenience of travel nursing, where you’ll note a wagging tail, so to speak, of approval!

If you have a pet and are about to begin your travel nurse career, please read over this list. It will help you better negotiate the highways, rest stops, pit stops and gas stops you’ll encounter along the way.

Travel Nursing Do’s and Don’ts: a Pet Lover’s Guide

Travel Nursing Don’ts:

• Don’t let your pet hang his head out of the car window. Dust and debris can cause injury; some animals suffer ear infections from over exposure to wind.
• Don’t hold your pet on your lap while you are driving. It’s dangerous and distracting and may also lead to the animal being crushed by sudden deployment of an airbag.
• Don’t assume it’s okay for a pet to ride in a truck bed. Animals have been known to fly out of the backs of trucks or jump out. If they must ride this way, make sure they are in a carrier that is tied down securely.
• Don’t forget to attach your pet’s leash to a safe anchor point in the car when stopped. If your pet gets away from you, he could be bred by a stray animal or, even worse, run away for good.

Travel Nursing Do’s:

• Do book your hotels in advance, so as to be clear on whether or not pets are allowed.
• Do research the neighborhood where your new travel nurse career will take place, and have the name and number of its nearest veterinarian handy.
• Do take your pet to the vet before you depart for your travel nurse career, in order to get a bona fide health certificate, and proof of shots and or updated rabies vaccines.
• Do make sure the information on your pet’s tags is updated, so that you may be contacted right away.
• Do pack your pet a gallon supply of water from home to avoid the possibility of diarrhea; pack a cooler as well, with his favorite pet snacks and food.

We trust you won’t forget Honeybee’s toys, grooming materials and other comforts of home. Once you’re settled in your new travel nurse career, you and Toto will be saying there’s no place like a new home!  Call American Traveler at (800) 884-8788 or apply online today!

A Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree (DNP) is proof of mastery in advanced competencies, adding prestige, as well as higher earning potential to a nursing career. While registered nurses trained at the masters-level provide excellent care, significant technological advances, healthcare reform, and need for bigger and better service recovery call for a doctorate—a consensus reached by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in late 2004.

The trend mirrors what physical therapists and others in certain allied healthcare jobs have been doing for some time—taking their continued competency to the max—until it results in a doctorate. Pharmacists and psychologists made the move long ago; while their title is pronounced “doctor”, most patients understand they are not physicians.

DNPs do not complete a dissertation and the focus of their training is not as researched-focused; instead their training focuses on evaluation and use of research rather than conduct of research. Many DNPs are faculty members at teaching hospitals; whether they teach, work in leadership roles, or practice as specialists, DNPs are grabbing the attention of employers and job seekers alike, which paves the nursing career path with interesting new statistics. Take for instance, figures in DNP programs nationwide, jumping from just 70 enrollees in 2002 to more than 5,000 last year. The reason could be due, in part, to something revealed by ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioner’s Magazine in 2009: that DNP-prepared NPs earned $7,688 more than master’s-prepared NPs.

The AACN appointed a task force that determined registered nurses at the master’s level should acquire doctorate degrees by 2015. The DOCTOR OF NURSING SITE available at the AACN provides a Fact Sheet, Frequently Asked Questions page, career roadmap and tools, as well as reference materials, key curricular elements and competencies that must be present in a practice doctorate in nursing.  Of the 36+ states to offer DNP programs, the AACN highlights nursing job hotbeds in the country, with 5 or more DNP programs; suddenly Florida, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas nursing jobs are even more appealing destinations for ambitious registered nurses. If you’re a travel nurse interested in working your way toward the DNP degree, visit schools recommended by the AACN.

Recommendations regarding the DNP degree made by the AACN Task Force

The American Medical Association (AMA) stepping in and requiring all healthcare professionals, including physicians, to wear badges that clearly spell out their credentials is among the more prescient clues that DNPs are taking the nursing career path by storm. It’s important that registered nurses on the educational track for these credentials understand the recommendations brought up by the AACN Task Force.

• DNP curricula must include essential areas of content, like organization and system leadership/management, quality improvement, and utilization of technology.
• “Practice doctorate” must be used to refer to the DNP rather than “clinical doctorate”
• The DNP must be modeled after doctoral education and provide an additional option for attaining a terminal degree.
• The DNP must prepare graduates for the highest level of nursing practice beyond the initial preparation in the discipline.
• The Doctor of Nursing (ND) degree title needs to be phased out and replaced with DNP.
• RNs training to become Graduate Nurses should regard the DNP as the graduate degree for advanced nursing practice preparation, including but not limited to the four current APN roles of clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist, nurse midwife, and nurse practitioner.
• A transition period should be granted to nurses with master’s degrees, who wish to obtain the DNP, and credits given for their previous graduate study and practice experience.
• The DNP needs to be research-focused and offer additional coursework that prepares graduates to work as nurse educators.
• Practice-focused doctoral (DNP) programs need to be accredited by a nursing accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

American Traveler offers a wealth of nursing career blogsoffering guidance in the nursing career path from well-established and nationally-renowned role models in healthcare.

With a strong understanding of DNP degree on hand, registered nurses have the tools they need to build on traditional master’s programs and strive toward quality improvement, leadership and increased value inside their field. Get on track in your nursing jobs today!

Registered nurses interested in landing the best travel pediatric nursing jobs in the country—at  teaching hospitals, magnet nurse facilities and large medical centers with cutting edge PICU jobs that treat critically ill newborns—are well advised to pay attention to this Years Honor Roll for Best Children’s Hospitals.

Leading travel nurse staffing agencies put Peds nurses and NICU nurses on the map for award winning pediatric care. What about you, personally? Will your next travel nurse job be at a top ranking facility for children with life-threatening or rare conditions beyond the capabilities of most hospitals? Read on for a clearer picture of which medical centers rank the highest in nurse-patient ratios, access to specialists and top notch quality of care in every pediatric specialty.

Pediatric Nursing:  Get high ratings for nurse –patient ratio’s

The U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll distinguished the best 62 medical facilities (ranked high in at least one specialty) out of more than 5,000 hospitals reviewed— the Best Children’s Hospitals rankings are facilities that treat children with cancer, cystic fibrosis, defective hearts and more, demonstrating superior care and are rated high for surgical volume, nurse-patient ratios, programs for children with terminal or life-limiting conditions, and number of bone marrow transplant services offered.

The Best Children’s Hospitals in the United States
These top 8 healthcare providers excel in all 10 pediatric specialties, with some on the list receiving a #1 ranking in the country for a specific Peds specialty.

• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is ranked #1 for Gastroenterology.
• Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC: this hospital excels in all 10 pediatric specialties and received recognition for cutting edge approaches in treating brain tumors.
• Children’s Hospital Boston: Massachusetts nursing jobs aspire to the excellent quality of service provided at this Boston hospital, ranked #1 for 3 specialties that include kidney disorders, heart and neurosurgery
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: this hospital, located on Sunset Boulevard is known for raising millions to benefit cancer research.
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Ranked #1 in the 3 pediatric specialties of Neonatology, Diabetes &  Endocrinology and Pulmonology
• New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell: this hospital, in the heart of New York City, returns to the Honor Roll in a consistent show of excellent healthcare
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: located in Memphis, TN, St. Jude is ranked #1 in the nation for treating kids with cancer.
• St. Louis Children’s Hospital-Washington University: this hospital, founded in 1879, has provided a full range of pediatric services for generations.
• Texas Children’s Hospital: this Houston based hospital is proud of its Top #3 national ranking for pediatric heart surgeries.

American Traveler, accredited by The Joint Commission, maintains a healthy business relationship with elite institutions in healthcare, like the ones mentioned above. During the last decade, we have staffed over 75% of the best hospitals nationwide. Registered nurses looking for jobs in some of these prestigious facilities can call us at (800) 884-8788 or apply online; we’ll match your talents with the top institutions in healthcare today.

Past and present team members whose love of travel is as strong as their desire to heal patients inspire us at American Traveler. Laura Coles, R.N. is just the sort of registered nurse we’re talking about; one of our favorite travel nurses, Laura still keeps in touch. She sent our Senior Consultant Kristin Zandee a letter chock full of interesting details on what she’s been up to, working on Mercy Ships in Africa!  Laura’s fellow travel nurses are welcome at her blog, Nursing Adventures In Faith.

Kristin and the rest of us are eager for Laura to resume her travel nurse career this September. We first met Laura when she was hungry to work “just one!” travel nurse job before her Africa trip. Kristin admired Laura’s patience and positive attitude—that, coupled with 4 years experience in the ER, landed her a wonderful travel nurse assignment in Texas—a place she was reserved about at first, but ultimately fell in love with as a great first travel experience—one that lead to amazing friendships.

The Texas hospital rated Laura, all excellent, in her evaluation; they didn’t want to see her go. They must agree with our Consultant Kristin Zandee, who describes Laura Coles as “truly, of the most positive travelers I’ve ever worked with.”

Of Kristin, Laura is equally complimentary, thankful for her support. “You are my recruiter and my friend,” she said, adding how grateful she is to travel nursing for being so “open, allowing and encouraging” of foreign adventures. Laura has graciously offered to send some more Mercy Ship nurses Kristin’s way!

Africa Mercy Ship

In the meantime check out these valuable travel nursing career tips on:

• Acing Your Next Travel Nurse job
• Excelling at your RN job interview
• Balancing work and travel

And don’t be shy about writing Kristin Zandee for guidance in landing the ultimate travel nursing job!

]]> http://www.americantraveler.com/travel-nursing-blog/index.php/rn-work-at-africa-mercy-ship/feed/ 3 http://www.americantraveler.com/travel-nursing-blog/index.php/case-management-jobs-for-travel-nurses/ http://www.americantraveler.com/travel-nursing-blog/index.php/case-management-jobs-for-travel-nurses/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:30:55 +0000 Travel Nursing Career Blogger http://www.americantraveler.com/travel-nursing-blog/?p=675 The recession has created a tough environment for Americans and the businesses, institutions and non-profits that make our world go round. The healthcare industry is no exception, yet nursing case management jobs help hospitals financially, as well as promote patient advocacy and customer satisfaction that lead to saving billions of dollars, in what might have been missed billing charges or unnecessary treatments.

‘Anything’ and ‘everything’ are meaningful words for Case Mangers in travel nurse jobs; though, they are expected to wear many hats, most CMs welcome the challenge of residing at the nerve center of today’s health care delivery system.

Nursing Case Management jobs exist not just in hospitals, but in rehabilitation centers, home health agencies, or any medical facility in which the managerial talents and strong personal ethics of RNs and/or social workers are required.

RNs in case management jobs  are frequently assistants in placing patients in extended care, hospice and other specific treatment programs. Travel nurse jobs that attract talented case mangers expect these professionals to rise to the occasion—of thoroughly reviewing all medical documentation and testing, lucky enough to cross their path.

When the i’s are all dotted and the t’s crossed, test results and hospital billing tend to be far more accurate. And thanks to effective case managers, patients are winners too; they are given a sense of empowerment; they can answer yes to a list of quality care questions like these:

• Was the medical care and treatment provided appropriate, necessary and affordable with my insurance coverage?
• Were the attending staff and facility chosen for my treatment capable of handling emergencies unique to my case?
• Was my family kept in the loop and my privacy respected?

The list could go on…patients aren’t the only ones grateful for conscientious and skilled RNs in nurse management jobs; hospital administrators need them too—to help bridge the gap left by the nurse shortage and high turn over in hospitals. When nursing staffs are stretched too thin, RNs rely even more on open lines of communication with case managers, who may catch an oversight in patient care.

It’s not just the nursing shortage that makes nursing case manger jobs so invaluable; it’s also an increased need for their organizational and leadership skills in a healthcare landscape drastically changed since the Health Care Reform Act passed Congress in early 2010. Travel nurses can read more about how it’s changing, in particular, cardiology— and how case management jobs are key in making a smoother transition.

You can support your professional development in this field by reading up on current trends in The Case Management Society of America.

Do your homework and learn everything you can about this enormously rewarding career.  Apply for case management jobs at American Traveler today!

Oncology, Med/Surg nurses and other RNs who work with cancer patients may be the most cognizant group when it comes to statistics and controversy surrounding stem cell research and the transplants it facilitates. Bioethics is a subject that fuels content for incendiary, page-turning books (see footnote).

Whatever your view, it’s hard to ignore the stats. In the U.S., diseases that can be treated with a stem cell transplant are diagnosed in about 30,000 children and adults each year. For those cancer patients who can be helped by stem cell transplants, full recovery hinges on excellent nursing staff—one that provides thorough information on new treatments, and methods of effective after-care. Learn more

Stem cell transplants are nothing new. Bone marrow transplants began in the 1970s, and were essentially renamed “stem cell transplants”; no matter what you call them, patients have come to view stem cell transplants as just another a step in their treatment plan, similar to surgery or radiation.

The decision to go through with bone marrow transplant is not to be taken lightly—a certified oncology nurse plays an important role in guiding patients during their treatment. Over the decades, nurses’ responsibilities and  those with an oncology nurse’s job description have changed along with improved patient outcomes. Because of advances in technology, a variety of clinical settings are now available to stem cell recipients.

Most importantly of all, oncology nurses can expect to administer their skills and TLC for the long haul. Though hospitals discharge stem cell recipients within three to four weeks, it may take as long as two years for your patient’s immune system to recover.  Home Health Jobs have experienced an influx of these survivors, thanks to sophisticated ambulatory pump technology and the growing number of nurses, like you, experienced in the care of transplant patients.

Footnote: Looking for a fascinating summer read? The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is perfect for travel nurses; learn how cancer cells taken from a 1951 cancer patient are still growing and guiding scientists today. This book personalizes the incredible drama behind the HeLa cell line and encourages thought provoking debate on bioethics.

Learn More About Stem Cell Gathering Techniques and Oncology Nursing:

Gathering stem cells is done via mobilization techniques, which include the use of chemotherapy. Every good oncology nurse knows the side effects of chemo and what to look for when monitoring a patient and ensuring his or her safety. Several days before the stem cell transplant, the patient gets large doses of chemo and radiation. Patients and families require your reassurance that isolation is common on transplant units. They’ll also need instruction from you on meticulous hand-washing and other infection control measures throughout this process.

Nurses who work with stem cell transplant patients should familiarize themselves with the newest available options, like the peripheral stem cell transplantation (PSCT). Stem cells are collected for the PSCT, via apheresis, which requires that a central venous access device be placed in the patient or donor. Are you well educated on caring for patients with catheters and related complications? Careful attention to patient safety is critical, as a catheter complication can delay stem cell procurement, as well as the transplant itself.

Your familiarity with The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) is also important in providing extra reassurance to your patients. You can also broaden your knowledge by visiting the Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Resource Directory.

Lucky travel nurses or therapists in Washington DC should prepare to sample the many July 4th events this upcoming weekend. The Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian is fun AND educational.  And you won’t want to miss the fireworks over the reflecting pool by the Washington Monument. Watch for free from a picnic blanket at the monument grounds or do like the locals do, and seek out a comfy off-site vantage point.

Tip: Don’t drive; take the metro, and check out local restaurants and hotels with rooftop lounges, especially in Arlington, Virginia, for terrific views and lighter crowds.

Patient safety is foremost in providing excellent healthcare—which is why “alarm fatigue” is an alarming topic. The best way to increase awareness among the medical community, especially those in nursing jobs, is to educate them on what, exactly, nursing alarm fatigue is and when it is most likely to occur.

Recently, a hospital in the northeast with a very busy nursing floor had an ill patient’s alarm sounding. Surrounded by constantly beeping monitors, nurses failed to respond to this heart patient’s alarm, signaling a drop in heart rate and ending in fatality 20 minutes later.

Nursing Alarm Fatigue has been blamed; it happens because nurses become desensitized to round the clock beeping. You may be suffering from this fatigue, if, while performing your duties you hear so many ubiquitous alarms, you no longer react with the appropriate degree of concern or speed. In the case of the incident stated above, investigators found that the tragedy was due, in part, to the alarm’s volume adjustment by an unknown person; rather than scandal, investigators suspected the alarm was disabled simply because hospital staff sensed its potential to become aggravating.

Apparently disabling of alarms happens frequently in hospitals, with nurses, doctors and hospital staff citing, simply, just way too many of them.  Debbie Bacurin, American Traveler’s Clinical Resource Manager gives insight into the matter of nursing alarm fatigue by summarizing what she’s seen as a veteran of Nurse Management on crowded hospital floors. She says:

“Nursing Alarm Fatigue is very common – there are multiple alarms for things as minor as a thermometer not replaced on its charger; bed alarms beep or ring when it thinks the patient is trying to get up and may fall; there are alarms attached to monitors, IV pumps, feeding tube pumps—the list goes on, and for every alarmed device, there are several reasons the alarm can sound. Hospitals tend to see nursing alarm fatigue more in telemetry nursing jobs, ICU nurse jobs and the ED—which is attributable to the number of patients in these units.

Debbie raises an excellent point here. Nurse-patient ratio, when kept low, saves lives. Nursing Alarm Fatigue can be reduced by hospitals that reexamine their policies and systems, including disabling the “off” switch for alarms on bedside cardiac monitors.

American Traveler encourages nurses working in both permanent positions and travel nursing jobs to be aware of Nursing Alarm Fatigue, as well as cognizant of its symptoms. When you pay close attention to those life-saving beeps emitted by hospital monitors, pumps and other equipment, you are doing your part to ensure high-quality healthcare—a service that gives patients and their families a better outcome and priceless peace of mind.

Its been said there’s more than one way to skin a cat. The same might be true of seeking licensure as a registered nurse; those on track to a permanent or travel nursing career can achieve success in several different ways—the interesting part of that statement being, no matter your chosen path to licensure, the examination at the end of your nurse training is exactly the same.

The options for students interested in nursing jobs break down into these avenues: you can get a four-year nursing degree, or bachelor of science (in nursing) and be deemed a “professional nurse”; you can get an associate’s degree, which takes two to three years—or you can go to a diploma school for about three years.

It so happens that community colleges produce more than half of the country’s new nurses; not surprising considering it’s the fastest and least expensive way to become an RN; should you go this route, you are deemed a “technical nurse” and may not get the same preferential treatment in hiring as professional and graduate nurses. The encouraging news for those new to a permanent or travel nursing career is this: starting pay is about the same, no matter your educational background. RNs should note, however, that pursuing higher/continued education that culminates in nurse licensing (in a specialty), leads to promotions in your permanent or travel nurse jobs.

But there may be a more compelling reason than this for future registered nurses to graduate from a 4-year college. Legislation has been introduced in New York and New Jersey that requires nurses to get a bachelor’s degree within 10 years of licensing; this new academic criteria is commonplace in Pennsylvania, too—where nursing leaders are discussing how to help registered nurses move up the educational ladder more easily.

Studies at the University of Pennsylvania may be part of the reason, showing that registered nurses with higher degrees produce better patient outcomes; healthcare officials and hospitals attribute this to stronger critical thinking and social skills learned in college, suggesting also, that a 4-year degree is the most ideal preparation in an industry that grows more high-tech in its hospital equipment and treatments with every passing year.

In today’s healthcare landscape, registered nurses work with increasingly complex machines to treat patients; they also engage in more sophisticated team-building with their co-workers. Hospitals’ demand for bachelor’s degrees in nursing staff is further fueled as they move toward evidence-based medicine, which requires RNs to translate new trends in healthcare—basically, to think fast on their feet at patients’ bedsides.

But beyond speculation, The Center for Health Outcomes Research at Penn’s nursing school is putting real numbers behind its demand for registered nurses with bachelor’s degrees, concluding in one study that a 10-percentage-point increase in the proportion of RNs with bachelor’s degrees is associated with a 5% drop in patient mortality.

Is the competitiveness of insisting on a 4-year-degree contributing to the nurse shortage?

Chief Nursing Officers at urban centers of hiring in New York nurse jobs and New Jersey nursing jobs report that competition remains intense, with anywhere from 300 to 600 degreed nurses on waiting lists for less than one hundred job openings.

For those RNs who obtained nurse certification in a two or three year program at community college or diploma school, the legislation coming out of New York and New Jersey is nothing so much as frustrating. The good news is, a technical nurse vs. a professional one with bachelor’s degree, is still in high demand in more rural parts of the country. Travel nurse jobs are an ideal way to fill these positions.

Whatever your educational journey in your nursing career, remember that registered nurses are constantly learning, and education is at a premium always; we leave you with this and a footnote from Debbie Bacurin RN, Clinical Coordinator at American Traveler.

Footnote: Debbie weighs in:

“A hiring strategy that consists of only utilizing BSN graduates would create a formidable staffing challenge for many facilities.  However, hospitals that create incentives for higher educational standards will reap the benefits of future leaders in healthcare. The key to creating an ‘all college grad’ nursing staff in my opinion, would be to do so in steps—hospitals can accomplish this by helping RNs meet the cost of BSN and MSN educations. This strategy will get nurses on the fast track to climbing the career ladder, and in doing so, add prestige and increased economic viability to hospitals and healthcare systems.”

Surgery used to present two options for doctors and their patients: a large open incision or laparoscopy; in the case of the later, surgery was limited to a handful of simple procedures, but now there’s an alternative that can be used in a wide variety of complex surgeries—and the fun part? It looks a little like a video game in an arcade.

What are we talking about? The da Vinci® Surgical System, a hot topic in the medical community, and one that encourages Med/surg nurses to advance their education on medical robotics; just like their colleagues in OR nursing jobs, are encouraged to learn everything they can to better assist post-op patients.

If you fall under the OR nurse jobs or Med/Surg category, consider the da Vinci a buzz-word in your continuing education as a nursing caregiver. Chances are you’ll concur with studies on the positive clinical outcomes (like reduced pain) of this high tech surgery and understand why more and more hospitals are welcoming da Vinci in.

Created by the Intuitive Surgical company and named after Leonardo da Vinci for its precision in anatomy and 3-D images reminiscent of his drawings, the da Vinci’s minimally invasive approach is radically changing patient experiences and OR nurse jobs for the better. See it in action by watching the video below.

The da Vinci is comprised of 3 critical parts: the console, where the surgeon sits, looking through 2 eye holes at a 3-D image of the surgical field; a patient side-cart featuring 3 to 4 robotic arms that act as scalpel, scissors, sutures and endoscpic camera; and, finally, The Vision System, where operating images are enhanced, refined, and optimized to better guide the surgeon.

The cost of this sophisticated machinery—1.3 million—has yet to slow sales, now past the $600 million mark. Though da Vinci surgeries take longer than laparoscopy, this robotic technique creates less physical stress for the surgeon, who doesn’t have to stand, use long-shafted hand-held instruments or trouble him/herself to look up and away at a 2D video monitor.

The da Vinci, eliminates the need for the surgeon to rely on a patient-side assistant to steady the camera on target anatomy—it’s all right there in the console—and holds certain advantages over traditional surgery as well; the surgeon is spared from X-ray exposure that forces some in surgical careers into early retirement.

And further cause for those in Med/Surg nursing jobs and OR nurse jobs to pay attention to the future of medical robotics?

Patient outcomes are improved by shorter hospital stays and faster return to normal activities. The use of da Vinci also includes the unprecedented benefit of avoiding blood transfusions associated with surgery.

Regardless of your medical specialty, it’s always a good idea to stay current on the latest medical trends. Med/Surg nurses and those in OR nursing jobs are sure to notice a change in the operating room landscape, as more and more procedures are mastered by medical robotics; the da Vinci website’s FDA page lists every surgery it performs, but here’s a sneak peek:

• Radical prostatectomy
• Gastric bypass
• Hysterectomy
• Myomectomy
• Sacrocolpopexy
• Adrenalectomy
• Splenectomy
• Bowel resection
• Cardiac tissue ablation & Mitral valve repair

The da Vinci’s goal is to make surgical careers and OR nursing jobs easier by providing surgeons with superior visualization, enhanced dexterity, and, last but not least, greater precision and ergonomic comfort. OR nurse jobs just got more “cutting” edge!