Q: Is your current work as a Clinical Educator as rewarding in and of itself, as the compensation and excitement of travel?
A: Absolutely! There’s nothing better than preparing my students for nursing careers that will be as rewarding for them, as my career has been for me.

Q: What has been the most rewarding aspect of this assignment?
A: This travel nursing job has reinforced the way I’ve always felt about life: that every person is given the unique opportunity to see the good in things or the bad. I’ve always chosen to see the good, and whether I’m working on clinical simulations with my students, preparing the next day’s assignments or doing a shift in the ER, I see the good things in life.

Q: What has been the most surprising?
A: Working in this part of Arizona, so close to an Indian Reservation, has been a cultural eye opener—they lack access to modern treatment and equipment. So, at the facility where I work, we get a higher volume of patients than I expected; some of them very sick.

Q: What was the transition like?
A: The transition has been smooth and wonderful because I feel my travel nursing career is good for my husband, too. We’ve been married 29 years. He always gave me and our kids, now 22 and 24, everything we ever wanted. He put me through college 3 times. Coming out to Arizona is a way of giving back to him—helping him enjoy his retirement to the fullest.

Read about other couples that enjoy travel nurse assignments together.

Q: What advice would you give to another RN considering their first travel nurse assignment?
A: I joined the Army when I was only 17 years old, and this Arizona nursing job reminds me a little of my adventurous spirit from those days. Flexibility is very important—and, so is not allowing yourself to get obsessed with the same old routine.

Related articles

• Learn more about nursing jobs in Phoenix and things to do while on assignment
• Learn more about how to be ready for the best travel nurse jobs

American Traveler caught up with Patrice Ballard, MSN for a chat about her experiences working as a Nurse Educator in Arizona. Part I of this two part nurse interview introduces RNs and physical therapists keen on combining work and travel, to a fellow professional who currently enjoys the best of both worlds. Patrice is a wife, mother and full-time Clinical Educator, with the admirable ability to work, also, in the ER once a week. Here, she shares commentary and tips for making the most of an 8 month long travel nursing assignment.

Q: What prompted you to pursue a travel nursing career?
A: You know, it’s a little ironic—albeit in a wonderful way—that I began a travel nurse career after 15 years in the ER.  Friends and family used to describe me as a “hover mother” – couldn’t picture me on an out-of-state assignment, but when the opportunity to work 34 weeks in Globe, Arizona came, I jumped on it.

Q: You secured a unique position. How did that come about?
A: My background—I have a masters degree in nursing with an Education track—prepared me to work as a Nurse Educator, which I’m loving now with my 8 talented nursing students. I’m actually filling in for someone who was deployed to Afghanistan, and am happy to report that he’s coming home soon, safe and sound.

Q: Have you had any stand out experiences as a travel nurse you’d like to share?
A: My husband and I love to get out there and explore, and the travel nursing job in Arizona has allowed us to see and do some amazing stuff—like a hot air balloon fiesta in Albuquerque. We’ve also been to New Mexico, Tombstone, Silver City and the Grand Canyon—just in the last six months. We live in an RV, very close to my assignment—about 2 hours east of Phoenix. I may consider an extension out here.

Q: Why did you choose American Traveler?
A: I had the good fortune to meet Amy Roll, a recruiter and consultant for American Traveler. She finds first time travel nurses, like me, jobs in Arizona which are known for high pay, friendly hospitals and great private housing.

Next week, we’ll have part 2 of Patrice Ballard’s interview – come back and check it out!

Nurses specializing in patient care relative to heart disease are already educated and wonderfully outspoken when it comes to heart disease and stroke prevention.

Are you a specialty nurse that already knows the facts on healthy hearts? Then we hope you’ll skip ahead to our hot travel nurse jobs from California to Florida, in departments like the ER, CVICU, CCU, ICU, PCU and more.

If you’re a nurse looking for RN jobs in the Critical Care fields of Cardiac Medicine and heart surgery, don’t delay! There are so many patients—and hearts—in need of your care!  Read the 5 fundamentals here:

The 5 Fundamentals of Heart Healthy

• Don’t let your health go up in smoke. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are among the biggest risk factors for heart disease; even low-tar, low-nicotine products and second hand smoke exposure can be dangerous. If you want a shot at optimal cardiovascular health, don’t smoke at all. If you need a smoke break, take a walk instead—and spare your body from exposure to more than 4,800 chemicals, which can lead to atherosclerosis.
• Get off the couch. When you’re physically fit, you’ve got a healthy weight to show for it, reducing your risk of conditions that strain the human heart, like high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. Exercise and the endorphins it produces lead to additional payoffs—like stress reduction. Stress and burnout aren’t good for a nurse’s heart! While current guidelines recommend 30 to 60 minutes of daily “moderately intense” exercise, none of the experts are saying that anything short of that is useless. Any and all exercise is good for you—if you’re super busy, break down your work out routines into daily 10 minute sessions.
• Make a mad DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). This diet helps protect your heart. It means eating low-fat, low-sodium foods, shy on the cholesterol. The diet is rich in fruits, vegetables (think “5 a Day”), whole grains and low-fat dairy. The old limerick “beans, beans, they’re good for your heart” is true! Legumes, low-fat sources of protein, certain types of fish and Omega 3 fatty acids reduce your risk of heart disease. In DASH, “low-fat” is like a mantra, and specifically refers to limiting saturated and trans fats, which increase the risk of heart disease by raising bad (LDL) cholesterol.
• Weigh in on health and wellness—Almost everybody knows excess weight leads to conditions that court heart disease. Are you overweight? Check your Body Mass Index. Muscle mass is optimal, but spikes your BMI, so athletes are advised to take their BMI readings with a grain of salt. For those of us who have an average fat to muscle ratio, a BMI under 30 is a good rule of thumb. If you weigh too much, focus on bringing the number down. Studies have shown that even a 10% decrease in body weight can lower blood pressure, bad cholesterol and risk of diabetes.

• Let your doctor checkup on you. Annual screenings at the doctor’s office mean blood work, where cholesterol, glucose, thyroid function and blood count rule out or diagnose your individual risk for a variety of diseases. If you can’t make it annually, the Mayo Clinic recommends cholesterol screening at least once every 5 years.

Now that you know about your heart health, nurses may want to check out nursing career resources, where you’ll find more information on relocation, interviewing, city guides, PayPal—basically everything a traveling nurse needs to travel well.

So, that’s it nurses. Embrace more than just your valentine this February. Embrace your health every day of the year, it’s never too late for an ounce of prevention!