More and more travel nurses are finding themselves working in a hospital that has a nurses union. What does this mean for the traveling nurse? First, know that this trend is gaining steam.  Just this past December, three large RN unions (in California, Massachusetts and Maryland) merged to form the 150,000-member National Nurses United.  Its mission? Says Deborah Burger, RN, one of three charter co-presidents of NNU: "We are going to make sure we organize every single direct-care RN in this country. RNs and our patients deserve to have a national nurses' movement that can advocate for them." The NNU -- which is seasoned, well-organized and well-financed -- has a very convincing sales pitch.  Among the “pros” of unionization are more security for nurses, more clout when battling administrators, and higher pay and seniority protection for nursing jobs.  Thus, many facilities are accepting a nurses union -- and many traveling nurses are choosing to join a union. To join, or not to join? Not everyone is a fan of RN unions. The “cons” include high union dues, having to comply with their bylaws and other regulations, and having one more layer of bureaucracy between the nurse and the patients. [+]

Thousands of nurses across the country are responding to the call for volunteers to provide medical aid in Haiti following its devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. National Nurses United, the largest RN organization in the country, says that more than 12,000 nurses have answered the call to serve, awaiting only funds (the NNU is asking for donations) and logistical arrangements (transportation, lodging, etc.) to be deployed to Haiti. This development presents two types of opportunities for the travel nurse. First, nurses between assignments may choose to do a volunteer stint in Haiti.  American Traveler has seen many of its RNs volunteer over the years, and encourages those who wish to serve in Haiti to do so. The second opportunity involves travel nursing jobs that will become available to fill the temporary absences.  These are likely to be opening up all across the country; check our rn jobs list often for new travel nursing assignments. In Florida, there has been a particularly large response from volunteers – and thus a looming shortage of licensed nurses. That means there’s a good chance that there will be many excellent Florida travel nursing jobs opening up. To make it even easier and more desirable for a traveling nurse to [+]