Why you should meet new people

Because you are a dedicated travel nurse we know it can be difficult for you to find time for yourself, let alone meeting others. However, whether you have one minute or one hour, you should take some time to say hello and introduce yourself to new people. Doing this is the first step towards feeling connected to your new community and co-workers. Meeting new people helps you enjoy activities, can bring positive opportunities into your personal and professional life, gives you the sense of support through difficult times, and contributes to your experience when you have something to celebrate. Meeting new people also helps you get involved, share things with others, and connect with people at work.

How to meet new people

Whether you have one minute or one hour, you should take some time to say hello and introduce yourself to new people.

Everyone has different personalities with different strengths and weaknesses, and you may feel comfortable or uncomfortable taking the initiative towards meeting new people. Keep in mind that the other person probably feels the same way you do. While at work it may be a challenge to converse with co-workers while taking on an important role attending to others and fulfilling your role as a nurse, but asking others for their opinion or letting them know you are new to the workplace is a great way to break the ice. During your lunch break, try having lunch with a group of people; this will help increase your opportunity to meet people through others and connect with your co-workers in a non-working environment. It may be tough at first meeting a group of new people, but half the battle is having enough confidence. It will help to just be you. By taking the first step you could be beginning a new lifelong friendship. Here are some sites giving you more ideas on how to meet new people:

Five Friends Every Woman Should Have
SoYouWanna meet people in your neighborhood?
Making And Keeping Friends: A Self-Help Guide

Where to meet new people

When you have time to spare outside of work, try attending a variety of events such as: sporting events, concerts, art shows, theatrical productions, special interest groups, or joining a book club. Letting your new neighbors know that you are new to the area is a good way to strike up a conversation with the people in your neighborhood. Other ways to meet new people include: going to a coffee shop where the environment is relaxing and friendly; going to a bookstore where you can meet new people with the same interests; and shopping where you can interact with others with similar hobbies. Here are some sites that will give you more ideas on where to meet new people:

Friends wanted
No plans? Meet New People via Activities
6 Tips for Meeting New People When You Move

A few last tips to help you meet new people

• When you meet someone for the first time it is important to be yourself. Being true to who you are is the most important thing and will show others your true character.
• Have a positive attitude. When you have an attitude that is accepting and you behave like you believe you will find you’ll get a better response from those that are around you.
• Be natural. When you force a smile it looks unnatural, but when you act natural it is more comfortable and inviting to others.

Each of these social networking sites has a niche. For instance LinkedIn is geared more towards the professional looking to network with other like minded professionals in their field while sites like MySpace and Facebook are aimed towards those who celebrate the weekends! Whatever site you use, remember, this is your advertisement to the world. You are what you post. These sites all serve a purpose and can work to your benefit professionally if used correctly, it’s the incorrect ways you need to worry about. So, are you branding yourself the right way or the wrong way?

One of the simplest forms of using these social media sites is the “status update. Here you can post whatever is on your mind, whether you want to tell everyone good news, share an insight into an important topic like healthcare or just vent. I find myself posting lyrics to a song that gets lodged in my head the second I wake up to torture all my friends and on occasion I’ll share a juicy nugget. It just depends on how I’m feeling that day. You want to keep it fresh and stay away from any sort of pattern. Your “readers” will begin to get bored with you if all you do is complain about how much time you have left in your day at work, or how bad your work day is and blah, blah, blah!

These sites are all about sharing. Sharing your tastes in music, film, or whatever suits your fancy. It’s also a great place to share all the things that are important to you in this world. Being a nurse you may belong to organizations related to nursing or charities that you may volunteer your skills to. All these are great to share as your future employers may be doing background checks to see what kind of person they may be dealing with. Sharing this information is great for them to get a feel of what you are about without having talked to you personally. It’s hard to separate your professional and personal being, so just be smart as to what you want to put out there about yourself and your opinions. There are many options built into these sites that allow you to “censor” what can be seen from outside viewers. So use them accordingly if you think anything you have available to see may be questionable. You’re building your brand and you need to try and control what info comes up when your name is searched online by potential employers. Here’s a fine example of how NOT to use facebook… Doctor and Nurse Suspensions.

For traveling nurses these social networking sites are a wonderful way to keep in touch with family and friends while away from home and I recommend starting your online presence now if you haven’t already. All the cool kids are doing it! Staying connected is very important and helps keep the lonliness factor to a minimum. These sites are also a great way for nurses to share with future employers the person that you really are, from all the causes and charities you may be involved with to the great insights and opinions you share on others pages. Remember, you have total control of what you want seen. If you post meaningless dribble and constantly play games and whatnot, I don’t think that’s what you want as a first impression. I guess it depends on what you’re trying to attract… A potential new employer or a level 5 warlock to help you get to the next level? The choice is yours, for you are what you post.

I just ran across a site that if properly used could become a huge tool for travel nurses everywhere. NurseRatings.org. I don’t know if the creator of  this site, which has the tag line “Nurses helping Nurses,” meant it to be for travel nursing or just a great tool for nurses everywhere, but whatever the intent, the potential use for travel nurses is huge. Imagine being able to learn first hand from travel nurses just like you what they thought of a hospital during their time there during a travel nursing assignment. And don’t forget the valuable feedback from the perm nurses that work there too.

No matter what your goals for being a travel nurse it is important to know a lot about the hospital you are going to work at. You will want to evaluate on culture, technology and clinical skills, management style, etc. And NurseRatings.org lets you rate on the:

• Doctor to Nurse Relationship
• Nurse to Nurse Relationship
• Pay
• Location
• Nurse Management
• Professional Development

Plus it has a comments section where nurses can add anything else they would like. Rating does not require a log in or even using your real name, which is one of the strengths and weaknesses of review sites. On the one hand the anonymity can let people speak up who may not normally, but can also lead to abuse. But overall I think it is a good system that is easy to use.

But the best part may be how easy it is for you as a travel nurse to go in and rate hospitals you have worked at. The site is very user friendly. It is grouped by state with a simple to use map, as long as you are familiar with US geography, which if you are a travel nurse I assume you are. This is a great option if you want to browse a state you are considering taking a travel nursing job in, but if you are looking for a specific hospital to read about or rate, there is a easy to use search tool.

The biggest drawback of the site so far is that there does not appear to be many ratings available and currently no real incentive to do so, other than the good old fashioned nature of people who like to share their opinion. If there were some sort of social networking aspect to it or rewards system to spur reviews I think it would grow faster, but it is still very new so you just have to give it time and be a willing user yourself. Ratings sites like these are only worthwhile if people use them so I suggest you start using it today, it is a really good way to educate yourself and other travel nurses about the hospitals they may be taking their next travel nursing job.

I fell into the loneliness trap big time when we first started traveling. My husband’s twelve hour shifts nearly drove me crazy. I would count down the time for him to come home. When he walked through the door, I would pounce on him, desperate for meaningful conversation.

While I believe loneliness will always be a struggle on the road, there are certainly some ways to make it easier.

• Get connected with the community. Yes, there will be some locations where you can’t really get involved. But if it’s possible, make friends in your apartment building. Attend social events at the hospital. Get to know your husband’s coworkers. Nurses may be hard workers, but trust me, they know how to have fun. We’ve made great friends on the road, and having people to hang out with will make the experience much more enjoyable.
• Stay connected with home. Take advantage of technology. Cell phones, email, and social networking sites have made it possible to keep in touch like never before. A well-timed phone call can do wonders on a case of homesickness.
• Join a class. Whether it’s yoga or a Bible study, meeting with people regularly will help tremendously. Walking into a class where people know your name will make your temporary assignment feel a lot more like home.
• Shop at local stores. Local business owners are interested in their customers and tend to provide much more personal service than generic chains. On our current assignment, we walk to the same local trading post every day. The owner knows us by name and is always helpful. Not only is it a good way to make new connections, but locals tend to give great information about the best restaurants and entertainment in town.
• Make time to go home regularly. You don’t always have to go home in between assignments (i.e. without a paycheck) to go home. Hospital managers are usually understanding about how important it is for travel nurses to go see friends and family. If your spouse works three twelve hour shifts a week, see if he/she can work Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of one week and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the next. That allows you a full eight days off of work to see family without losing a single hour of paycheck time.

Once again, it takes creativity to fend off loneliness when you move from place to place constantly. But taking the time to get to know the people in your community can make each assignment much more enjoyable—and you might make some of the best friends of your life.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing

You can find just about any app that pertains to an interest of yours and if you haven’t taken a chance to find all the great apps available for travelers like yourself you may be missing out on some simple tools that can make your life as a travel nurse a lot easier. That’s why we have compiled this list of websites that have put together some of the best lists of iPhone travel apps on the web. And if you aren’t one of the early adopting travel nurses and find yourself without an iPhone you may not want to visit any of the links below or you may get jealous or even find yourself switching cell phone plans.

Top iPhone Apps for Travelers

Useful iPhone Apps for Travelers

AK Tech Girl: iPhone Apps for Travelers

In Pictures: 12 iPhone Apps For Business Travelers

We have also taken this chance to compile a list of nursing iPhone Apps:

Nursing Central: The all-in-one mobile and web solution for Nursing

A total solution for nurses with everything from info on diseases and procedures to nursing journal updates and a massive medical terms dictionary plus a whole lot more important stuff for nurses.

Epocrates Essentials

A premium drug and disease reference with hundreds of diagnostic and laboratory tests. And free updated medical news!

Epocrates RX

A free drug guide with formulary information and drug interaction checker. Plus free updates and medical news!

Kaplan Math for Nurses

An app to help you with commonly needed math formulas needed in the nurse workplace.

Kaplan Medical Terms

An app to help you learn or remember over 2000 terms commonly used by nurses.

Kaplan NCLEX-RN Medications Flashcards

With this app you get over 300 medication flashcards meant to help you study for the NCLEX.

You can study for the NCLEX with this series of apps from Mosby.

Mosbys NCLEX Review Questions for the NCLEX-RN® Exam: Childbearing & Womens Health

Mosbys NCLEX Review Questions for the NCLEX-RN® Exam: Medical-Surgical

Mosby’s Review Questions for the NCLEX-RN® Exam: Pediatric

PEPID

With this nursing app you are provided with free and platinum apps that assist with clinical decision making with support information and tools for doctors, nurses, emergency medical teams, and students.

BoardReview

This nursing app gives you free and expanded study tools for medical and nursing students.

Medical Spanish

Use this app to communicate with your Spanish speaking patients.

And since social networking is so important for travel nurses who want to stay in touch with their family and friends, don’t forget about the iPhone’s good old fashioned social networking apps. These websites have compiled some of the best and most popular ones out there.

iPhone Apps for Social Networks

10 Social Networking Apps for Your New iPhone 3G

Are there any iPhone users out there on the travel nursing road? If so what are some of your favorite apps? Besides the applications available in the aftermarket the phone itself has a lot of built in features that I can no longer live without. See for yourself at one of 251 Apple stores worldwide or any authorized retailer of Apple products. I’ve had a previous post about the iPhone, but let me reitirate… You can make phone calls, search the internet, watch movies, listen to music and on and on and on. The capabilities are endless it seems and this summer Apple is rumored to be releasing the 3rd generation iPhone. It will probably have a larger storage capacity and new features like sending pics/video, the much needed cut & paste feature and stronger connectivity to the internet, oh my! I know I can’t wait. Though I still use the OG of iPhones, I may look into getting a newer version. I must say though, I am not pleased with the service AT&T provides.

Since moving into my house I quickly realized that this cellular technology is not all that it’s cracked up to be. While at home I get NO SERVICE, unless I plug it in to the dock, which must be connected to the computer. Then and only then can I make a phone call, oh and it has to be on speaker because if I move it. Dropped call. Ugh! Don’t get me wrong… Besides that, the iPhone is fantastic. It’s just the service, which is ridiculous! I live in a major metropolitan area (Omaha, NE) and there should be no trouble getting a signal. Apparently AT&T think differently. Ha, no pun intended, Apple! I’ve called a number of times and all they say is, “we’re sorry, we’ll put in an order to our network folks…” Blah, blah, blah! DO SOMETHING or watch me petition for Verizon! Okay, I’m getting off the mark here. Bottomline. iPhone is great for all it can do when it can do it. LIke I said, go see for yourself and if you do get one, hit me up on Twitter/Twinkle… Screen name, Phunkywonder.

• Travel Nursing Resources
• Nursing Information
• Nursing Resources
• Nursing Organizations
• Nursing Education
• Nursing Niche Sites
• Nursing Social Networks
• Travel Nursing Blogs
• Nursing Supplies
• Nursing Other
• Hospital Information
• Moving Resources
• Travel Resources
• Housing Information
• City Information
• Settling In Tips
• Day-to-Day Living Tips
• Personal Health Tips
• Financial Resources
• Social Networking Resources

Take a look and report back with any sites you think they missed.

If you take your laptop, netbook or desktop PC with you on the road during your travel nursing assignment you are going to love Hulu. Depending on how much TV you watch you could probably just get by with Hulu if you wanted and forget about cable altogether. You do have to deal with limited commercials, but they are only 30 seconds long so definitely worth checking out on your next travel nursing job.

When we are looking for items and or information we usually reach out to other travelers. There are other practical benefits to contacting other travelers.

Passing on items and simply learning where the good deals are found can help you get started in the right direction. My husband and I have bought sold and passed on everything from snorkeling equipment, computer equipment and even leased out our vehicle.

We have built a Free Classified Ad section on our website www.travel-nurse-coach.com

It is brand new and the more people who use it, the better chance you have of finding what you need. Please let healthcare workers know about the Free Classified Ad Community.

The one problem that we found is when we were traveling we only got to meet a limited amount of travelers.

We have a section marked (activity partner wanted) where you can post and let people know when and where you are traveling. This is” a work in progress “so we welcome any suggestions.

Oh, by the way it is not necessary to give out your email or contact information unless you wish to do so. You can simply have them hit the reply button.

Please pass this forward to other travelers possibly your “nurse mafia!”

Carol e-mailed and asked “Do healthcare workers rent out there home base apartment, or house to other travelers?” Stay tuned for our answer next week.

1. See new places
   It is hard for many people to travel the world, let alone travel across the country. By traveling with an agency, they will pay for you to go to the places you want to go. Travel nursing gives you the opportunity and the break needed to make a life change.
2. Freedom and flexibility
   Have the ability to choose when you want to work. You can always take time off between assignments to give yourself a break, and once you are ready to jump back in the saddle there will be an assignment ready for you.
3. Professional growth
   Each assignment allows you to continue to learn, since each place you go to will teach you something new. This allows you to not get stuck in the same routine when treating patients.
4. Job security
   There is always a need for nurses in the travel nurse industry because of the nursing shortage. Hospitals everywhere are in need of nurses; there is always a place for you to go.
5. Meet new people
   Staying in the same location can make it hard to meet new people, since you are stuck in the same routine every day. Travel nursing will force you to meet new people every time you go on a new assignment.
6. Make more money
   Traveling as a nurse allows you to make and save more money.  You will be able to save your money from working given that you don’t have to pay rent or many bills.
7. No workplace politics
   Since you will be a temp not perm, you will not have to deal with the everyday workplace politics. You can just focus on giving good patient care while working.
8. Networking
   Having the opportunity to travel around and meet new people allows you to network too. The more people you know in your field the better, so when you do need help finding a job or just a place to stay when traveling to a new  assignment you have someone to ask.
9. No burn out
   Having a long term job at a hospital can become tiring while you are waiting for your PTO. As a traveling nurse you will have as much time between assignments as you want, and you can pick your length of assignments giving you control of your career.
10. Discover new interests/hobbies
    Living in a new environment allows you to try new things. Different places have their own popular hobbies in the area. From snow skiing on the mountain tops, swimming in the ocean or hiking through the canyons.