So you’re saying to yourself, “I waste so much food when I cook by myself” or, “It’s just not worth my time and energy.” Cooking for oneself can both be fun and demanding. It is quite a chore to break down a recipe that is catered to four or maintain a healthy diet with take out. It’s fun, because you have total freedom in deciding what, when and where to eat, and eating a well prepared meal can equal an explosion of delight for the senses. Eating at home promotes healthy dining, it is less expensive and you get to actually concoct something of your own.

Lots of people, especially those in the healthcare profession often have a crazed schedule which in turn causes them to snack throughout the day, skip meals entirely, run through the local burger joint or another grab and go option. Neglecting meals or eating foods with high fat content can be damaging to your body and result in loss of energy. Most people today have careers that offer little in imagination so cooking can be a delightful way to step out of the box, be original, and use your creativity. There is more to life than the drive-thru, grocery store deli, and pizza delivery. Do something bold for a change: make your dinner. With just a few easy-to-remember tips you could be saving money and eating healthier! So what can you do to help yourself?

Plan Ahead

Make a list of menu items you’d like to prepare throughout the course of the week. While at the store it is always tempting to buy what you see, but try and stick to your plan. Also, never, never under any circumstance go to the store when you’re hungry. If you do, it is guaranteed you will buy something you don’t need, even worse, something you may regret. This will keep your budget under control as well as your waistline.

Shopping

Since you’re only cooking for one it is important to buy just enough of what you’ll need. Do go shopping once a month for the essentials and non-perishables, but try and make it a habit to frequent the store at least once a week to replace your veggies, milk and other perishables. When shopping for produce remember to buy small quantities, pre-packaged portions or frozen vegetables. Buy smaller cuts of meat, or ask the butcher behind the deli to slice the meat exactly as you like. This will keep costs down, your food tasting fresh and delicious.

Divide & Conquer

Making dinner for one can be quite complicated and often frustrating when trying to reduce the serving size. One way to combat this would be to go ahead and make the recipe as specified regardless of serving size and then freeze the remaining portions to eat at a later date. Casseroles, lasagna and stews are all great meals that freeze well. Another way might be to use a slow cooker or “Crock Pot”. The portions are large but this allows for plenty of leftovers for the week or, again freeze and store.

Make it Yours

Often times eating alone can be boring and monotonous. To make dinner more of an occasion, try setting the table with placemats, use your best plates and add some color with flowers as the centerpiece. Even the color of your food can be a factor in your enjoyment. Keep it colorful. Add a green salad, fresh bakery bread and your favorite bottle of vino. Remember this is your time, so make the most of it and more importantly, make it fun!!

Now after all these helpful hints you should be able to begin a regime that will keep your pantry stocked and your belly full. Of course there will be those days when you haven’t the time to shop for the necessary ingredients but want to keep eating right. Lucky for you there is an alternative. A new trend that is sweeping the nation is going to stores where you can pick out a pre-prepared meal and all you have to do is cook it. There are also places where you decide what to make and purchase all the necessary ingredients right there in the store. With all this available to you, one should never go a day without eating what’s best for you. However, we all have our guilty pleasures and we shouldn’t give up what makes us happy, at least in moderation!

Here are a few links for recipes and other dinner suggestions:

All Recipes
Rachel Ray
Martha Stewart
Supper Thyme USA

Here are a few other things to help you while navigating your career as a Travel Nurse… Check out these useful Travel Nurse tools, everything to help you start, from a cost of living calculator to a packing list to help you prepare for your next journey.

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.

As most of us who are travelers know, last year was a particularly hard year for the travel nursing industry. At one point, travel assignments were down almost 50% from the previous year and many seasoned travelers were having difficulty finding assignments.

This year we have rebounded, but the assignment selection still isn’t what it used to be and a few new developments have caused some major changes in the industry.

The first thing we are seeing is more short term assignments (4-8 week contracts). This is almost certainly a reaction to the economy and the attempts by the facilities to minimize their reliance on costly outside staffing. However, this often presents a problem with travelers, who might be traveling a great distance, only to work for 4 weeks, then have to pack up and go somewhere else. If you take as much crap with you on assignment as I do, packing up every 13 weeks can be a task, let alone every four.

Next, many facilities are now offering contracts with start dates only 3 weeks or less in advance. This brings into play the licensing boards since some states cannot process applications for endorsements within that time frame. This might restrict you from certain assignments if you are not already licensed in that particular state.

The third, and possibly most important change, is in the pay rate. Many travel companies now employ VMS (Vendor Management Services). To describe what these companies do would take more space than I have in this column. Suffice it to say, they are someone else who has their hand in the cookie jar. Unfortunately, their cost seems not to be absorbed entirely by your travel company, but also by you, the traveler. This of course leads to rates that are sometimes dramatically lower than we saw just 18 months ago.

For example, a traveler recently contacted me regarding a Florida travel position, working on a med-surg floor. The assignment was only for 4-weeks, paid $21/hr, and would require him to pay out of pocket for travel and licensure. Not a very attractive offer considering he would be traveling from Michigan.

While the rules of the game might have changed, the game itself has not. Nurses can still travel to wonderful destinations, have their housing paid for, have medical/dental plans available, and still earn a fair hourly wage. For me, travel was never about the money, it was always about the adventure. While travel might not be as lucrative as it once was, the wonderful opportunity to travel is still ever-present for those looking for a little adventure in their nursing career.

Helping Your Pets Adjust to a New Home

Help Your Pet Adjust To Your New Home – Pets – Lifewhile

Pets – How to Settle Pets In After a Move

Learn Great Tips for Helping Your Pets Adjust to the New Neighborhood

Helping Pets Adjust to their New Surroundings | After Your Move

Moving With Your Dog? Help Him Adjust to the Changes

Moving With Your Dog? Here’s How To Help Your Dog Adjust Before, During and After the Move

DogTip Shelter Dog Adjustment

Purrballs Cat Health, Cat Behaviour and Care Site – Moving – How To Help Your Cat Get Used To A New Home

Do you have any tips for other travel nurses? What has worked for you when moving your pets to your next assignment?

Google Android has put together some nifty apps for those in the medical field. Although some of these apps are for all workers within this industry, nurses can no doubt benefit from all of them.

5 Minute Clinical Consult – This app gives fast and pinpoint guidance to more than 700 medical conditions. This app offers tested treatment recommendations, a bonus of 200 common children’s diseases, over 130 skin diseases and pictures to go with each one and it also gives step by step guides for treatment of a variety of medical conditions.

Nursing Central - This app is a great source for test information, drugs, and diseases for any nurse. It also includes a dictionary and the ability to search different types of literature. This app offers detailed information available about tests to diseases and gives the nurse access to a large database containing 5,000 drugs. The databases for all this help are Davis Drug Guide, Taber’s Cycolpedia Medical Dictionary, Diseases and Disorders, A Nursing Therapeutics Manual, Davis’s Comprehensive Handbook of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests With Nursing Implications. The app also gives a comprehensive guideline for patient care as well as nursing diagnosis.

Davis Drug Guide – This guide gives up to date drug information on over 5,000 brand and generic name drugs. The drugs are organized to answer any questions there might be about a particular drug and it gives the proper dosage, proper way to administer each drug, patient safety tips, any side affects, patient education on the drugs and much more.

Merck Manual - Is filled with information on disease management for the patients point of care. Merck also offers Merck Manual With Patients Symptoms Guide this package lets the doctor or nurse quickly review etiology, evaluation, and immediate treatment of 88 symptoms and then it directly links these symptoms to related diseases. The other app they offer is called the Merck Manual Suite. This combines the first two apps with a drug guide.

Taber’s Medical Dictionary - Wonderful app that has a database of over 60,000 terms. Includes color illustrations with audio pronunciations of terms, appendices and access to the web for more information from Taber. It also includes 600 Patient Care sections that put emphasis on wellness and patient education.

Pediatrics Central DX - This application centralizes it’s information on infants, toddlers, older children and adolescents. This app gives information on over 460 diseases offering up a variety of different diagnosis, treatment options a long with continuing care of the child.

Harrison’s Manual of Medicine – This app has more than 600 different internal medicine topics to choose from and offers concise information on etiology, epidemiology, and clinical pathophysiology. It also contains symptoms and signs of medical issues, lab findings, therapeutic suggestions and practice guidelines.

Red Book - Is a comprehensive app that covers all the up to date infectious diseases that afflict infants, children, and adolescence. You can also find up to date information on immunizations, vaccine development, updated information on both Hepatitis A and B as well as sexually transmitted diseases.

Drug Facts – This is a comprehensive guide to drugs which includes interaction facts, review on natural products and it covers 3,900 trade name drugs and 900 generic. Has a complete guide to drug and food interactions.

Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests - This app provides information on the selection and interpretation of more than 350 diagnostic tests. Let’s the user know which test is best for diagnosis, screening a patient or following a patients condition. Let’s the user know how to properly acquire a specimen and how to prepare the patient for any particular test.

Davis’s Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests - This app guides nurses through procedures for before, during and after the testing. The app also offers answers to questions on how to improve patient care. It also includes information on maternity and nutrition and patient safety and education.

Handbook of Nursing Diagnosis - This handy app allows nurses to give quick and accurate diagnosis. It also helps them to address special needs for a certain population. It also features a Health Promotion and Wellness section.

Medical Calculator – This is an app that offers 55 different medical functions that need either a score or a calculation. Some of the things it can handle are: APGAR Score, Basil Energy Expenditure, Bicarbonate Deficit, CHADS2 Score for Atrial Fibrillation Stroke Risk, Glasgow Coma Scale/Score and 50 functions that help a nurse do her job easier.

Medication Infusion - This app will help calculate the amount of concentration a drug should have for a syringe or IV bag. Some of the drugs that it calculates for are: Amiodarone, Dobutamine, Dopamine, Epinephrine, and nine more drugs.

Vaccines Handbook - This app offers advice on vaccines for children, adults, and particular groups, like travelers. Gives the user point of care information and guidelines on various general vaccines as well as vaccines needed for those leaving the country.

UNIPAC QR - This is a quick reference app for those who are dealing with hospice and palliative medicine. It helps the user with dealing with the critically ill with information on the most up to date pharmaceutical material, ethical issues, regulatory matters, psychosocial aspects of hospice and palliative medicine.

Merck Manual of Patient Symptoms – This is a resource app for those in the medical field, especially good for the nurse practitioner. This app helps them to properly diagnose patients and begin treatment to help alleviate the symptoms that the patient might have. It offers guidelines for patient history, physical examination, interpretation of findings, and testing. It also recommends a variety of treatments and therapeutic plans that includes drugs and dosages that should be used.

ACP Handbook of Women’s Health – This is an extensive app geared to help both doctors and nurses deal with issues regarding a woman’s health. It covers both the psychological and physical things that can affect a woman’s health. This app examines the different female specific medical conditions and how common diseases present themselves differently in women than they present themselves in men. It covers topics from behavior and disorders to substance use and abuse.

Psychosocial Nursing for General Patient – This app is good for both the nurse and students. It helps prepare them for treating a patient that may be suffering from common psychosocial and psychiatric problems that can come with a patients’ medical problems. It also includes information on etiology, assessment, nursing diagnosis and intervention, patient/family education as well as community based care.

MedSurge Notes – This is a guide that will give a nurse a guide for caring for patients that have complicated medical and or surgical conditions. It offers accurate and thorough assessments, immediate interventions, and follow-up care for patients who might run into complications.

Richard Hemby is a writer who regularly writes about online nursing degrees and college related topics for Online College Guru, an online college directory and comparison website.

A website called BookSwim.com lets you rent books, which is great for travel nurses who don’t want to lug around a books to each assignment.

BookSwim.com basically works like Netflix. Below is their instructional overview:

They have a variety of plans available depending on how big of a reader you are:

I haven’t tried it out myself, but if you are a big reader, but don’t like packing and hauling a box of books around on your travel nursing assignment then BookSwim.com is a site you should check out.

Original Question
“Nursing vs Travel nursing?.Hey guys, I am very interested in becoming a nurse to eventually work as a travelling nurse since it since they get sooo many perks. I was wondering what are ur pros and cons of travel nursing and how come more nurses dont do it”

1st Response
“I was interested in this so talked to several nurses who had done travel nursing. The results are that you get zero orientation where you are assigned. YOu are put on the floor,given report, and you are off on your own. You are not told were to find equipment, the special policies of the hospital, just get to work.
One travel nurse stayed on the job for an extended period of time, so once she learned the floor, things came easier. I feel this is putting your liscence in the line, and making it dangerous for both patient and nurse.”

2nd Response
“i read the answer the first nurse gave you. she’s right. the money is great – the travel portion is great and the perks as yoou stated.it’s very difficult if you have children or if your significant other has a job. you really don’t make friends for the short term assignments. working in different places is difficult – rules are different – meds are the same but distribution is different – charting is different. by the time you would be getting used to it – it’s time to move on. try some agency nursing to see if you can get the hang of moving around.”

3rd Response
“Pros=money, getting to see new places
cons: may not be able to have a family with you or solid friendships, stressful being in a new place with new rules, you may not have complete control over where you work.”

4th Response
“I think that if you wan to become a traveling nurse go for it but remember you will always be moving and it can cause problems once you are married and start a family! The good side is i think you get paied more than just being a regular nurse and if you like moving than it is the way to go!”

Here is the link to the original page.

Now, why did I share this conversation? Not to scare you off.

First off I think the first response is a little extreme, but it does show that despite a lot of the great things about travel nursing, it is not for everyone. The type of person you are and your life situation plays a big role in whether or not you are going to enjoy and be successful as a travel nurse.

Because you will be expected to come in and help out right away, (with a little more orientation than the first answer describes) it really takes a nurse with experience, confidence in themselves and skills and a sense of adventure to transition to a successful travel nursing career. It also helps to have that rare combination of being able to be by yourself for long periods of time and being able to easily make new friends.

It also takes a nurse who is the right situation in their life. A younger nurse (with at least two years experience in her specialty) who is unmarried and has no children obviously is a great position to be a traveling nurse since they can pick-up and go to new locations every 13 weeks a lot easier than someone who has those responsibilities.

An older nurse who is enjoying the empty nest lifestyle is also in great position to be a great travel nurse. This is not to say that you can’t enjoy a travel nursing career if you are married or have kids, it just means that you will have to have an understanding family and strong support system and a good travel nursing company that can help you find assignments close enough to your home to not disrupt your family life.

However, if  you are just in love with the idea of travel nursing and have a family there are definitely some options for you it just takes some planning and sacrifice. This past post about travel nursing with your family can give some tips on how to go about it. 

To sum up, don’t let travel nursing scare you. Although you may hear some negatives about it from some nurses, like the one in the conversation above, there are tons of travel nurses out there who love it. But it does take a certain kind of nurse. You just will never know if it is you until you try it.

If you fly to your location, whether you choose to use mass transit or not, there will probably come a time when you will want to rent a car. There are actually a few companies that advertise that they will pay for your car rental while on assignment. While this is true, you should weigh the benefit versus the cost.

While you might have a car provided or reimbursed through your company, as the saying goes, nothing in life is free. If you decide that you will take your company up on the offer of a rental car, be aware that you will not make the same hourly rate as if you declined this option. The difference, in my experience, can be anywhere from $3-$5 an hour, depending on your company.

On that high end, if you multiply $5 an hour, times the average 36 hour week, then multiply it times your 13 week contract, you are looking a over $2000 that could have been in your pocket rather than in a rental car. So, you will have to decide how important it is to have a car available 24/7.

Another option that I discovered when writing my book, is a company called Zipcar. This company offers an alternative to the conventional way we rent automobiles. After signing up for a membership with the company, you can rent a car by day, or, even by the hour! This is perfect for cities like New York or San Francisco where you might only need a vehicle for a few hours to go grocery shopping, but can either walk, or rely on mass transit, to get you to and from work.

Once you have a membership card, you can reserve a car online. The cars are parked in reserve spaces throughout major cities and since the spots are reserved, you never have to worry about having a parking spot when you return. It also means never having to wait at a rental car counter again.

Included in the price are a gas card (to fill up the car at any gas station), insurance, and mileage. To access a car after reserving one, you just hold your card up to a reader in the car and it unlocks the doors and allows the ignition to be start. The keys are hidden inside the car and safe since it can only be accessed by you. Time and mileage is downloaded from the car and simply billed to your account. Right now, the website shows cars in Phoenix renting for $8 an hour on the weekday, and a dollar higher on the weekend.

It’s a great concept and makes it easy to have access to a car in a big city like San Francisco or New York. To check out all the requirements, go to Zipcar.com.

Being prepared sounds simple enough, but have you taken into consideration all the things that you need to do at the beginning of an assignment? The first step is obviously getting there. Do you have all your travel arrangements made and if you are driving, is your car in the shape it needs to be to get you there? Do you also know where you are going? If you are staying in housing provided by your travel company, do you know the exact location and when they are expecting you?

If your travel nursing company is arranging your housing, most companies will allow you to move in the Friday before a Monday start date. I try to arrive by Saturday afternoon at the latest. No matter how lightly you travel, you will need to allow time to unpack and get your things into some sort of order. A pre-assignment weekend also usually includes a trip to the grocery store and a stop some place like Walmart to purchase anything you forgot to pack (shower curtain rings is the thing I always seem to forget).

After getting settled a bit, Sunday should be devoted to making sure you have everything you need for your first day of work. Do you know where you need to be on Monday? Will you be working a day on the unit or will you be in a classroom for orientation? Is the orientation at the hospital or in another location? What time do you need to be there? Do you know exactly how to get there? Do you have all your credentials? (ACLS, BLS, nursing license)

Another thing you could consider is going for a Sunday drive. Drive the route you will take to the hospital; see where you will need to park. Just remember, a drive in Sunday traffic will not be the same as morning or evening rush hour, so allow extra time the first day.

You might also need to set aside time on Sunday to polish up on any information on which you might be tested during your orientation week. Many hospitals have “competencies” or formalized testing such as PBDS.

After you have everything in order, try to take some time for yourself. Do whatever relaxes you: read a book, watch some TV, or listen to music.

Starting a new travel assignment can be stressful, but when managed well, it can be just another normal facet of life on the road.

The Mayo Clinic defines stress as:  a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life. Your brain comes hard-wired with an alarm system for your protection. When your brain perceives a threat, your body releases a burst of hormones to fuel your fight-or-flight response. When the threat is gone, your body returns to normal. Unfortunately, the nonstop stress of modern life means that your alarm system rarely shuts off.

Imagine a whole year with less stress, what could you accomplish? How much better off would you be? So here are 5 most important steps to reduce or relieve stress in your life.

1. HEAL YOUR-SELF: Regular Exercise, A Healthy Diet, Regular Sleep, Moderate to Minimal alcohol intake, and NO SMOKING.

• Getting regular exercise helps you relieve tense muscles and helps you sleep
• It improves blood flow to your brain, bringing additional sugars and oxygen that may be needed when you are thinking intensely
• Exercise can cause release of chemicals called endorphins into your blood stream. These give you a feeling of happiness and positively affect your overall sense of well-being.

Eating Healthy

• When you’re stressed you body needs more of EVERY nutrient, eating a well balanced diet especial rich with B vitamins and calcium will help you
• Studies have shown that the body depletes its stores of nutrients when under stress, mainly protein and the B vitamins as well as vitamins C and A. A deficiency of magnesium, which helps muscles relax, has been linked to “Type A” or high-stress personalities. If you are under prolonged stress or are at risk for hypertension, consume foods high in potassium, such as orange juice, squash, potatoes, apricots, limes, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, and peaches. You also should increase your intake of calcium, which is found in yogurt, cheese, tofu, and chick- peas.r body cope with the lactic acid that can build up in your muscles.
• Try to maintain a diet of mostly whole (unprocessed) foods. Stay away from caffeine (coffee, tea, cola, chocolate), which causes nervousness and inhibits sleep if too much is ingested. Caffeine causes a fight-or- flight response in your body and uses up your reserves of the B vitamins, which are important in coping with stress. Alcohol also depletes your body’s B vitamins, and can disrupt sleep and impair your judgment or clarity of thought. Avoid sugar. It provides no essential nutrients and can cause an immediate “high” followed by a prolonged “low.”   For more ideas on a healthy diet visit HolisticOnline.com
• For GREAT and HEALTHY meal ideas visit FoodNetwork.com and click on “Healthy Eating Section”

Get More Sleep.

• I know it’s seems hard but this could be as simple as, moving the TV and/or the computer out of the bedroom.  I know that may sound crazy but it’s not like you’re throwing them away just moving them to a different room, come on you can do it!
• Going to bed at a decent hour.  What do you really have to gain after the 10 o’clock news…besides bags under your eyes?
• Having a bedtime routine.  We have them for our children…why can we have one as well.  Following a nightly routine prepares your body and your mind for sleep.
• Power nap (30-45 min rest period) during the day like during your lunch break to energize you for the second part of your day.

Take Time-out for yourself

• Taking time for yourself can reduce stress tremendously.  It makes you feel better about who you are and helps you to treat others better as well.
• Taking time for yourself can be as simple as catching up on your favorite book, taking a bubble bath, doing a crossword puzzle, or taking a drive.
• Or you can be a little more extravagant by going to a nice dinner by yourself (no worries on what to cook  or any messy clean up afterwards), going to a movie by yourself, spending the day at a day spa (Facial, Massage, manicure, pedicure), or taking a quick weekend getaway, maybe to a Bed and Breakfast or a Short Cruise.  Either way time for yourself to reboot and relax, unwind and enjoy the little things in life instead of worrying about them.

2. GET ORGANIZED

• Physical clutter can remind us of things that need to be done and that’s stressful.  Remove the physical clutter can help remove some of your mental clutter and will help you feel more organized
• Start in your bedroom!  This is a place where you sleep and relax!  How can you relax if it’s filled with clutter?
• Take the things that are broken and THROW THEM AWAY.  If they’ve been broken for more than a month odds are you probably aren’t going to fix it, so get rid of it.
• Clean out your closets.  The rule is if you haven’t worn it in 1 year, get rid of it!  Donate it to Goodwill , a local shelter, or church.
• Organize your laundry.  Instead of piling up dirty clothes, put them in bins or baskets to keep them out of site and off the floor.

3. BE POSITIVE

• Love yourself
• Use positive words, pleasing thoughts and affirming beliefs to live the life you want to live.
• A smile is contagious so smile more.

4. SURROUND YOURSELF WIT A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY

• Surrounding yourself with positive supportive people will help you destress by having someone to trust to talk to when you are feeling overwhelmed.
• People who accept your the way you are will keep your stress down b/c you don’t have to put on a front or pretend to be something your not.  YOU CAN SIMPLY BE YOURSELF.
• People who lift you up and make you feel better about yourself.
• Try to avoid people who constantly gossip or complain. 

5. LEARN TO SAY “NO”

• Simply saying “No.” or “No, thank you.” can keep you stress free by not over committing yourself to to may things. 
• Saying “No.” will also keep you in control of your life instead of having people tell you what to do or what you should do.
• BOTTOM LINE…YOU’LL BE HAPPIER!

Using these simple steps or suggestions will help keep your stress levels in check.  Try it out for a month and see what happens.  You can visit The Top 10 Steps to DeStress for a complete list of stress relieving ideas and like always feel free to write and add your own ideas for how you deal with stress.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Jaylee

There were actually some sites talked about that I have not seen yet that I need to look at. Which can show you just how many resources are actually out there to help you start, survive and thrive during your travel nursing career.

The areas they rated were:

General Nursing
Travel Nursing
Finding a Job
Travel Nurses in Training
Travel
Moving and Settling In
Making New Friends and Keeping Old Ones
Medical Advocacy
Blogging and Journaling

Oh, and I am happy to see that Travel Nursing Blogs.com made the list!

If you have been a nurse for awhile, there is a good possibility that you have invested in some sort of home. Whether it is a condo or a house, having either does not mean that you are unable to travel. Plus, there can be some very nice benefits to owning a home and being a travel nurse.

Despite owning a large condo in Ohio, I still continue to travel anywhere from six to eleven months out of the year.  To leave a home sit empty for a few months is not a big deal, but to have a home that will be vacant for six to twelve months at a time takes some forethought.

How much attention you will need to devote to you home while away on a travel assignment will depend on the area of the country in which your home is located. Ohio has the best to offer in regard to weather extremes. It can be hot and muggy in the summer, rainy in the spring, and freezing cold in the winter. All these forces of nature can take their toll on a home and if yours is located in such a state, you will need to have someone take care of the maintenance while you are on the road.

The easiest imposition by far is that of relatives. Dear old mom or dad will be happy to take care of things for you, won’t they? While relatives and friends can ease some of the burden, too large an imposition can strain relationships. It is best to budget for being able to pay people for the work they will do in maintaining your home for you. Not all those who help take care of your home need to be professionals, but you should be able to compensate those who devote time to maintaining your home.

To own a condo takes away some of the burden because I know that the grass will always be mowed and the streets will be cleared in the winter (by my condo association). However, I still have my father check in on things when Ohio has a spell of bad weather.

If you have friends or family that can keep an eye on things, it always helps ease some of the stress of leaving your home sit vacant. If not, hire those that can tend to the maintenance while you are away. Also always remember to forward your mail and cancel any paper deliveries that might tip people off that you are not at home. Lastly, consider an alarm system for added peace of mind (and also a deduction on your homeowner’s insurance).

In my next post, we’ll talk about some of the advantages of owning a home when you travel.

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When you accept an assignment, it is usually in a place where you want to see the sites and experience what the area has to offer. This will often lead a person to study up on the location and map out the attractions they want to see. However, you must also remember to map out the places that will be a necessity on your assignment, like the grocery store. If you plan ahead, you’ll know right where to find one. Looking up directions to grocery stores, gas stations, hair or tanning salons, and electronic or houseware stores before you arrive can help you familiarize yourself with the city of your new assignment.

Remember to include not only the places that you think you will need, but also the places that you hopefully will not need such as auto repair shops, local insurance agents, doctors, or emergent care centers.

To find detailed directions to just about anything, the Internet will probably be your biggest asset. In addition to mapping out routes to the places you will need, use a site like Google Maps to take a peak at an overview of the city. This will help you to see how the city is laid out and if there are areas that may be tricky to navigate.

Most of these functions can also be done on a GPS unit. You can now find GPS units for under $100 and for the frequent traveler, they are invaluable. Just be sure to update the maps in your unit about every six months or at least every year. If you do not have GPS, you can always purchase a street guide to the city once you arrive (usually available at any gas station convenience store).

Whether you use today’s modern technology (Internet and GPS), or still prefer to “kick it ol’ school” (maps and city guides), a little pre-assignment planning can certainly remove one of the stressors of starting a new travel nursing assignment.

Sure you can always rely on the permanent nurses at the hospital where your travel nursing assignment is, which is great. As locals they probably know who to go to and who to stay away from, but for those times when they are not around or you don’t have a chance to do your own research, then check out Angie’s List. It is a consumer review site where actual people like you, not anonymous marketers in disguise, review local services like:
 
HOME
Carpet Cleaning
Electrical
Handymen
Heating & A/C
Housecleaning
Painting
Plumbing
Remodeling
Roofing
Windows

OUTDOOR
Bicycles
Fencing
Landscaping
Lawn Irrigation
Lawn Mower Repair
Lawn Treatment
Lawn & Yard Work
Mulch & Topsoil
Pool & Spa Service
Tree Service

HEALTH
Dentists
Dermatologists
Elder Care
Hospitals
OBGYN
Ophthalmologists
Pediatricians
Plastic Surgeons
Primary Care
Psychiatrists

AND MUCH MORE…
Catering
Child Care
Dance Instruction
Fitness Centers
Hair Salon/Barbers
Jewelery Sales & Repair
Limousine Service
Manicures/Pedicures
Massage Therapy

You do have to pay but the cost is not all that much ($20 a year at the most or $2.60 a month) really. If you are career travel nurse, it is just another service you need to make your travel nursing life easier. 

They have a quick tour and an extensive FAQ section you can take a look at before you decide if it is for you, but I definitely recommend taking a look if you are not one of those fortunate travel nurses who have zero of life’s little problems on their travel nursing assignments.

As travel nurses you know that there may be times when you are between assignments, whether it is because of the current economy, you just need a breather or are just having a hard time finding the perfect travel nursing job, well this site just might be of help. It is written and managed by three nurses and offers advice on careers, life, bling, nursing school, and scholarships. So you can see it has a broad appeal to nurses of all ages and stages in their careers. It is a nursing website definitely worth checking out. Let me know what you think.

Earlier this year, I was told by the facility at which I worked that they would no longer be accepting contracts from outside agencies. So, everyone who was interested in staying for another contract would have to leave, OR, we could entertain another option, join the hospital’s travel agency.

You see, the hospital in which I worked was part of a large healthcare system that operated in a number of states, so they had formed their own travel company. As a way to cut out the middleman, and cut their costs for employing travelers, they mandated that everyone who wanted to stay would have to join THEIR travel company.

Now if a facility only wants to use travelers from their own travel agency, I suppose it is their right. However, there were quite a few travelers already working in my unit from various companies. All the travelers who were working with outside agencies had already signed an agreement, with those individual agencies, that we would only take subsequent assignments or extensions with that company. What the hospital was asking us to do was ignore those agreements and sign a subsequent contract with the hospital’s travel agency (I take that back; they weren’t asking).

Most of us liked working there and wanted to stay, but in order to do so, we had to turn our backs on our travel companies and join the hospital’s agency. If we had been with the company for a long time, we were giving up any loyalty bonuses and also vested retirement plans. That is to say nothing of the guilt that many of us felt telling our recruiters that we were going elsewhere with a different company (when in fact, we were not).

If you have been a traveler long enough, you know that most managers cannot even ask you to stay for an extension of your contract (they say it is “recruiting”). A manager at this same facility told me this very thing a few years ago when I had worked a few contracts for them. I guess when the hospital was later acquired by a large healthcare system, they changed the playbook.

Sometimes the world is a crappy place and big business often prevails. Now if I had gone on to do a few assignments with the hospital’s travel agency, I might have just chalked it up to the way life can be sometimes. However, to add insult to injury, most all of us travelers did one assignment with the hospital’s agency, and were then told that the facility was looking to phase out travelers. Yes, but they have hospitals all over right? They do, but when most of us called our recruiters at the healthcare facility travel agency, we were told that they had no positions available in the half dozen or so states in which they operate. So yes, we all left companies, with which many of us had worked with for years, to take ONE travel assignment with a hospital travel agency that put us all out to pasture after saving a few bucks.

I wrote this post, not to bitch, but to hopefully serve as a cautionary tale to anyone faced with the same situation. Can I say that ALL healthcare system based travel companies will operate this way? Certainly not, but when saving money is a primary motivator, and not necessarily placing that traveler in future assignments, you have to look long and hard at whether or not you want to leave a company that you trust (even to stay in a location you like, just a bit longer).

Please leave a comment below if you have any cautionary tales for other travelers about what things hospitals are doing in this economy that may not be for the good of the traveler.

If you have ever been asked that question and looked at the possibilities of all the cities you could be a travel nurse in and thought, where do I begin to come up with my dream assignment. Well, I just came across this cool website, FindYourSpot.com. It is a pretty comprehensive site that takes you through a series of eight pages of questions based around your interests and tells you what city you should live in.

The questions cover:

Weather

Culture

Public Services Availability

Outdoor Activities

Size and Public Safety and Geography

Social Involvement

Faith

Housing/Rent Costs

At the end you are asked for some basic information and if you are interested in some advertising offers, but the payoff is a list of 24 cities (that is about 6 years worth of travel nursing jobs) that are ideal cities for you to live in based on your personality and interests. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

It works a lot like Yahoo!’s Upcoming, (which I talked about in my last post) with the ability to rate events and add them to your to do list. But it also adds in the ability to look for businesses, restaurants and activities in different cities all across the country.

Again, test it out and see if it makes your next travel nursing job a little more organized and fun.

When first deciding what to take with you, try to anticipate how long you will be there. If you start an assignment in Northern California in the summer, you might get away with shorts and tee shirts; however, if you extend into the fall/winter, you will very likely require jeans and sweaters and possibly cold weather attire. The length of your stay can also affect the toys you might take. For example, if your assignment in Colorado starts in late spring, you might pack your tent and all your hiking gear. However, if you extend your assignment into the fall or winter, you might want to also pack your skis as well.

Once you have accounted for the time you might spend in any given location, consider where you will be staying. If you are staying with a friend or relatives, you might not need a lot. However, if you will be moving into an apartment, you need to consider even the smallest things like shower curtain rings.

When you first confirm your assignment, start making a list. Keep it somewhere handy so that you can add to it as you think of things. On your first few assignments, you will undoubtedly take too much. Eventually you will learn what things you cannot do without and what things you can leave behind to allow a little extra space in your car (to fit all the crap that you inevitably acquire while on assignment).

After your first few assignments you will fine tune your list and hopefully have one less concern when it comes time to pack up again.