9 Points of Debate Between Travel Nursing Companies over the MSP Model

The debate over Managed Service Providers in travel nursing and healthcare staffing heated up in June of 2013 when opposing sides exchanged barbs on The Staffing Stream. Colleen Mills, a Senior VP for the National Healthcare Staffing Alliance wrote a piece urging small and mid-sized travel nursing companies to “Take a stand on VMS/MSP”. Days later, Bob Livonius, President of Workforce Solutions at AMN Healthcare, took exception and urged healthcare staffing agencies to “Work Together to Embrace Best Practices with MSPs.” This is an important topic with major implications for travel nurses, travel allied professionals, and Locum Tenens.  Read more

7 Things to Know about Travel Nursing in Florida

It’s possible that Florida utilizes more travel nurses, travel healthcare professionals, and temporary healthcare professionals than any other state in the nation. The high volume of travel nursing jobs in Florida is driven largely by the state’s seasonal population fluxes. As you may be aware, Florida experiences annual population spikes as “snow birds” migrate south from the colder northern states between October and May. Read more

Travel Nursing in Texas

Texas is often flush with open travel nursing assignments. With approximately 8% of the nation’s population, there are plenty of hospitals in the state. Travel nurses will find jobs in big cities like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin as well as rural settings and smaller cities like El Paso and Brownsville. Texas is a great destination for several reasons. Understanding some of the basics of the Texas travel nursing job market will help you formulate a strategy. Read more

Travel Nursing In California

California is a prime destination for travel nurses, and why wouldn’t it be? The state has some of the nation’s best beaches, skiing, cities, and national parks. It’s also home to 10% of the nation’s population. Where there are more people, there are more hospitals and more travel nursing jobs. California also has strict RN to Patient Staffing Ratios which serves to increase the overall need for RNs. But just because California seems wide open for assignments doesn’t mean it should be approached willy-nilly. There are vast differences across the state and understanding these differences will help set expectations and allow travel nurses to formulate a strategy. Read more

4 Great Uses for Nursing “Skills Checklists”

Healthcare professionals face a unique and difficult challenge when measuring and conveying their skill sets. This is largely due to the vast array of skills that encompass a given healthcare specialty. Consider the difference between the skill sets of a general professional, like a sales professional, and a healthcare professional, like an ICU nurse. While I’m sure that the sales professional could develop a nice list of desirable skills, I’m positive that this list would in no way compare to the voluminous list of diagnostic, equipment, medication, procedural, age related, and condition related skills that the ICU nurse must maintain. Attempting to measure and track these skills or convey them to potential employers may seem futile for the healthcare professional. However, “Skills Checklists” can be useful tools for accomplishing these goals. Read more

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How to Land the Highest Paying Travel Nursing Jobs and Make the Most Money as a Travel Nurse

The highest paying travel nursing jobs are elusive. Moreover, there are several nuances you need to know about if you want to know how to make the most money as a travel nurse. In this article, we’ll categorize the highest paying travel nursing jobs and provide tips for landing them so you can make more money as a travel nurse. Read more

Why Travel Nurses Should Control Their Travel Nursing Submission Profiles

As a travel nurse, gaining control over your Submission Profile is a great way to gain control over your travel nursing career. A Submission Profile is the set of documents that an agency is required to submit to a hospital in order for the agency’s candidate to be considered for an open job. The standard Submission Profile includes a resume, a job application, a skills checklist, and references. Hospitals will almost never accept a candidate for consideration without an up-to-date Submission Profile. Read more