As we’ve mentioned previously, travel nursing companies need to have contracts with hospitals in order to send their travel nurses and other healthcare professionals there for work. These contracts take many forms. But like any contract, they can be voided if the terms are breached. When this happens, travel nurses are often left wondering what will happen to them. Read more
For the vast majority of travel nurses, there will come a time when they need to request time off during a travel nursing contract. While requesting time off as a travel nurse is certainly a common occurrence, it’s also a tricky situation due to the unique nature of the working relationship between the hospital, the agency, and the traveler. Reviewing all of the factors at play will help travelers gain a better understanding of the issues in order to formulate the best game-plan. Read more
Many travel nurses wonder whether or not they should negotiate a travel nursing pay package prior to being submitted by their agency for an assignment. My experience indicates that the vast majority of travelers believe that pay should indeed be negotiated prior to submission. However, standing firm on this requirement can diminish a travel nurse’s options and negotiating power.
Labor and Delivery (L&D) nurses care for and monitor mothers and babies during labor and birth. L&D is regularly considered one of the most in demand travel nursing specialties. However, there are several issues regarding the L&D travel job market that L&D nurses interested in travel nursing should be aware of in order to properly set expectations and plan accordingly. Read more
According to the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, critical care nursing is a specialty that deals specifically with human responses to life-threatening problems. This definition casts a very wide net that could include ER, ICU, CCU, CVICU, PCU, SDU and potentially other nursing units. This blog post will focus on travel nursing jobs in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or Critical Care Unit (CCU), which we’ll collectively refer to as ICU from here on. Understanding the general landscape of ICU travel nursing will help ICU nurses get the most out of their experience. Read more
Like most specialties found in acute care hospitals, there is demand for Medical Surgical travel nursing candidates. Medical Surgical nursing was once considered an entry-level position where nurses could hone the basics before entering a more specialized field. However, Medical Surgical nursing evolved to require the mastery of so many skills that it is now considered a distinct specialty.
Despite the fact that Medical Surgical nursing jobs represent a significant percentage of all nursing jobs, Medical Surgical travel jobs can sometimes be sparse and are often quite competitive to land. Understanding the factors at play will help medical surgical nurses set their expectations and formulate a game-plan to get the most out of their time as travel nurses. Read more
Skills checklists are self assessment tools utilized by healthcare employers and healthcare professionals for gauging a healthcare professional’s skill set within a particular healthcare specialty. Healthcare employers often require potential job candidates and new-hires to complete them. They are a standard requirement for employment with travel nursing agencies and healthcare staffing agencies of all types. Skills checklists can also be very useful for healthcare professionals interested in determining their own expertise within their healthcare specialty, for identifying areas of future career growth, and for getting an edge in the hiring process. BluePipes provides members with free access to over 100 comprehensive skills checklists which can be completed, saved, downloaded as a PDF file and utilized at the member’s discretion. Below is a sample BluePipes skills checklist for an ICU nurse. Join BluePipes today; it’s free and easy! Read more
