With another COVID surge happening, the crisis contracts for traveling healthcare workers are popping up in all of the hot-spots again. However, crisis contracts do not necessarily pertain specifically to COVID, although they have become much more prominent since the beginning of the pandemic. Crisis contracts can come up anytime when a certain area has a sudden pertinent and large need for more help from healthcare workers. This can occur from natural disasters, hospital systems going on strike, and just a sudden mass exodus from healthcare workers at a given hospital or healthcare system causing a sudden demand of travelers to come fill the staffing needs. Either way, if you are thinking of picking up a crisis contracts, here are some things to look for and consider:
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One of the biggest things that sets travel therapists apart from travel nurses is that, while nurses require at least 1-2 years of experience prior to traveling, therapists can start right out of school as new grads! As travel therapists, you can have freedom and flexibility right out of school to explore the country, try out different settings (inpatient, acute, outpatient, pediatrics, SNF, home health), earn more money, have the option to pay off student loans quicker, etc. But there’s also varying opinions about starting out this way, with many professors and other practicing therapists cautioning against it - things said like: “You won’t have enough experience yet,” or “You won’t get any mentorship”. So, which path should you take? To extend, or not to extend?! You've found your dream assignment and have decided that you want to extend, but don't know where to start. When should you ask for an extension? Should you ask for more money? Is there an opportunity for you to extend? Extending your contract can feel like a daunting process, but it doesn't have to be. Here are five key steps in preparing for an extension on your current or future assignments: Woohoo! You’ve scored your travel contract and you’re ready to start organizing everything you
need on your adventure. Instantly, you think of creating a checklist, but you realize you’re not sure what to take. Look no further, Christine over at NurseRX has created a healthcare traveler checklist to help you cutout the hassle of figuring it out yourself. When I started my travel nursing journey in 2014, I never thought that a shy guy like me would actually leave my home state to travel to a remote island 5,974 miles off the coast of California. Four years into my travel nursing career I was presented with the unique opportunity to take an assignment on the 125km beach island known as Guam. My first reaction was, “Where’s Guam and can I work as a nurse in a foreign country?” Little did I know, Guam is actually a United States territory and as healthcare professionals we are allowed to travel and work on these highly desired (mostly tropical) locations to fill short term staffing needs. So how do you become a traveler in one of these amazing locations? Here are 6 steps when picking out your next U.S. territory destination. The night-shift has its perks and its challenges. Some nurses have to work the night shift, some nurses could never even imagine being a night owl. For a crew of some pretty awesome, gritty, and sleepy nurses, night shift is home! As night shift nurses, we can usually tell how our shift is going to start out just by looking at the nurse giving us report! If their water bottle is full, their hair is pulled up in an extra messy bun, and they have that, “I just did 12 million things today” look on their face, it’s probably going to be a rough night. The night shift crew is pretty tight though! We’re able to knock-out all the tasks and have fun doing it, especially when the 4am delirium sets in and everyone starts giggling over random things because you’re the kind of tired that makes everything hilarious. 1. What are my shift requirements/ start times? It is important to know whether or not you are going to be scheduled for day or night shift. You should identify this in the initial conversation with your hiring manager and then have it transcribed into your contract before you sign. Clarify if you are working 36 or 48 hours and if those hours are guaranteed. Finally, ensure your start times. Not every hospital runs shifts 7-7. Some are 8 hours,10 hours or are from 6-6. |
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