Alaska has added more than 11,000 health care jobs in the last decade. But they’re still seeing a shortage of nurses, especially in specialized areas like operating room nursing, according to this story on the KTVA website. There are an abundance of Alaskans who are qualified to take entry-level positions in nursing. The director of the University of Alaska – Anchorage’s School of Nursing, Barbara Berner, says that her school alone graduates about 200 new nurses per year, while the… Continue reading
Category Archives: Travel Nursing
Tips for Travel Nurses on Going Green
Travel nursing can be exciting, challenging, and rewarding, but it can also be a little rough on the environment. The San Francisco Chronicle’s website has a list of tips for reducing your carbon footprint. These suggestions are geared towards travel nurses, travel therapists, and other mobile healthcare professionals who wish to be more green while on assignment. On average, American commuters traveled 25-minutes to and from work each day in 2009 or 50 minutes per day, according to the American… Continue reading
Helping Foreign Nurses Receive Certification Quickly
An organization is helping foreign nurses get certification quickly so they can begin to practice in Canada. The organization, called the CARE Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses, has been around for about a decade. Even nurses who have had a complete education and plenty of experience have had to start four-year training programs all over again once they relocate to Canada. CARE is doing something about that. “You can easily go back into nursing within one year or two years,”… Continue reading
Keeping Nurse Labor Costs Down
This article in Health Leaders Media has an interesting perspective from hospitals regarding controlling nurse labor costs. It lays out a three-pronged approach to reduce personnel costs for nurses; a new approach to nurse overtime, use of supplemental labor such as from nursing agencies or from an in-house nursing pool, and focusing on retention efforts rather than going through the time and expense of finding and hiring a replacement. The “Effective use of Supplemental Labor” section discusses the need for… Continue reading
Nurses Tend to Stick Close to Home
A study has found that nurses tend to find work that is close to the nursing school that they graduated from. This means that areas without nursing schools — such as rural areas — tend to have a harder time finding nurses. And if there aren’t enough nurses to go around, that has serious implications for the health of the people who live in those areas. The study found that more than half of all nurses work within 40 miles… Continue reading
Advantages of Being a Travel Nurse
There are many benefits to being a travel nurse, including increased income, opportunities to grow professionally, and of course to be able to travel all over the world! Continue reading
A Nurse Agency Can Be a Valuable Resource
Nurse agencies can help in many ways, from offering insight into the profession to helping you negotiate the best possible job terms. Continue reading
Nurse Licensure Compact 101
Nurse Licensure Compacts allow nurses who live in one participating state to practice nursing in another participating state without needing to get a new license for that state. Continue reading
Debt Default Could Impact Health Care
If the debt ceiling is not raised, there are likely to be serious consequences for health care. Continue reading
Traveling Nursing Jobs
Editor: Today’s post is from a guest RN writing about her experiences in travel nursing. I have recently been considering a travel nursing job. I love to travel and there are parts of the country that I have yet to see. I have known a few travel nurses, and they all say the same thing, “I love it!” Never one to get stuck in a rut, I decided to do a little research. I searched the internet and found a… Continue reading