The #LightItBlue Campaign: Coming Together to Thank Essential Workers
The #LightItBlue initiative launched nationwide to show united support for all the frontline staff and essential workers confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, including the courageous healthcare professionals working tirelessly to care for the influx of patients. The idea was based from the United Kingdom and will soon be launched globally. On April 9 at 8pm local time, communities, businesses, city skylines and venues transformed blue in support of the #LightItBlue campaign and the essential workers. Social media is filled with inspiring photos and videos of support from across the country. Below are a few of our favorite finds. Anyone can get involved and share their positive messages of support using the hashtags #LightItBlue, #MakeItBlue and #StayAtHome. For more information, visit:http://makeitblue.us Dallas, TX Dallas is lighting up the night to honor all frontline and essential workers. Thank you all for working tirelessly everyday during this unprecedented time. 🙏💙 #LightItBlue #MakeItBlue pic.twitter.com/J4Ucm9XFxf — Visit_Dallas (@visit_dallas) April 10, 2020 St. Louis, MO View this post on Instagram Tonight, we are lighting the St. Louis Wheel blue in solidarity with our healthcare workers and those on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thank you for all that you do. 💙 #lightitblue A post shared by The St. Louis Wheel (@stlouiswheel) on Apr 9, 2020 at 5:47pm PDT Washington, DC View this post on Instagram Landmarks around the DC metropolitan area were illuminated tonight with blue lights to honor those who are on the front lines fighting COVID-19 and to all of those essential workers who are risking their lives to keep this country moving. _ _ #photography #April #Thursday #instaphoto #instagramer #dcist #dmv365 #washingtonDC #maryland #virginia #nationalharbor #igdc #potomacriver #dcchasers #weclickdc #socialdistancing #covid19 #stayathome #stayhome #lightitblue #CapitalWheel #FirstResponders #nurses #doctors #grocerystoreworkers #custodial #thankyou #essentialworkers A post shared by SoloWanderer (@world_travel_party) on Apr 9, 2020 at 7:14pm PDT Scottsdale, AZ Tonight, Impulsion, our magnificent public art at WestWorld, will honor all the frontline workers who are tirelessly facing down the COVID-19 pandemic. #LightItBlue #Scottsdale #StayHome pic.twitter.com/ydQetYXLeh — City of Scottsdale (@scottsdaleazgov) April 10, 2020 Seattle, WA View this post on Instagram For all the essential workers, landmarks across the country were lit up in blue as a way of showing support. Go wash your hands. • • • • #lightitblue #spaceneedle #makeitblue #emeraldcity #sonyimages #bevisuallyinspired #moods_in_frame #shotzdelight #bealpha #visualambassadors #sonyalpha #seattle #night_owlz #upperleftusa #westbysouthwest #curiocityseattle #pnw_shooters #igtones #kiro7 #komo4 #nightshooters #captureperfection #urbanromantix #visitseattle #seattlewashington #visualgrams #northwestisbest #sonyalphasclub #creativetones #wegotthisseattle A post shared by Wolf (@wolfmercuryphotography) on Apr 10, 2020 at 9:13am PDT — LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) April 9, 2020 AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX Thank you to all the frontline workers for your continued efforts during this unprecedented period. The @DallasCowboys support the #LightItBlue movement to shine a light on those who are working tirelessly every day! pic.twitter.com/kuWWrDgNuR — AT&T Stadium (@ATTStadium) April 10, 2020 PNC Park – Pittsburg, PA Tonight, we #LightItBlue at PNC Park in support of healthcare professionals and essential workers around the world. pic.twitter.com/gloJjSPcA0 — Pirates (@Pirates) April 10, 2020 Gillette Stadium – Boston, MA View this post on Instagram A post shared by New England Patriots (@patriots) on Apr 9, 2020 at 6:30pm PDT Universal Studios Hollywood – Universal City, CA We salute the heroic efforts of first responders and frontline employees throughout the U.S. who are working tirelessly during these unprecedented times. As part of the #MakeItBlue initiative, we light up the sky with 26 moving beams of blue lights in honor of these individuals. pic.twitter.com/5CW93PvY1l — Universal Studios Hollywood (@UniStudios) April 10, 2020 Amazon’s Seattle Campus We joined buildings across the U.S. to #MakeItBlue tonight, illuminating the Spheres on our Seattle campus with blue light in a show of support for those on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. #LightItBlue pic.twitter.com/CToMEniyx9 — Amazon News (@amazonnews) April 10, 2020 Texas A&M University – College Station, TX #LightItBlue 💙 | #GigEm 👍 pic.twitter.com/vXxt2QF46y— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) April 10, 2020 Baylor Univesity – Waco, TX To all the healthcare professionals and essential workers caring for us on the front lines – THANK YOU! 👏 McLane Stadium shines blue to show our support and gratitude. #LightItBlue 💙 pic.twitter.com/kPqBX4aVdw — Baylor Athletics (@BaylorAthletics) April 10, 2020 UCLA University – Los Angeles, CA View this post on Instagram Thank you to all our first responders, healthcare workers and essential staff battling the front lines of COVID-19! #LightItBlue A post shared by Rose Bowl Stadium (@rosebowlstadium) on Apr 9, 2020 at 8:07pm PDT
Healthcare Travelers and Packing: What to Store and What to Throw Out
By Alex McCoy, Contributing Writer, Owner of Fit Travel Life As a traveler, it can be extremely daunting trying to figure out what to pack for your very first assignment. I promise it will get easier as you go along, and you will most likely get tired of lugging huge amounts of stuff around and therefore naturally trim down what you actually take with you from place to place. Sometimes the more difficult part is deciding what to do with the stuff you leave behind. Realistically most people will not be able to get rid of every single thing they own that does not fit into their car before they take their first traveling assignment. This is usually okay because you also need to maintain a tax home to keep your tax free stipends, so a lot of travelers store more important possessions in the room or space they rent at their tax home. Deciding what is worth keeping and what to sell or donate can be a very difficult decision and will vary depending on each person and their plans for their travel nursing career. How long you plan to travel and how much space you have to store items at home will have a huge impact on what you should keep. The most extreme approach to whittling down possessions is to either sell or donate everything you will not be using while on assignment. This can be helpful if you need to save up money to help you put down deposits or cover travel expenses on your way to your first assignment. Doing so also alleviates the need to find a place to store your stuff while you travel which will likely save you money in the long run. If possible you could store a few personal possessions or keepsakes at your tax home so you don’t have to take those types of things back and forth across the country. If you aren’t quite sure if travel nursing is going to be a long term career choice for you, being more conservative with your cleanout may be a better approach. Repurchasing large pieces of furniture and multiple household goods can really add up if you have to buy it all at once when you decide to go permanent. One thing to consider is the cost vs benefit of renting a place to store big pieces while you aren’t using them. One thing we did was check the cost of local storage units. Then, we totaled the cost of replacing most of what we were considering storing. If the cost of what you are storing is less than what you would pay overtime for a storage unit, it may be more reasonable to get rid of the majority of your stuff before hitting the road. There are also a few items I would definitely NOT recommend storing. Any extra clothes or shoes can most likely be donated or sold. You will be surprised how few clothes you need once you get the hang of packing, and you’re not likely to go back and look for more to add to your collection. I would also not recommend storing any linens or pillows. Unless you have really, really expensive items you want to hang on to, plan on replacing these when you go back to a permanent position. Bring your favorite pillow and blanket and find a new home for the rest. Cheap or mismatched kitchen items are usually not worth keeping either. If you are still hanging on to plastic plates from your college apartment or random dollar store utensils, now is a great time to get rid of them. If you don’t truly love an item or it doesn’t “go” with everything else, time to pass it along to a new home. For some, the pull to hang on to your worldly possessions may be a hard one to overcome. If you are nervous about what to get rid of you could always plan to come back after an assignment or two and reevaluate what you are keeping. One of the best parts about travel nursing is you can take extended time off if you want to, so you could plan some time to visit home and cut down on your storage if you decide to stretch out your travel career. Personally we got rid of a huge amount of stuff both before we started traveling and when we came home to have a baby. We were lucky and were able to store our stuff for free, so we weren’t as pressured to whittle our possessions down before we left. When we came home we were shocked at what we had deemed worth keeping before we had left. Even if you are not a minimalist yet, there is a shift in priorities once you dive into the travel world. Most people find that their “baggage” often causes more stress than it is worth. In general, most travelers are fortunate to replace anything they might really regret getting rid of, but you’ll be surprised how little you actually miss once it is gone. Alex McCoy currently works as a pediatric travel nurse. She has a passion for health and fitness, which led her to start Fit Travel Life in 2016. She travels with her husband, their cat, Autumn and their dog, Summer. She enjoys hiking, lifting weights, and trying the best local coffee and wine. << Top 5 Most Popular Places to Work as a Traveler
Update: Indiana to Effectively Join the Nurse Licensure Compact July 1, 2020
Update February 20, 2020: The Indiana State Board of Nursing announced its full implementation of the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC) will be effective July 1, 2020. This comes one year later than what was initially expected and more than a year after legislation was passed to join the compact. Beginning July 1, 2020, Indiana nurses will be able to start applying for their multistate licenses and out of state nurses who hold a compact license will be able to practice within the state. In the Fall 2019 edition of NCSBN’s In Focus publication, a representative of the Indiana State Board of Nursing (ISBN) wrote: “Board members and staff are making substantial progress putting into place the technical and administrative updates necessary for multistate licenses to be issued. At the same time, ISBN is also working closely with state and national stakeholders, including NCSBN, to institute a seamless application process.” For updates and future resources about Indiana’s full implementation into the NLC, visit www.in.gov/pla/nursing.htm. Indiana lawmakers passed compact nursing license legislation during this year’s General Assembly, which ended last Wednesday. The bill allows for the Indiana State Board of Nursing to issue compact nursing licenses and allows nurses and licensed practical nurses who already have their compact license to practice in Indiana. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill into law on Monday, according to data from StateScape. Indiana is the 32nd state to join the enhanced Nursing Licensure Compact, narrowly beating out Alabama in passing an eNLC bill into law. The new compact law will take effect on July 1, 2019, according to the bill’s text. Nurses and licensed practical nurses applying for a compact nursing license must pay $25 in addition to any other standard licensing fees. The bill is expected to cut down on the amount of time it takes for nurses outside of Indiana to start working in the state. Currently, it can take several weeks for a non-Indiana nurse to obtain a single-state license. Larry Jenkins, a client advisor for LiquidAgents Healthcare who frequently works with Indiana healthcare facilities, said the bill passing could greatly help hospitals fill travel jobs faster and more efficiently. “Indiana has a ton of jobs available, but it can be a struggle to fill them because they were not a compact state, and not a lot of nurses I see have their Indiana license,” Jenkins said. “This will be really helpful to get more candidates to Indiana. “I also see a lot of people from Kentucky [with a compact license] who want to work in Indiana, so this will be helpful for them as well.” House Rep. Ed Clere introduced the bill and has advocated for Indiana to join the compact since last year. After a legislative study session over the summer, the bill quickly gained support during the 2019 General Assembly and passed the House in January. “It’s important legislation for our area,” Clere told the News and Tribune. “It came to me about three years ago, and Hosparus Health and Baptist Health Floyd are two regional organizations that identified this as a top legislative priority. There are countless other providers that supported it and will benefit from it. It will help providers address workforce challenges and will improve access to quality health care.” Supporters of the bill hope this will address gaps in nursing service across the Indiana-Kentucky state line, which was a issue frequently brought up to push legislators to support the bill. “This is particularly important to border communities like Floyd County, where a nurse might live in Louisville and work in New Albany or vice versa,” the Indiana Chamber, a statewide business advocacy group, said in a press release. “For proponents, this is both a workforce and quality of care issue.” Editor’s note: This story will be updated as more information about the process for obtaining an Indiana compact nursing license becomes available. Additionally, the original story stated the bill became law without a signature from Gov. Eric Holcomb. Holcomb signed the bill on the date the story was published, so it has been updated to reflect that information.
Starting a Family as a Travel Nurse
By Alex McCoy, Contributing Writer, Owner of Fit Travel Life As travel nursing has gotten a little easier with the development of technology, the idea of who can work as a traveler has also shifted. The general belief is that to travel you must be single, without children, and unlikely to “settle down” or commit to either a long term relationship or family. I began my travel nurse career breaking outside of that mold. My husband and I were happily married and he was in school, so I traveled without him for the first six months of my travel career. Needless to say, we went in with open minds, so when we started to think about having kids, we kept that same open mindset. Whether you are planning to start a family or find yourself with a little unexpected bundle on the way, having a child is totally doable whether you decide to continue your career as a traveler or pick a more permanent location mid-pregnancy. I am going to cover a few possible scenarios to consider if and when you find yourself with a little baby fever during your travel career. Option 1: Extend your current contract to the end of your pregnancy and give birth locally. A lot of families find themselves unsure of how to go about changing providers mid-pregnancy. If you become pregnant while on an assignment you will need to see someone pretty quickly, and it can be hard to consider leaving a doctor or midwife that you really connect with. In this instance, it may be worthwhile to talk to your manager and recruiter about the likelihood of being able to extend through the end of your pregnancy and just plan on giving birth wherever you are currently located. If you are using company insurance, plan to use COBRA for coverage once your assignment ends. The only downside to this may be not living close to friends and family when you are going through the first few weeks with a new baby and extra hands can be helpful. Option 2: Extend your current contract to the last part of your pregnancy and travel home for delivery. Another possible scenario is to try to extend your contract to the latter portion of your pregnancy and then plan for time off to get home and deliver wherever “home” is. Of course, babies can come at any time so this means accepting the risk that everything may not go according to plan and you could end up having the baby while on assignment. In addition, you will need to discuss travel safety with your provider and consider whether you will be traveling via car or plane, especially since most airlines will not allow passengers to fly past a certain week of pregnancy. Option 3: Move home and take a permanent job or local contract prior to delivery. Ultimately, we chose to move closer to friends and family and take a permanent job about halfway through the pregnancy. We knew we wouldn’t be moving regularly for a bit and wanted the support of family and friends nearby when we delivered. Having people nearby to help get naps in, run quick errands, and just be supportive was a lifesaver. However, dealing with transferring insurance and time off as a new employee can be tricky. First, you have to decide if you will disclose to your employer ahead of time that you are pregnant. Then you have to navigate the company’s insurance timeline and leave of absence policies for newer employees. We ended up with about 45 days where all of our prenatal expenses were out of pocket while we waited for my permanent job’s insurance to kick in. Also, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not guarantee job protection for employees under a year, and you may be limited on maternity leave options as a result. Ultimately it may have been easier to simply take a local contract. I would have likely made more money overall and instead of having to coordinate unpaid leave with my permanent job, I could have simply ended my contract around 37 or 38 weeks and then looked for a new job when I was ready to end my “maternity leave”. This is one of the best pros to starting a family while working in travel healthcare–you can make your time with your new baby last as long as it works for your family! As with anything else that is part of the travel nurse lifestyle, having a baby comes with a bit more to think about than if you have a permanent job. However, it is possible to start a family and continue your travel lifestyle if that is what works for you. If there is one thing I have learned over the course of my travel career, it is that healthcare workers are blessed to be needed. Between travel contracts and local jobs, there is almost always some way to stay employed no matter what your circumstance is. Don’t be afraid to get a little creative with how you build your dream life, and don’t worry if people tell you you “can”t” do something like start a family as a travel nurse.
5 Little Known Travel Nurse Struggles (And How to Tackle Them)
By Alex McCoy, Contributing Writer, Owner of Fit Travel Life There are a lot of obvious difficulties that come with the travel nurse lifestyle. Making new friends, paring down belongings, and finding housing are some top concerns that I hear about from new travelers trying to figure out this new way of living. As you begin to move between assignments these “big” problems start to get easier to tackle. While I planned for all the well-known struggles, here are a few unexpected things I had to learn to navigate on my travel nurse journey. Finding a hairstylist Right before I started traveling I had the horrible luck of getting my hair absolutely ruined by a new hairstylist. I’m talking splotchy color, uneven trim–the works. Needless to say, I was not keen on branching out at each new assignment and trusting a new person with my hair every few months. I actually opted to go from a high-maintenance blonde color to a more subtle style to help stretch out my time between appointments. By doing this you could try to only make appointments when you are home and can see someone you trust. However, for men who need more frequent haircuts or if you don’t want to wait quite that long, I have another tactic. Find someone you work with or meet on assignment who has really great hair and simply ask where they go to get it done. This way you have a pretty good idea if you will be spending money on a reliable stylist instead of someone you simply read reviews about online. Figuring out where to get your car worked on This is another area where you could end up in a costly predicament if you hire someone unreliable. Finding someone to fix larger problems on your car can be scary especially if you don’t know much about cars or what questions to ask. Once again you can try to ask around with coworkers if you end up in a spot where you need to get work done on your vehicle. Another good option is to check out the AAA website. In the past, we have had good luck with any stores listed as an AAA approved business, and it’s nice to know you are going somewhere that has a stamp of approval from an outside source. Learning a new grocery store This is one of those things that is a small issue but takes a little bit of time to adjust to in each new city. One thing you may not realize is that each new state and city comes with its own set of grocery store brands. I had no idea this was even a thing until I moved out of my hometown after college. I have found that Kroger actually has a wide-reaching brand of stores under different names, so that is usually my go-to when moving somewhere new because the prices always seem to be the best. Regardless, it is always interesting to see how opinionated people in the area can be about where to buy your groceries. Keeping up with uniform requirements Even if you enjoy shopping for new scrubs, changing uniforms every new assignment can turn into more of a chore than a fun shopping trip. A lot of hospitals now have specific uniform colors or requirements, which means purchasing enough scrubs to get you through each new assignment without going crazy doing laundry between every shift. If you are budget conscious like me, this inevitably lands you in the boat of owning a few sets of “okay” scrubs instead of a really nice wardrobe of all the fancier brands available these days. Once again this is not a huge issue in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes it would be nice to invest in a few pairs of those really cute trendy scrubs blowing up my Instagram feed. Staying on top of personal medical needs On a more serious note, keeping up with routine medical care can be a challenge while working as a travel nurse. Obviously your primary doctor is likely back home, so you have to be really organized in making sure to get in for yearly appointments during visits to see friends or family. In addition, if you change travel companies your insurance will also change with each new assignment. If you are relatively healthy, this may not be an issue in regards to deductibles or out of pocket max, but it may make it trickier to see a doctor when you are home. Make sure to ask if your company terminates coverage on your contract end date, or if you will be able to sneak in a visit if you get in quickly after your assignment ends. The last thing you want is to have to use something like COBRA to pay for a routine well check between assignments. All in all, none of these struggles outweigh the vast amount of positives that come along with working as a travel nurse. Just like the rest of the tricks, you learn to navigate the big challenges, finding an emergency car mechanic or locating the store with your favorite coffee creamer flavor will get easier as you go along. Once again, you just have to embrace the crazy life that is travel healthcare and take time to laugh about all the “struggles” that no one but a fellow traveler can truly understand. Alex McCoy currently works as a pediatric travel nurse. She has a passion for health and fitness, which led her to start Fit Travel Life in 2016. She travels with her husband, their cat, Autumn and their dog, Summer. She enjoys hiking, lifting weights, and trying the best local coffee and wine. << Eight Things I Never Forget When Starting an Assignment
Nurse Licensure Compact: 2019 Recap and 2020 Predictions
2019 has been an exciting year for the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC), which now includes 34 states. The mission of the NLC is to advance public protection and access to care through mutual recognition of one state-based nursing license that is enforced locally and recognized nationally. The NLC allows Registered Nurses to obtain an active multi-state compact license to work in any of the states that are a part of the compact. This is crucial in travel nursing and helps ease the onboarding and compliance processes when taking new assignments in these states. Here’s a recap of NLC news from the year and what’s to come in 2020. Kansas & Louisiana Fully Implemented in July 2019 After a lot of anticipation, Kansas and Louisiana finally completed implementation to operate in the NCL on July 1, 2019, more than a year after both state legislations were passed. “Congratulations to Commissioners Carol Moreland and the Kansas Board of Nursing, Karen Lyon and the Louisiana State Board of Nursing for Registered Professional Nurses, and Lynn Ansardi and the Louisiana State Board of Practical Nurse Examiners for their hard work,” the NLC stated in their 2018-2019 Biennial Report. Alabama NLC Implementation Set for January 1, 2020 Kicking off 2020, Alabama will officially launch their state compact nursing licenses on January 1, 2020. RNs with an Alabama RN license will be able to apply for compact license and those who already have an active compact license will be able to work in the state. New Jersey & Indiana Pass Legislation, Implementation TBD In 2019, New Jersey and Indiana successfully passed legislation to join the NLC and are awaiting implementation dates. Hopefully these two new states will undergo complete enactment in 2020, but no deadlines have been announced yet. Opening up compact licenses in these locations will continue to help travel nurses bring more care to the states quicker. Legislation Remains Pending at 3 States Legislations to enact the compact nurse licensure in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Massachusetts are at a standstill. Reasoning for the halts are not reported, but the NLC remains hopeful stating, “Although the bill did not pass in every state, it is likely that, in the states where the NLC did not pass, legislation will be reintroduced in January of 2020 when legislative session starts again. We also anticipate the possibility of Michigan or Vermont passing legislation either this year or next.” Vermont to Consider Joining the Nursing Licensure Compact in 2020 On Dec. 3, 2019, Vermont Public Radio announced that the Secretary of States’ Office of Professional Regulations will ask lawmakers to pass legislation for Vermont to join the Nurse Licensure Compact in 2020. The organization recently published a statewide survey from Registered Nurses in Vermont where 59 percent said they supported joining the compact. But not everyone is in favor of joining. Deb Snell, RN and president of Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, is concerned making it easier for Vermont nurses to work out of the state could make the state’s nursing shortage grow further. HCT Today will continue to provide updates on the Nursing Licensure Compact as more information is available. Read Next: Why travel nurses should consider a compact license
What the Early Flu Season Means for Healthcare Travelers
Flu season is always a crucial season for healthcare travelers. The beginning of this year’s flu season seems even more aggressive that previous years. Here’s an overview of recent flu season findings and what healthcare travelers can expect. Widespread Flu Activity: Early and on the Rise After several weeks in a row of significant increases in flu activity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the 2019-2020 flu season is well underway, which is the earliest start of the season in more than 15 years. Health officials are saying there’s a big chance the season will peak much earlier than normal. Modern Healthcare reported there have already been an estimated 1.7 million flu illnesses and 16,000 hospitalizations. While last year’s flu season had a mild start, this year healthcare providers and doctor’s offices are already reporting a flood of patients with flu-like illnesses. Since Nov. 30, the CDC estimated 10.2 percent of respiratory lab tests were positive for the flu. The South is seeing the highest widespread flu activity levels right now, along with Puerto Rico, Nebraska, Nevada and Washington. Reports of higher than normal flu activity are also being seen across the country. A few examples: On Dec. 10, Virginia joined the list of widespread flu levels; last year, the state didn’t become widespread until Dec. 29. Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County has already reported 1,633 confirmed influenzas cases, which is up 1700 percent from this time last year, according to the Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV. California’s Department of Public Health hasn’t seen flu activity this high in the early season since 2009’s Swine Flu pandemic, reported by The Sacramento Bee. How this Flu Season is Affecting Healthcare Travelers? More Opportunities for ASAP Starts Typically, healthcare travelers searching for a new assignment during the month of December are looking for January start dates to kick off the New Year. However with the early onset of the Flu season, facilities have more travel nurse and allied health openings for ASAP and December starts than before. “Travel nursing jobs are off the charts and there are significantly more openings for December starts than we’ve seen in previous years,” said Oren Lavi, Director of Client Advisory at LiquidAgents Healthcare. “Instead of waiting until January, facilities are accepting more travelers in the weeks leading up to the New Year. This is great news for travelers who are looking to start immediately.” This could also be a great opportunity for those still looking for an assignment to work holiday shifts, or looking for a specific location to be close to friends and family during the holidays and into 2020. Location, Location, Location As flu activity is spreading quickly and aggressively across the country, travel nursing needs in every state will increase in anticipation of higher patient populations usually seen in early spring. Travelers can expect an even larger variety of location options to fit what they’re looking for. Top Travel Nurse Specialties during Flu Season Flu-associated hospitalizations are commonly sent to Intensive Care Units first, resulting in the most popular Travel RN specialties during flu season being: ICU, PCU/IMC/ StepDown, Medical-Surgical and Telemetry. It’s important for Operating Room Travel Nurses to know that OR needs may decrease in January. December is the peak month for OR as patients are more likely to undergo elective surgeries and use flexible spending accounts before the year ends. OR Travel RNs looking for assignments in the New Year may have to be more flexible. Overall with the demand during flu season is so high, travel nurses from all specialties who are qualified and want an assignment should be able to find the one they want. Read Next: How Travel Nurses Can Stand Out in a Hospital Interview
Legislation to Protect Healthcare Professionals from Workplace Violence Moves to the Senate
Nurses and medical professionals face some of the highest risks of violence in their jobs every day. The industry is another step closer to improving efforts to protect healthcare professionals from violence in the workplace. On Nov. 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Healthcare and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309). This bill would mandate the Secretory of Labor to create a standard for workplace violence prevention specifically in healthcare environments. Facilities will need to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to keep workers safe. Plans should be tailored and specific to conditions and hazards including patient-specific risk factors and specific to each work area or unit. Workplace violence can consist of physical or psychological actions, which includes abusive behavior toward authority, intimidating or harassing behavior and threats. U.S. News & World Report deems healthcare as the most dangerous profession with an estimated 654,000 people harmed on the job per year—and that’s when people actually report violence. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) disclosed that about 25 percent of incidents go unreported. Specifically in nursing, there’s been a 70 percent increase in intentional injuries to nurses by their patients between 2012 and 2018. While many healthcare workers may feel that workplace violence is an inevitable part of the job, it’s important to take actions to promote safe environments for the staff, the patients and their families and visitors. As travel nurses change assignments every few months, it’s important to know how each facility they travel to handles workplace violence issues and their prevention programs. For example, what are the proper procedures for reporting an incident, and what support and resources are available. Healthcare recruiters should be able to provide support and insights about safety issues and of any required training so that travelers are properly informed beforehand. “For travelers, communication with your recruiter is key,” said Senior Healthcare Recruiting Manager Richard Dunn. “If an incidence at work occurred or you feel unsafe, tell your recruiter everything so they can get involved to help solve issues as soon as possible.” We’re seeing more facilities requiring some form of crisis prevention training. California has regulations in place that require all facilities to provide specific training to address violence against healthcare professionals. Washington state even requires volunteers and contracted security personnel to receive special prevention training. The proposed Violence Prevention for Healthcare act has been sent to the Senate for consideration. The bill is also backed by the Emergency Nurses Association. Early this year, the organization teamed up with the American College of Emergency Physicians to launch the “No Silence on ED Violence” campaign. While proposed legislation may not immediately or permanently eliminate the risks healthcare professionals face on the job, it continues to bring awareness to this serious issue and how to find effective resolutions. Read Next: Traveler Tips: How to Handle Bullying as a Travel Nurse Other References: Physical and Verbal Violence Against Health Care Workers, Presented by the Joint Commission Violence Against Healthcare Workers: Is Your Facility Equipped to Stop It?
No Safety Switch: How Lax Oversight Of Electronic Health Records Puts Patients At Risk (KHN)
Fred Schulte, Kaiser Health News and Erika Fry, Fortune In fall 2009, several dozen of the best minds in health information technology huddled at a hotel outside Washington, D.C., to discuss potential dangers of an Obama White House plan to spend billions of tax dollars computerizing medical records. The health data geeks trusted that transitioning from paper to electronic records would cut down on medical errors, help identify new cures for disease and give patients an easy way to track their health care histories. But after two days of discussions, the group warned that few safeguards existed to protect the public from possible consequences of rolling out the new technology so quickly. Because this software tracks the medicines people take and their vital signs, even a tiny error or omission, or a doctor’s inability to access the file quickly, can be a matter of life or death. The experts at that September 2009 meeting, mainly members of the American Medical Informatics Association, or AMIA, agreed that safety should be a top priority as federal officials poured more than $30 billion into subsidies to wire up medical offices and hospitals nationwide. The group envisioned creating a national databank to track reports of deaths, injuries and near misses linked to issues with the new technology. It never happened. Instead, plans for putting patient safety first — and for building a comprehensive injury reporting and reviewing system — have stalled for nearly a decade, because manufacturers of electronic health records (EHRs), health care providers, federal health care policy wonks, academics and Congress have either blocked the effort or fought over how to do it properly, an ongoing investigation by Fortune and Kaiser Health News shows. Over the past 10 years, the parties have squabbled over how best to collect injury data, over who has the power to require it, over who should pay for it, and over whether to make public damning findings and the names of those responsible for safety problems. In 2015, members of Congress derailed a long-planned EHR safety center, first by challenging the government’s authority to create it and later by declining to fund it. A year later, Congress stripped the Food and Drug Administration of its power to regulate the industry or even to track malfunctions and injuries. “A lot of people involved with patient safety and medical informatics were horrified,” said Ross Koppel, a University of Pennsylvania sociologist and prominent EHR safety expert. Koppel said the industry won legal status as a “regulatory free zone” when it came to safety, an outcome he called a “scandal beyond belief.” The Electronic Health Record Association, a trade group that represents more than 30 vendors, declined to comment on the safety issue. Meanwhile, patients remain at risk of harm. In March, Fortune and KHN revealed that thousands of injuries, deaths or near misses tied to software glitches, user errors, interoperability problems and other flaws have piled up in various government-sponsored and private repositories. One study uncovered more than 9,000 patient safety reports tied to EHR problems at three pediatric hospitals over a five-year period. Allegations of EHR-related injuries or other flaws have surfaced in the courts. KHN/Fortune examined more than two dozen such cases, such as a California woman who mistakenly had most of her left leg amputated because the EHR sent another patient’s pathology report indicating cancer to her medical file. A Vermont patient died after a doctor’s order to scan her brain for an aneurysm never made it from the computer to the lab. Despite such incidents, experts believe EHRs have made medicine safer by eliminating errors due to illegible handwriting and in some cases speeding up access to vital patient files. But they also acknowledge they have no idea how much safer, or how much the systems could still be improved because no one — a decade after the federal government all but mandated their adoption — is assessing the technology’s overall safety record. KHN and Fortune found that at least a dozen expert commissions, federal health IT panels and medical associations have echoed AMIA’s early call to track EHR safety risks only to be thwarted by objections from the industry or its allies, or by simple bureaucratic inertia. Some critics see the situation as a dispiriting Washington tale of corporate “capture” of government, while others wonder why a warning system to alert health officials to dangers with certain software is even controversial. “How is it in the public interest for medical records software to have flaws that lead to deaths?” said Joshua Sharfstein, who served as FDA deputy commissioner when the safety issue flared up during President Barack Obama’s first term. These incidents “should be fully understood and investigated” and “not be able to be buried.” Support for computerizing medical records has spanned the political spectrum. The health IT industry’s aversion to FDA oversight has won support at critical times both with liberals who embraced EHRs as a high-tech magic bullet for reforming the nation’s costly health care system and with free-market conservatives skeptical of red tape and government interventions. The vendors protested they were overburdened with technical requirements that their software had to meet to qualify for the government subsidy program. Those specifications included many relatively small-bore features, like including a check box indicating the doctor had asked about the patient’s smoking status — and other tasks likely to have little impact on safety. Complicating things further, many safety advocates themselves have worried that heavy-handed oversight — such as requiring approval of every software update — could actually make the technology less safe, stalling urgent software updates (not to mention stifling innovation and slowing the marketing of vital new technology). After a contentious process in which consumer advocacy group Public Citizen accused FDA officials of collaborating with the devices industry to weaken oversight, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act. A few sentences buried in the law, signed by Obama in late 2016, all but shut the door on FDA regulation of EHRs. The
Approaching the Holidays As a Travel Nurse
By Alex McCoy, Contributing Writer, Owner of Fit Travel Life As a travel nurse, we have the unique advantage of having a little more control over our schedule while on assignment. Many travelers use their contracts as a way to get specific time off, and this can include traveling around major holidays. Each manager and unit will have different needs regarding holiday staffing, so going in knowing all of the possible scenarios can help set you up for the best and happiest holiday season. First, be sure to plan ahead when looking for assignments that start around the holidays. When you are needing to make specific scheduling requests, recruiters will typically send these requests in with your original contract. It is also prudent to bring up any requests during your interview, so knowing your plans ahead of time is crucial to making sure you can secure your contract and get the time off you would like. As a traveler, if you forget to get your requested dates off in writing your travel company can do little to support you if the manager decides not to honor your scheduling requests. Even if the manager seems very agreeable to requests, get it in writing before signing your contract. Similarly, if a recruiter tells you to just get a verbal okay from a manager, insist that these requests are added to your contract before signing. On the other hand, you may be one of those travel nurses who would love to work the holidays and make a little extra money. Many times travelers opt to work around the holidays and take some time off before or after to go back home. This can even help move your name to the front of the list when searching for jobs this time of year because managers don’t have to worry about giving you time off during a busy time of year. Another important factor in working the holidays is negotiating a higher hourly rate for holiday pay. Holiday policies may vary between companies, so ask your recruiter for an overview and once again get your holiday rate in your contract. I have also seen companies that offer bonuses for working holidays, so it never hurts to ask if your travel company offers something like that. Also note that your holiday rate should be based on your blended hourly rate, not just off of your taxable rate. If working the holidays is your goal, be sure to check with the hiring manager during your interview to see what the hospital policy is for travel nurses. Because travelers cost the hospital more money, there may be a rule against travelers working for holiday pay. I have actually been moved off of holidays I volunteered to work, so it just depends on how strict the policy is. The last way to approach the holidays is to simply skip working the time around them. In theory, you could finish up a contract the week before Thanksgiving and take about a month off before returning to work after Christmas. While you may get lucky and just happen to have your fall contract end right on this timeline, you can also use extensions to make this happen. Many managers may not be willing to do a short contract upfront, but if you only need a few weeks of work to get you up to the holidays they may be willing to do a short extension. Similarly, they may be more willing to give you time off around the holidays if you are extending and they already know your capabilities and work ethic. Use this to your power when negotiating either a shortened extension or a full extension with time off to go home. You never know unless you ask, and may be able to do some haggling with the manager to meet their needs and your goals. One important thing to keep in mind is if you decide to head back to work around early January is the market will generally be slightly flooded. Many travelers take at least a couple weeks off before Christmas and will be looking for assignments starting the first or second week of January. Have some extra money put aside just in case it takes a bit longer to find something. Generally, the market levels out again by the end of January and you will be fine in the long run. Regardless of how you decide to approach the holiday season as a travel nurse, the beauty is that travel gives you more control than working as a permanent staff nurse. There isn’t a holiday rotation to worry about, you can take off as much or as little time as you want, or you can rake in more cash than you would at a regular job. Feeling empowered to make these decisions is a great feeling, and will ensure you have the best or most lucrative holiday season you could hope for. Alex McCoy currently works as a pediatric travel nurse. She has a passion for health and fitness, which led her to start Fit Travel Life in 2016. She travels with her husband, their cat, Autumn and their dog, Summer. She enjoys hiking, lifting weights, and trying the best local coffee and wine. << Stranded Off the Highway: My Favorite Travel Nursing Memory