What Is Travel Nursing?
Travel Nursing...So Much Better Than Stale Bread
Nurse jobs are on the rise in America, so for anyone interested in travel nursing, now’s the time to get started. People decide to become a travel nurse for any number of reasons. Maybe they want to experience life to the fullest, realizing that life is (as they say) short. For anyone trying to find the right amount of balance in their lives, travel nursing is the way to go. While earning a living, you get to experience places that you wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to visit, meet new people, and see new things.
If you’re plugging away at the same old nurse jobs, day after day, year after year, it’s inevitable that you’re going to start feeling bored. You might become burned out, lose morale, and become generally unhappy with your career. The best way to spark up that old excitement you used to have when you first graduated from nursing training is to get into travel nursing.
Imagine eating the same bread and butter everyday. You could never have anything else. At first it might be okay, but pretty soon you’d be eating the food on automatic pilot, not tasting it, just chewing and swallowing because you have to. That’s kind of what it’s like to plug away at the same old job. It works for some people, but other people need more variety. Imagine if one day, that stale bread was replaced with fresh fruit. All of a sudden your taste buds are firing on all cylinders. Okay, the analogy is a little corny, but you get the picture. Travel nursing can take you from automatic pilot to warp speed excitement.
Trusting your Travel Nursing Recruitment Agency
There are no travel nursing schools that you need to graduate from in order to get into travel nursing. In fact, if you’re interested in giving travel nursing a try, don’t trust any company that wants to charge you for their services, or that will only send you for travel nursing jobs after you graduate from their own travel nursing school. Any situation where it appears the company is only trying to profit from your hard work, without any rewards for you, should be questioned.
With PPR Healthcare Staffing, you have nothing to worry about. The company is honest and won’t lead you down the wrong path. There are no fees to fill out the online application form and no other hidden fees to surprise you weeks down the road. In fact, when you decide to get into travel nursing with PPR Healthcare Staffing, it’s almost like they’re giving you money. With all of your travel expenses, accommodations, and licensing fees paid, the company is definitely adding money to your pocket. Oh yeah, there’s also the great benefits and health insurance that comes with the gig.
If you want to become a travel nurse, it’s important to go to someone you trust. When looking for a good healthcare recruiter, aim for a company that's been around for a few years, has a good reputation, and maintains a good support of travel nursing recruiters. PPR Healthcare Staffing fills this particular prescription quite easily. They’ll do a lot for you, and if you have what it takes to commit to a travel nursing assignment, you’ll have the best experience of your nursing career.
Travel Nursing - Ready When You Are
The concept of travel nursing may not have been around when you completed your nursing training. Depending on what year you graduated, jobs in nursing may have been much more traditional in nature, with limited expectations of where you might work. It seems that these days, the sky is the limit on where you might work. With travel nursing becoming a more popular alternative, healthcare professionals today can position themselves pretty much anywhere in the United States .
It’s not that nurses couldn’t find jobs in another state; it just took a lot more work and money. Today, companies like PPR Healthcare Staffing do all of the behind-the-scenes work so that all you need to do is show up, ready to fulfill a 13-week travel nursing commitment. Of course, not everybody is cut out for travel nursing. If you’re prone to homesickness, this job isn’t for you. If you don’t feel as if you can commit to a 13-week travel nursing assignment, this job isn’t for you. If you have any nagging doubts about travel nursing, maybe you should do a little soul searching first. It might be first-time travel nursing jitters, or it could be that now isn’t the right time to get into travel nursing. The decision is up to you, not a PPR Healthcare Staffing recruiter. They’re busy looking after the nurses committed to travel nursing assignments.
Unlike years ago, your choices are vast and varied. Take some time to think about what you want and when you’re ready, contact PPR Healthcare Staffing.
Travel Nursing for Peace of Mind
There are a lot of great things about travel nursing, but never having to worry about being laid-off is probably near the top of the list, right under the categories of pay, benefits, and excitement. The nation is clamoring for more nurses, saying there’s a huge demand, but the people currently occupying regular nurse jobs can’t help but wonder if they’re going to be laid off. Their fears are not necessarily grounded in fact, but when your entire livelihood is dependent on that one job, it’s only normal to sometimes feel a bit of anxiety about keeping the job.
When you become a travel nurse, you are guaranteed to find work all of the time. You’ll be working closely with a healthcare recruiter who will stay in close contact with you throughout all of your travel nursing placements. Before the first one finishes, he or she will have a conversation with you about where you want to work and live next. It’s like having an insider take you by the hand and guide you from job to job to job. Just as your nurse jobs are coming to an end and you start to feel that pang of anxiety in your gut, your telephone rings and it’s your recruiter! No unemployment for you, because your recruiter already has some great ideas for your next nurse jobs. Meanwhile, as you work through your jobs in nursing, you will continue to receive your benefits and top pay. It’s a great way to make a living, so make sure to call PPR Healthcare Staffing to get yourself started with travel nursing.
PPR Healthcare Staffing says SURPRISE!
You might be able to hide your birthday from friends and family, but PPR Healthcare Staffing knows all of your dirty little secrets. That includes your birthday! As you work in your nurse jobs, don’t be surprised if you get a little surprise package in the mail when your birthday rolls around. PPR Healthcare Staffing stands out from other healthcare recruiters because of the extra care they give to their employees. As a travel nurse, you’re considered one of their employees and your happiness is important to them.
You might get a card in the mail with a couple of gift certificates, a call from your recruiter, or any other number of little gestures that say Happy Birthday to you! Okay, some of you cynics might be thinking, “Big deal! Who cares? It’s only my birthday.” But you know what? It’s nice to have someone thinking about you when you’re traveling and working. That phone call or surprise package in the mail could make all the difference in the world to your morale. It’s not every employer in the world who takes the time to do stuff like that and it’s one of the reasons why recruiters often become lifelong friends of people in nurse jobs. They care enough to call, to get to know you, and to make a difference in your life.
Finding Your Own Travel Nursing Resources
Make sure to bring your laptop with you on your nurse jobs, because the Internet is a valuable resource for travel nursing positions and it is available to you 24/7. Sometimes we get so bogged down with what’s going on around us that we forget to slow down and utilize the resources available. Stress can cause you to forget you even have resources, let alone remember where to access them!
Of course, your first resource throughout your travel nurse jobs is your PPR Healthcare Staffing recruiter. However, as good as that person is, it’s always best to maintain some self-sufficiency. You don’t have to contact your healthcare recruiter at three in the morning because you can’t sleep and you’re worried about something. Have some consideration for that poor soul who probably doesn’t want to hear from you at that hour of the morning! Instead, flip up your laptop and log on to the Internet. You can even start with the PPR Healthcare Staffing website where they have a link to valuable resources. In fact, if you’re worried about anything related to travel nursing, you may just find the answers at the PPR Healthcare Staffing website. Answers to your payroll questions, travel nursing assignments, HR issues, etc, can all be found at the website.
Another place to feel a connection to people in travel nurse jobs is at the Professional Association of Nurse Travelers website. There, you can sign up for a free basic membership, or pay for a full membership where you’ll have access to every resource available on the website.
The point is to stop and think about where your resources are before you overreact. Of course, your PPR Healthcare Staffing recruiter is there to help and guide you through your travel nursing experiences, but always remember that you’re a smart, savvy individual capable of locating a few helpful resources of your own.
Keeping Track of Travel Nursing Income
As you venture out into your nurse jobs, you’ll be earning a regular salary, benefits, and bonuses just like anybody else in the workforce. However, it’s important to remember that while PPR Healthcare Staffing works hard to ensure you have successful travel nursing experiences, it’s still your responsibility to keep track of what you’re earning, when you’re earning it, and how much you owe in taxes.
There are a few ways of doing this. There are various travel nursing calculators available online, some of them through travel nursing associations. To access those, you may need to become a paying member to a travel nursing association website. The other way to keep track of your pay, benefits, bonuses, etc, is to create your own spreadsheet. All it takes is a computer, some basic software, and a little bit of time. With a spreadsheet, you can design a template that suits your own needs. Create your own simple formulas that automatically add columns, calculate estimated taxes, and calculate bonuses earned as extra pay.
Make sure to keep details of where you’ve worked, when you worked there, how long you worked, what you earned on an hourly basis, and, at the end of the fiscal year, what your total earned salary was. Not sure what you’re doing? Don’t worry! Maybe you can take a course to learn how to use the spreadsheet software, or talk to your healthcare recruiter for ideas on how to keep track of your salary, taxes, and bonuses. The important thing is to keep on top of the information. The tax man waits for no one and is an inevitable fact of life.
Filling a Need Through Travel Nursing
There are a lot of reasons for becoming a travel nurse, but one reason that remains at the top is the opportunity to feel valued for a job well done. Nurse jobs are in high demand, which is why the whole concept of travel nursing was created in the first place. Travel nursing fills a need and the people who take those nurse jobs are respected and appreciated for what they do.
When a hospital faces a nursing shortage, two things happen: the nurses currently working regular shifts begin to feel stressed and overworked, leading to the possibility of unnecessary and dangerous mistakes, and the patients suffer the consequences of not having timely care. As a professional nurse yourself, you know that nobody wants to see either of those scenarios happen. Jobs in nursing are tough work, but ten times tougher when there’s just enough help to go around. Nurses soon begin to get tired, feel pulled in all directions, and inevitably wind up on stress leave, exacerbating the problem.
If you’re interested in getting into travel nursing as a way to fill much needed nurse jobs, consider calling a recruiter like PPR Healthcare Staffing. They understand what it means to become a travel nurse, and appreciate the sacrifices, hard work, and integrity you put into your profession.
Travel Nursing - Unless You Want to Work as a Nursing Volunteer, Make Sure To Fill Out Your Time Sheets!
How much responsibility can you handle? No, really. You’ve obtained your nursing education, attended the best nursing schools, worked in various nurse jobs, and now you want to become a travel nurse. At first glance, it appears to be a piece of cake. Just read the information at PPR Healthcare Staffing and you’ll wonder if they do everything for you. Well, they don’t. It’s true that they certainly do a lot. In fact, if you were to compare the customer service they dish out compared to other healthcare recruiters, they would undoubtedly come out on top. Still, it’s important to realize a few things about your travel nursing experience right from the start.
First, if you want to get paid, it’s going to be up to you to fill out the timesheets, have them signed off with the appropriate person, and fax them back to PPR Healthcare Staffing on time. If you don’t, your pay could be delayed until the next pay period. Sure PPR Healthcare Staffing covers much of your living expenses, but you still have to eat! It’s your responsibility to code your hours correctly, providing your reasons for any missed work days.
Before you even start your work assignment, you’ll have to fill out the forms required for direct deposit. There are some other things you may need to do as well, but the recruiter will let you know what that is. In fact, once your application has been approved and your ready to start taking nurse jobs, PPR Healthcare Staffing will send you an employee package with all of the necessary forms you’ll need to complete and sign before getting started.
What the Future Might Hold for You in Your Nurse Jobs
As you went through your extensive nursing education, did you spend much time dreaming about where you would work, what your work would be like, and whether or not you’d find it as rewarding as other people? It’s normal to wonder about the career that stretches ahead of you, but sometimes you have to do more than just wonder. You have to take action.
At PPR Healthcare Staffing, they’re going to want to see that you’ve got a couple of year’s (or more) experience under your belt before they send you on any nurse jobs. However, if you’ve shown up on PPR Healthcare Staffing’s virtual doorstep, you’re heading in the right direction. This is exactly the kind of steps you need to take in order to take charge of your own destiny.
What does your career destiny look like to you, or what do you want it to look like? Travel nurse jobs will really introduce you to the true flavor of
Whatever your reasons for choosing travel nursing, you should know that it’s a noble calling that isn’t right for everyone, but it could be perfect for you.
Nurse Jobs by Day, Dating Scene by Night
Hey Miss or Mr. Flirty Pants…forget online dating! If you were to put down that laptop and look around, you might be shocked at what you see. Gasp! Real people walking around, some of them are even smiling. If you’re looking for Mr. or Miss Right, think about getting into travel nursing. At least you’ll get to meet a diverse group of people in safe settings, whether it’s at work or after hours on a nature trail, riding horse back, watching hot molten lava move through the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, or skiing down a mountain.
Nurse jobs that only last 13-weeks will continuously put you in new situations and new locations. Every new location and new nursing assignment is another opportunity to find your one true love. At the very least you’ll make some new friends, and what’s wrong with that? You don’t have to get into travel nursing to find the meaning of life. If your loftiest goal is to party your way through the United States and hitting the dating scene as hard as you can, that’s really okay. When you contact a recruiter like PPR Healthcare Staffing, they’re going to want to make sure you have the right nursing education and experience to do the job. What you do after hours is your business. So, give them a call and get ready for the ride of your life.
The People Behind the Scenes at PPR Healthcare Staffing
No matter how good a website is, it’s sometimes hard to imagine that there are actual people working behind the scenes. After all, the only things you ever see are a bunch of words on an attractive website. You don’t hear voices coming from the website (if you do, maybe you should forget about travel nursing) and you don’t really get a sense of how many people are working for the company or exactly what those people do.
Well, this is your lucky day! If PPR Healthcare Staffing has wooed you with their fantastic website, you should know that there are some pretty awesome recruiters sitting just behind your computer screen waiting to get a call from you. Don’t try to peel back your computer monitor. That’s cheating and potentially life threatening. What you need to do is complete PPR Healthcare Staffing’s online application form then, like you’re in grade 8 waiting for that special someone to call, you sit by the phone and wait for it to ring. Unlike in grade 8, that special someone will call, and that special someone will be a healthcare recruiter.
Besides the recruiters, there are people who work within the international division, Sales & Service, and Human Resources at PPR Healthcare Staffing, all working hard to make sure their objectives are met. Their objective, of course, is to continue placing people like you in rewarding nurse jobs across the country. So the next time you visit a nifty website like the one at PPR Healthcare Staffing, think about the people behind the scenes working hard for your benefit.
Pediatric Travel Nurse Jobs
If you’re interested in taking nurse jobs so that you can work with children, you might want to consider something beyond jobs available at local hospitals. In places like southern California, where it’s summer all year round, your beach days and sunbathing never have to end. Naturally, in the northern climates, summer comes and goes relatively quickly, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t work on your tan at least through the summer months.
If you’re interested in nurse jobs working with children, pediatric practices are the perfect place for you. While doing all of the typical nursing duties (reviewing health histories, distributing prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, providing first aid for minor injuries, maintaining health logs, etc) you’ll also get a chance to improve kids' lives. You’ll have an opportunity socialize with the other adults, enjoy the company of feisty, energetic kids, and feel good about what you’re doing.
Therapy Jobs in Schools
Not all public schools have onsite therapists, but those that do play an important role in the lives of many children.
School therapists provide care that many students need, but which aren't included in the broader curriculum. Being a therapist is an excellent opportunity to do important, rewarding work with children. And when you work in schools, you're personally involved in preparing children for the rest of their lives.
If you’re interested in travel therapy with the goal of becoming a school-based therapist, talk to your PPR Healthcare recruiter. He or she will help you find the perfect school-based therapy job just for you.
Keeping Your Emotional Balance while Travel Nursing
Everybody has to let off a little steam now and then. People in nursing jobs are no different from anyone else. They have good days, bad days, and days they wish they had never crawled out of bed. Nursing jobs can be especially tiring, mentally and physically. Just think about how you feel when you’re sick. Most people aren’t exactly at their best. Add a hospital stay to the mix and you might not be the most pleasant person to be around either!
People in nursing jobs need to vent away their frustrations just like anybody else. The problem with travel nursing is that the nurses really don’t have a chance to vent. One of the first rules for anybody involved in travel nursing is not to get involved in the “office” politics. People involved in travel and nursing are advised to keep positive, stay smiling, and deflect any negativity that comes their way. A person can only do that for so long. So what is a travel nurse suppose to do?
Through PPR Healthcare Staffing, you’ll be assigned a recruiter who will also become your friend. Use him or her as a sounding board when you have to. Likewise, there are many online sites specifically designed for travel nursing jobs. You can always call your friends and family back home, or bore your dog with your tales. Just remember, it’s important to get things off your chest, but it’s equally important to keep an emotional balance.
The Challenges and Rewards of Psychiatric Nurse Jobs
When getting ready for your next travel nursing assignment, talk to your PPR Healthcare Staffing recruiter about the possibility of working as a psychiatric nurse. Psychiatric nursing is somewhat different from nursing in other departments. Obviously, instead of dealing solely with physical health conditions, you’ll be working with a variety of mental illnesses that can really challenge the way you nurse.
To become a travel nurse on a psychiatric ward, you need the right nursing education and possibly some prior experience working with psychiatric patients. Due to the nature of the job, there are sometimes safety issues that need to be considered. A depressed patient is likely more of a danger to himself than anyone else, but a paranoid schizophrenic going through an active phase, can be a very dangerous situation.
Obviously, nurse jobs in psychiatry aren’t for everyone. There are some definite compliance issues in some psychiatric patients, making drug distribution quite a challenge. In addition, you could be working with behavioral, acting out issues that require a fair bit of physical strength and stamina.
Nurse jobs in psychiatric wards and clinics offer a great challenge and a rewarding experience. Watching a patient come in at the height of their illness and being able to finally discharge them back home, stabilized and well, is what most psychiatric nurses enjoy the most.
How to Become a Travel Nurse
If you’re considering becoming a nurse, there are a few things you should know. First of all, nurse jobs are in high demand across the United States and are available to anybody with the right nursing education and licensing requirements. No matter where you live in the world, you can eventually find your way into the United States where you can fill one of those much needed nurse job vacancies. The best way to locate jobs in nursing is to get into travel nursing, especially if you’re an international nurse.
PPR Healthcare Staffing is a great way to break into the world of travel nursing because they will guide you through the somewhat complicated process of testing, paperwork, and licensing. They’ll help you get acquainted with American culture, make sure you can fluently speak English, offer a study program to help you pass the NYCLEX exam, and meet you at the airport when you arrive. It doesn’t stop there though. Your PPR Healthcare Staffing recruiter will also stay with you for the first couple of weeks while you get used to living in a new location. International nurses have a big hurdle to overcome, but your recruiter will make sure you’re comfortable before leaving you on your own.
If you’re already from the United States, you can still get into travel nursing. In fact, it’s highly encouraged as a way to see the country, build on your resume, and improve your nursing skills.
What You Don't Need to Do to Become a Travel Nurse
If you’re interested in travel nursing, don’t make the mistake of buying into travel nursing schools. You do not need to have any other certifications or degrees other than your current nursing education. If you’ve graduated from approved nursing schools with your credentials, that’s all you need to get into travel nursing. Yes, you need to have some nursing experience to start working in travel nurse jobs, but you don’t need to have anything that comes from so-called travel nursing schools.
No matter what you do in life, there’s always going to be someone lurking around trying to make a buck. Likewise, there are people out there trying to make you believe that in order to advance your career as a travel nurse, you’re going to need to spend big bucks to a travel nursing school. Not so! Bypass all travel nursing schools and go directly to PPR Healthcare Staffing. Fill out the online application, being as detailed as you can, and be ready with a list of references. Once PPR Healthcare Staffing calls, they’ll want to have a conversation with you about your work experience and they’re going to want to contact legitimate references. It’s really as simple as that. Before you know it, you’ll be packing for those exciting nurse jobs, not taking unnecessary courses and spending unnecessary money on travel nursing schools.
Become a Travel Nurse
If you’re considering becoming a nurse, there are a few things you should know. First of all, nurse jobs are in high demand across the United States and are available to anybody with the right nursing education and licensing requirements. No matter where you live in the world, you can eventually find your way into the United States where you can fill one of those much needed nurse job vacancies. Although the majority of international nurses come from overseas, Canadian nurses are still considered “international” and are welcome to apply as such through the PPR Healthcare Staffing website.
As a Canadian looking for travel nurse jobs, the process will likely go a little bit quicker than someone applying from countries like India. The cultures between Canada and America are very similar, so there wouldn’t be a need for that type of orientation. Moving between Canada really isn’t a big stretch. The only thing you’re going to need is a visa to work in the States. In order to get that, PPR Healthcare Staffing will have certain requirements you must pass, but a recruiter will help you through the paperwork.
Anybody can become a travel nurse, provided you have the right qualifications.
The Travel Nurse Learning Experience
Travel nursing is a great way to take your family and see the country. Instead of worrying about what your children will miss being in their regular school, think about what they’ll miss if they never get the opportunity to see the country. New cultures, experiences, and challenges are what will make them grow as individuals. Taking travel nursing assignments is also perfect for the parent who home schools his or her children. Of course, depending on the shifts you have in your travel nursing positions, bringing the children along might be a difficult proposition, especially if you’re a single mom, or a parent without any additional support.
However, if there’s any possible way that you can bring your kids on at least one travel nursing assignment, they will be better people for it. Anytime you bring kids outside of their regular routine and environment, you expose them to new people, new cultures, and new ways to learn. Your kids can learn a lot in 13-weeks and you can grow in your relationship together during that time. Of course, all of these things depend on the age of your child as well. If you have a very young child, travel nursing might not be the best thing for him or her. If you have a much older child who has maybe recently graduated from high school or university, the opportunity to follow you on a travel nursing assignment might be exactly what he or she needs to help figure out their next step in life.
PPR Social Network
Associations & Awards
