eJane

Summer’s here. Officially. If you’re in the south like those of us at eJane, you might try to tell us that summer started two months ago, but if you by the calendar there’s no way out of it.

And if you’re like thousands of other travel nurses, you’ve got your eyes on some nice beach locations for a future travel assignment. What’s better than getting out of work and heading to beach for some relaxation - maybe even some exercise. Whether you’ve been on a coastal assignment one time, or one hundred times, here are some tips that’ll make your time at the beach safer and more enjoyable:

Protect Yourself from the Sun. The American Cancer Society has done its part to keep you safe from harmful UV rays by creating the phrase “slip, slop, slap and wrap.”

• Slip: Cover-up with clothing…even better, cover up with UV protective clothing available at Coolibar and Solumbra.
• Slop: The sound sunscreen should make when it hits your body. Most of us don’t use enough sunscreen and rarely apply it often enough.
• Slap: When your hat slaps your head you know you’re covered. A hat with a wide brim can protect your ears, the back of your neck and your face from harmful UV rays.
• Wrap: Sunglasses that wrap around your face offer much more protection that standard glasses. Don’t worry, we’re not talking Blublockers here, either. Fashion and protection are now available in sunglasses.

More Helpful Tips:

• Apply sunscreen to dry skin before applying makeup and at least 20 minutes before exposure to the sun.
• Purchase lip balm with sun protection built-in
• Broad spectrum sunscreens protect against UVA and UVB rays and typically contain avobenzone, ecamsule, zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.
• You should reapply sunscreen every two hours. More often if you’re exercising or in the water.
• To avoid heatstroke, drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol and caffeine.
• The sun is most intense between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Check the UV Index in your travel nurse assignment area at the EPA’s website.

With just a little bit of preparation, you can spend your time away from your travel nurse assignment relaxing and playing on the beach. We’ll have more summer tips to come.

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Speaking of the beach, eJane thought you might like to get to know a few beach destinations. Today, we’ll take a look at Charleston, SC. One of the first things you’ll notice about Charleston is that it’s historic - in fact, the settlement of Charleston, SC was established in 1670 and subsequently moved to it’s current location thanks to attacks from Native Americans and Europeans. 100 years later, Charleston had become the center of the Atlantic trading industry and the fourth largest port in the Colonies. Charleston’s population represented this growth by boasting 11,000 residents - certainly large for that time period.

200 years of relative peace would grace Charleston before the Civil War would wreak havoc on Charleston’s prosperity and beauty. Find out more about Charleston’s history with a stop at Museum Mile - the place to find the past in Charleston through parks, homes and public buildings.

For local arts in Charleston, the Charleston Stage is the largest professional theater group in the state. Also check out the Charleston Ballet Theatre - a large part of the Charleston cultural arts scene.

Travel nurses who are also sports fans have year-round events waiting for them. The South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League take to the ice at the North Charleston Coliseum from mid-October - April. The Charleston Battery, a First Division soccer team of the USL play game from March through September at Blackbaud Stadium. Finally, baseball fans can catch the Charleston RiverDogs at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park (commonly called “The Joe”) throughout the summer.

One of the nest parts about Charleston is that you can get to many of the popular local attractions by walking. This is the perfect place to use your Garmin Nuvi 350 if you got one after our post a while back.

Hospital Opportunities for Travel Nurses in Charleston, SC -

Medical University of South Carolina - For over 120 years MUSC has been teaching nurses and currently offers an accelerated BSN, BSN to MSN combined program, and BSN to PhD. Those pursuing a Master’s degree have options in pediatric, gerontology, and family nursing

MUSC University Hospital has specialists from nearly 40 fields - including neurology, cardiology and critical care.

Note: MUSC Hospitals are a group of five facilities - MUSC University Hospital, MUSC Ashley River, MUSC Institute of Psychiatry, MUSC Children’s Hospital and the Strom Eye Institute - that boast a total of nearly 600 beds.

Charleston isn’t just a great opportunity for travel nurses; it’s a true gem of the southeast that offers history, entertainment, culture and opportunity at every turn. And it might just keep you coming back for assignments - or even vacations!

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The American Nurses Association has been continuing to build its “Safe Staffing Saves Lives” campaign to lobby lawmakersfor safer staffing laws, and, in particular, the Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act (S. 73/H.R. 4138). Under this proposed legislation, hospitals would have accountability for creating and maintaining nurse staffing plans at the unit-level. These plans would be design with consultation from practicing RNs. The ANA recently released a survey that indicated 73% of nurses don’t think staffing levels in there unit are sufficient.

Other tidbits of info that came out of the survey:

• 60% of respondents know someone who left direct care nursing because of safe staffing concerns.
• 36% of participants in the survey rarely or never take a full meal break.

Source: nursingworld.org

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I know plenty of travel nurses who love to visit the beach as a way to relax, refresh, soak up some sun and just ‘be.’

Dr. Beach (www.drbeach.org) has released the top 10 beaches in the U.S. for 2008 - If you’re not a travel nurse in one of these areas, you might want to plan on it sometime int he near future:

1. Caladesi Island State park, Dunedin/Clearwater, FL
2. Hanalei Beach, Kuai, HI
3. Siesta Beach, Sarasota, FL
4. Coopers Beach, Southampton, NY
5. Coronado Beach, San Diego, CA
6. Main Beach, East Hampton, NY
7. Hamoa Beach, Maui, HI
8. Cape Hatteras, Outer Banks, NC
9. Cape Florida State park, Key Biscayne, FL
10. Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, SC

Ok travel nurses, get out there and enjoy your summer - but be safe doing it.

And just because you’re on a travel nurse assignment that isn’t close to any of the beaches we’ve listed here, doesn’t mean there’s not a beach nearby. Ask your fellow nurses, they’ll know!

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Nothing can be as exciting as life on the road as a travel nurse - going from place-to-place, meeting new people and gaining valuable experience. But at the same time, new places can be stressful, even frightening at times. Especially when you’re living in housing that someone has picked for you. While travel nurse agencies do their best to put you in quality housing, the fact remains that no house is burglar-proof.

Enter FakeTV(TM). Using a minimum amount of electricity to simulate the light characteristics of a real television, this burglar deterrent creates the illusion that someone is home watching TV. Even if you’re home this is a great tool to have. The varying light intensity and output mimics flicks, on-screen motion and more. Suggested retail price $49. www.faketv.com

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Imagine yourself as a full-time RN at a medium-to-large sized hospital in the United States.

Now, imagine and 220 of your fellow RNs standing outside your hospital with you - on strike for 24 hours as a display of unity to get the owners of your hospital back to the table to work out contract negotiations, when all of a sudden, travel nurses start walking by you, and into the hospital.

They’re your replacements.

That’s right - the hospital administration can’t go without you and your fellow RNs for a single day. So what do they do? They give you ten days off - WITHOUT PAY. And then they fill your positions with travelers.

This is exactly what happened in Yuba City, California earlier this year, and it’s a situation that doesn’t shine well in the eyes of full-time RNs. After approving the strike, hospital leaders in Yuba City knew that they had to find temporary nurses (travel nurses) to fill the void for the day. But let’s be real here, how many travel nurses are going to come to Tuba City for the day? It would take that long just to train them.

So the hospital decided to make the assignment ten days, to match the length of strike at 10 Bay Area Sutter hospitals. The hospital recruited travel nurses in areas such as intensive care, cardio care, L&D nurses and others in order to provide patients with consistent, quality care.

The travel nurses who replace the full-time RNs received between $37 and $50 to work in California, which was based on their specialty and experience.

According to Fremont-Rideout CEO Theresa Hamilton, they “…are not going to get the best quality for (only) 24 hours if he same nurses can be guaranteed 10 days somewhere else.” I’m sure most travel nurses see the logic in that. Each travel nurse was trained to operate various medical equipment, shown procedural items and spend the rest of the time learning where everything was in the hospital.

Because we share this profession with nurses who aren’t travel nurses, we may be called upon, from time-to-time the fill a temporary void left in the wake of a strike, a disaster, or some other event. As a travel nurse, you can choose to take these assignments, keeping in mind the problem isn’t yours to correct, your concern is patient care and the terms of your assignment. While you may (or may not) support nurses on strike for various reasons, your job is to DO your job. End of story. It’s why you became a travel nurse, right?

You can learn more about the strikes in California and the reasons behind them here.

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Whether you travel cross country as a travel nurse by plane, by car or by RV, there’s one little thing you should always have handy: A quality pillow. Since the times of ancient Egypt, pillows has been filled with just about everything humans could get their hands on - cotton, plastic, down and even buckwheat.

And now - you can fill your pillow with air. Zami has created an all-in-one, multi-chamber travel nurse pillow that is adjustable to fit your personal comfort standards. Take it to the beach, bring it in the tub. It’s also perfect for upright situations as well - such as on an airplane, train or in a vehicle. Each pillow comes with a nylon tote and sells for $24.95 at www.thezami.com.

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As a travel nurse, you probably lift a lot. Mostly patients and chances are, none of them are light.

It’s not unusual for travel nurses to lift and move 20 or more patients each day, weighing more than 100 pounds each. Such intense activity contributes to the high rates of injuries and far exceeds what is expected of workers employed by other high-risk professions, such as truck drivers, warehouse workers and construction workers. National statistics indicate that 1 in 10 on-the-job musculoskeletal injuries happen to nurses.

That statistic includes travel nurses.

Relying on data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the American Nurses Association estimates that almost 12 out of 100 nurses in hospitals leave their careers each year as a consequence of musculoskeletal injuries that have resulted in chronic pain. This proportion is bound to increase as the average age of the nursing work force continues to rise.

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In April of 2007, the Connecticut Hospital Association published a report demanding the state, colleges, and hospitals take action to address the Constitution state’s nursing shortage. As of the date of the report, Connecticut had about 23,500 RNs, which is roughly 6,000 short of the number required to meet demand. And while that may be the current problem, it’s certainly not a static shortage. If the nurse shortage isn’t met, the need for nurses will increase to over 22,000 vacancies by 2020.

In fact, the report said that “Connecticut is projected to have the second-worst nursing shortage in the country - second only to Alaska - by 2020.”

The report also took a look at what hospitals in the state are doing to build the healthcare workforce of tomorrow. Programs such as “Nurse Camp” at the William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, which began four years ago, brings in high school juniors who have shown interest in a career in healthcare for a day of job shadowing and a panel of nurses who tout the benefits of a nursing career: challenging work, excellent compensation, and variety.

As a way to teach and train more nurses, the University of Connecticut’s (UCONN) Avery Point Campus in Groton, CT offers a master’s degree program for RNs. Those enrolled in the program are allowed to teach nursing students who are attending Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, CT - a nearby community college - at the two area hospitals. UCONN has responded to the shortage on its main campus as well with an accelerated nursing program for people with a BA in another field and want to begin a nursing career. It graduates 32 students a year, according to Carol Polifroni, associate dean of the school of nursing. The program will be expanding to two more sites over the next two years, doubling the number of graduates.

Polifroni contends that there’s no way for nursing schools to meet the demand for nurses in Connecticut, and that there are basic capacity issues on just about every campus.

UCONN’s approach deals with the shortage of nurses as well as a shortage that doesn’t get as much attention - the shortage of faculty to teach the nurses of tomorrow. In the fall of 2007, Three Rivers had 300 applicants for their nursing program. And while 250 qualified, there was only room for 80 new students because the program only has 10 full-time teachers, and 25 to 30 part-time faculty.

The reason for the faculty shortage isn’t that hard to figure our, either.  Most nurses with an associate’s or bachelor’s degrees earning $50 - $60K a year working full-time (not to mention the overtime) aren’t likely to make the time to pay for a master’s degree is the reward is a lower-paying teaching job.

Both of the major hospitals in the schools’ area have made donations that have brought the number of faculty up - and allowed for increased enrollment. The hospitals recognize their responsibility to entice more people into the nursing field to ensure their staff is well-trained. They see their role of educator/employer as a vital one if they wish to meet hiring targets. The effort has paid off, as Backus filled 92% of the nurse positions it had open.

Hospitals in the area are also seeing the future, literally, by visiting local elementary schools to give talks about what a nurse does and to answer questions from students interested in a nursing career.

The good new is that much of the shortage is being addressed by us: Travel Nurses. And while Connecticut is one of the most expensive states to live in, you can be sure that hospitals and staffing companies are offering competitive salaries and perks from one of the Constitution state to the other.

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According to a report from Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, one of the nation’s largest recruiting firms, nurses trained in administering anesthesia are regularly offered higher salaries than family physicians. The firm’s review indicates that the average salary offered to recruit family physicians is $172,000, compared to the $185,000 average salary offered to recruit nurses trained in administering anesthesia.

The salaries of family physicians also fell behind other types of doctors. In 2008 the average orthopedic surgeon made $493,000 and the average radiologist earned $401,000, according to the report.

For the report, Merritt, Hawkins reviewed the 3,146 physician search assignments the firm conducted between April of 2007 and March of 2008 while tracking financial and other incentives used to recruit physicians.

The survey also showed that hospitals are hiring physicians at an increasing rate. Almost have of Merritt, Hawkins’ search assignments featured hospital employment - up from 19 percent just three years earlier.

Merritt, Hawkins  notes that physicians today are often overwhelmed by the stress and pressures that come with running their own private practice. As an employee in a hospital setting, they can get away from the business and management side of things and concentrate on providing patient care. In fact, hospitals are so eager for physicians that 74% of the search assignments conducted by Merritt, Hawkins resulted in candidates being offered signing bonuses.

Now, I know this is a blog mainly for travel nurses, but it’s encouraging to see our fellow nurses earning more and more. If there’s such a thing as a trickle-down effect, we’ll all be catching some of that sunshine.

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The nurse shortage isn’t something that’s only going on in the United States. Countries around the world, including Canada, are feeling the pain. Even with Canada’s socialized medicine where everybody has health coverage, nurses are scared off, burnt out, and leaving a huge gap in their wake. And while travel nurses can act as a temporary fix for some of the shortages, there’s a definite need for full-time nurses as well as travelers to fix a problem of this magnitude.

“It’s a damning, disastrous cycle: Not enough nurses to fill shifts. Rushed and harried staff who must scramble to provide proper care for patients. Young nurses scared off by poor working conditions, just when they are desperately needed to fill vacancies. Mid-career nurses who burn out and flee the profession, creating even more empty spaces.

This interminable sequence has dogged the nursing profession for more than 10 years in Canada, ever since cutbacks in the early ’90s culled nurses and nursing students from the health-care system to help balance budgets.

There have been myriad calls for help from nursing unions and organizations, from academics and policy analysts, and from the front-line nurses themselves.

Five-and-a-half years ago, Roy Romanow’s landmark report on Canadian health care highlighted the need for immediate action to stem the tide of dissent and dissatisfaction in the nursing profession. The report called for major investment in nursing and other health professions, along with a comprehensive, cross-country plan for the future of Canada’s health-care workers.”

Read the rest of this story in the Toronto Star.

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One of the benefits of being a travel nurse is the tax free housing, travel reimbursements and in some
cases, meal allowances - ok, so that’s more than one benefit, which is probably why you’re a travel nurse, right? In spite of the information (also called ‘advice’) that other travel nurses give you, these benefits are contingent on your personal “tax home.”

The first thing you, as a travel nurse, should know about your tax home is that it’s not a “permanent” or “fixed” residence. Your permanent place of residence is where a you have financial and legal ties. It’s probably the town you consider your home and the place you come back to between travel nurse assignments. This is the case even if you stay with a family member or rent a different apartment every time you return.

A tax home takes the idea of a permanent residence one step further, and requires you to maintain a livable residence at the permanent residence. Your residence can be a single-family house, condo, or even a room that you rent, but in order to qualify as a tax home, you must have evidence that you are incurring regular expenses in maintaining your place.

The IRS allows your deductions for housing, meals and travel while you’re on the road only when it is clear that you are duplicating living expenses while away from tax home while on business. Keep in mind the duplicate expenses don’t need to match in terms of money value - just their natures need to be duplicated while you’re producing income at a temporary location.

By this definition, the vast majority of travel nurses have a permanent residence, but not all travel nurses have tax homes. And while this may seem like a minor distinction, it quite often leads travel nurses to three common mistakes:
1. Claiming the address of a friend or family member as a tax home without contributing to the care/maintenance of the dwelling. Unless a travel nurse can prove they have a rental arrangement where they pay rent, and that rent is claimed as income on someone’s tax return, your arrangement does not qualify as a tax home. If the IRS audited you for proof that your permanent residence is a tax home, items such as rental contracts, records of payment, cancelled checks and tax returns would need to be submitted to the IRS as proof. “Rent” must also match what others would expect to pay in your area for a similar arrangement. So don’t go thinking you rent a room for $1 a month from a family member.

2. Claiming your storage unit as proof of your residence. Why people try this, I don’t know. Claiming a storage unit does more to prove the your lack of a residence than anything else! When you file an IRS document with 111 Main Street, Unit KK, don’t be surprised when the IRS computers tell them that the address belongs to a storage company.

3. Completely renting your tax home residence. If you rent your home or apartment while you’re on a travel nurse assignment, you need to maintain a portion of the dwelling for you buy storing you personal items and physically living there when you are not on an assignment. Otherwise, you forfeit the residence as YOUR tax home because it’s occupied legally by someone else.

Conclusion
It’s true that these tax rules can be confusing, and even overwhelming. And it can be very tempting to stretch the rules in order to get a better deal on your taxes. Having a tax home can be worth up to $4000 a
year in tax savings to a travel nurse, but the extra time and money it takes to maintain your tax home may not be worth it.

If maintaining your tax home is too much for you, it’s not the end of the world. With your higher pay and
opportunity to explore the country as a travel nurse, you can’t put a price on the experience you’ll get. Don’t live your life based on a single tax deduction.

Many travel nurses have done away with the burden of a tax home and become what the IRS refers to as an “itinerant” worker. This simply means that your tax home follows you to wherever you go - the housing and travel reimbursements are treated as part of your taxable income, and the meal deductions are lost. There are some other factors that you should look into on the topic of tax homes, but it is important to know major rules we’ve given you here.

And, one last thing, always remember that your travel nurse staffing agency is not in the business of making sure you’re in compliance of tax laws. If you need advice, seek professional advice.

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While many real estate owners in the United States are seeing a dramatic drop in the value of their property, one are where values are on the rise is in healthcare facilities. Facilities like hospitals are usually built in central locations which is typically, at least in big cities, where folks want to live, work and play. Take New York City for example. Continuum Health Partners has been unloading property for some time now - an estimated $50 million. Quite often, this has happened with little or not explanation to doctors and nurses. In a bizarre twist, Continuum admits to cashing in on the high price of real estate and embrace the opportunity to liquidate much of its property. The company claims that every penny of each sale goes directly back into each facility (provided the entire facility isn’t sold) because many of Continuum’s healthcare facilities are having cash-flow problems.

As a travel nurse, this trend means that there will be fewer facilities to work in - yet this obviously will not change the sheer number of healthcare patients. So trust us, there will still be plenty of opportunities for travel nurses assignments, no matter how long this trend continues.

Read more about this trend in the New York Times.

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Park City is a small Utah vacation town that’s big on recreation, skiing and amenities for its vacation travelers - and for residents of the town, including travel nurses. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley, and The Canyons offer hundreds of ski trails and thousands of acres of hiking and cross-country skiing as well. Off the slopes, your time in Park City, Utah can include fishing, hunting, ice skating and a visit to Utah Olympic Park.
Because you’d be working in a great ski-in/ski-out area, you’ll find plenty of housing worthy of travel nurses: Spacious condos, chalets, inns and estates are all available to rent.

Healthcare facilities in Park City, Utah:

Park City Healthcare

Whether it’s an emergency or long term treatment, Park City Healthcare offers excellent medical care that is warm, friendly and close by. Visit their website for detailed information about theirservices and staff. For additional questions, a map of our location, or to make an appointment, please see the Contact Us page. We look forward to seeing you at the clinic.

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