The Latest Edition of The Travel-Nurse Journal Online

NURSING STATION
Hello and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers since the last issue. I am your host Alphatraveler. I have also been a deployed reservist since Jan 2005.

Many Things have happened since my last update to you. The price of gas has risen and fallen. The economy is doing the roller coaster ride of the century. Nursing shortages continue with some interesting twists.

The number of technician roles being created is at an all time high. I just talked to an individual the other day who is being recruited for a new vocational program a college has started in San Antonio. The title is Cardio-Vascular Interventional Imaging Tech. Basically, he would become a very specialized ex-ray tech with a very narrow focus. The money is good. But, I have to wonder...How many jobs are there really going to be for this career? How many raises will there really be?

Other considerations exist too. Will he be licensed? Or will a Registered Nurse be expected to manage, supervise, and sign off on the work of this tech role?

I suspect that many of you are running into this where you work. The healthcare industry was already experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. The economy will only increase the pressure as hospitals start to feel the pinch even more.



Travel Nurses & the Economy
Welcome to a recession proof industry. The news does have reports of hospitals that are scaling back. Some are refusing to hire new nurses. Others use techs, CNA's, and LPN's to perform tasks that are traditionally the role of the RN.
Lets face it. Does an RN really need to do a bedbath? Probably not, but they do need to assess and re-assess the patient periodically. One of the chief arguements for having the RN do the bedbath was that was also a good time to do a thorough physical exam.

Back to the nursing shortage. Yes, it still exists and there are hospitals and other employers who are still working hard to find nurses. Unfortunately, wages are not going up in huge leaps and bounds. But, the wages aren't bad either. Unless you are still living in some parts of the south where wages for everyone are traditionally lower than the rest of the country.

So, while the job growth has slowed nursing is still experiencing job growth and increased demand. Predictions are that 233,000 jobs will be created in nursing between now and 2016. This is in addition to the 2.5 million jobs already in existance. The U.S. Department of Labor is predicting that only 200,000 candidates will be licensed as RN's by 2016.

These shortages will be in addition to shortages caused by retirements, drop outs and increased demand for other reasons. It is estimated that 1 in 5 registered nurses do not work in nursing because of burn out.

Links to some of the stories out there:

Roll Out the Red Carpet

Jobs Increasing Despite the Economy

Students looking for Job Security

Still Travel Nursing Jobs


Weight Loss Secrets are really not a secret. As nurses we all know that we eat too much because of stress, long hours and never enough time to fix the right foods. We also know that exercise reduces stress, increases energy and helps us burn the fat.
But, did you know that you can gain huge benefits just by changing your habits. Did you know that there is a way to Burn The Fat & Feed the Muscle



Featured Website
This issue’s featured site is http://www.codeblog.com/
Code Blog is written from the P.O.V of a pediatric ICU nurse. Its warm, funny and reminds me of why I am a nurse. But, if you have ever wanted to do "extra" procedures on your patients family members I think you can relate to the latest post.

If you are curious about what your fellow nurses think about, write about or just want to laugh lots go to your favorite web browser and type in Nurse Blogs. Be sure you have a few minutes because this is interesting stuff.


Clinical Research Nurse
Nursing is more and more all about evidence based practice. Where does that evidence come from? Why, evidence based practice comes from research. And who better to make sure that research meets the standards than nurses? A short but informative article on the Clinical Research Nurse career http://alternativenursingcareers.blogspot.com/2007/08/alternative-nursing-careers-cra.html
Notice that's a blog.


Nurses in History
She was arrested for creating a public nusiance and sent to jail. She was indicted for mailing "obscenities". She has been accused of being an advocate of eugenics and racism. She was a member of the Socialist Party and was forced to flee to Europe to avoid arrest and prison. Yet, she is one of the most influential nurses in history....
And now, for the rest of the story (as Paul Harvey says)

This infamous nurse is Margaret Sanger. The founder of the organization known as Planned Parenthood.

Margaret was born in 1879. She worked in the East Side slums of New York and became a champion of Womens Rights. It was in large part because of her advocacy for the right of women to use birth control that led to laws that allowed doctors to discuss birth control with their patients in the U.S.

She established the first "planned parenthood" clinic in 1916(or 1917) and was sent to the "workhouse" or county jail for creating a public nusiance.

She died in 1966 but no one will ever forget the legacy that a woman who was "just a nurse" left behind.

Links to Margaret Sanger Bio and DVD

Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America


Choices of the Heart: the Margaret Sanger Story (True Stories Collection)


Travel Nurse Tip
It's Tax time again so this travel nurse tip focuses on items that you can deduct as a travel nurse. Deductible items include:
Stethoscopes
PDR
Scrubs purchased for work
Subscription fees to Nursing Associations
Travel expenses not re-imbursed by your travel agency
Job search costs when you change jobs
Nursing License fees
CEU costs. Any fees you pay for continuing ed


for more information go straight to the source: www.irs.gov


Suggest a Topic
Got a topic you'd like to see? Suggest one to alphatraveler@the-travel-nurse.com and you just might see it in our next monthly issue.