NurseNanook

A good start to travel nursing, trying new specialties. You are more qualified than you believe. Research is important. The internet is your oyster. Social networking with like minded health care workers can be a good resource as you begin the journey to your unique nursing career. Working in healthcare has a broad scope of career opportunities and the only way to know what’s for you, is to put yourself out there.

Burn out is the number one issue in nursing and healthcare. Look for the signs and symptoms of burn out, and you can create your own plan of care on how to alleviate further burn out! If you have spaghetti every night for dinner, chances are, you’re going to start being unhappy with your meal. It will begin to be boring, or daunting. Let’s find you a new recipe!

Story time!

I have a really close friend and in the beginning of our friendship, we really connected on our similar interests. One being, we were both interested in nursing. She actually started college with the intent to start nursing school. She confided in me that she was no longer sure she wanted to do nursing, and didn’t think that bedside nursing was for her. I encouraged her to consider still going to school, as there are so many opportunities in nursing that don’t have to be bedside nursing. The trouble is, when we go to our search engines ISO jobs, we type in things like “Nurse” “LVN” “RN” “nursing” etc. My friend did eventually finish nursing school. She was starting off in assisted living facility. We sparked a conversation about income, and I shared with her agency and travel opportunities – how great it is to be able to be in control of your schedule and earn a better income.

She shared with me, her biggest fear about doing agency, per diem and contract work! A fear, many of us face! “I’m afraid I don’t have enough experience.“

The fact is, I left nursing management in an assisted living setting in dementia care to do agency nursing and travel. I do have experience with hospital and skilled nursing, but it had been years.

When I began per diem work, I used many resources! Such as – youtube, nursing books and online nursing articles and journals. The coolest thing about nurses are, we are critical thinkers and we always come up with solutions very quickly. Often they are non-traditional solutions! Remember no matter what your background has been, you are a nurse! You are qualified to work in the nursing field, and if you’re willing to put some elbow grease in, you too can take a sabbatical from traditional nursing jobs and go on an adventure.

So, what do you need to start agency nursing?

First you need to find apps and agency services that facilities use in your area. You can do so by searching “per diem” “agency” “contract” jobs in your zip code on google or job search engine of your choice.

Next, do not just apply for one. You want to have at least 3 apps or services for jobs in the bag. The reason for this is, many per diem applications do not yet have many jobs in your area, but they want to recruit nurses in your area on the app as they attempt to find facilities to work with. (TIP: You can give these companies info on facilities for a bonus, even if you have worked no shifts on these apps as well. You’ll need the facility name and a point of contact like the Executive director/administrator or Director of Nursing for the facility to refer.)

It can take some time to get yourself signed up on the applications. You’ll need an up to date healthcare CPR/BLS credentials, some require up to date vaccinations and/or TB testing, background check, drug testing , references and most places will do a telephone interview with you.

Some APPs, agencies, per diem and contract work will take time to get you on-boarded. Many are speedy and rely mostly on getting information from you required to start work. Do not expect orientation! Working as a “contracted” nurse will be you working independently. When you pick up shifts per diem etc. you will go to each shift, and work as a nurse without orientation time. The only time I have received orientation at a facility, was working at a prison. However, that’s the only time I felt like orienting was appropriate.

Next, once you are on-boarded you can see jobs in your area. One of my favorite things about most of these applications are you can see jobs in other areas! And my absolute favorite is when you can search jobs in different states! If you have a multistate licensure this is awesome! Recruiters within the application can assist you to see what requirements other states may have. Such as fingerprinting (Such as, AZ) and additional background checks (like, Missouri). Recruiters are good resources to help you understand what you can do to work in another area, if you don’t have a multistate licensure, such as California. California and Alaska aren’t compact states so you can’t work there with a multistate licensure. However, they do have certain fine details that allows you to work for a certain amount of time on contract or per diem.

If you are nervous about what to bring, what to expect. Don’t worry! I have some helpful tips.

What you should bring to per diem jobs:

**donot expect facilities to have what you need. Every place is different! Being prepared will make things go smoother for YOU. 🙂

Vital sign equipment, Notebook, your own pens/highlighters/sharpie, time sheet, A name badge with your credentials (could be an old name badge from work), Bandage scissors.

Snacks (not all facilities have vending!) and drinks with LID, change of clothes, change of SHOES, phone charger ( some phone apps used for per diem jobs monitor your location for time purposes )

Stay tuned! Nurse Nanook‘s Next blog will be more vital information on per diem/contract work! Like – Questions to ask during report and how to familiarize yourself with the facility to be successful!