TravelNursingUSA

Ever Thought About A Side Hustle?

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

A lot of travel nurses are interested in earning extra income by working extra shifts.

Why not add a little spice to your life by having a side hustle?

Lot’s of nurses have skills and hobbies that other people would be interested in learning about and perhaps learning HOW to do.

That is where a side hustle comes in.

My blog, SIDEHUSTLEPLUS.COM is all about that lifestyle of having a part-time gig designed to help you have fun sharing something you love while at the same time learning how you can make money doing it.

Don’t have any idea what sort of thing you might do that others would pay money to learn about?

That is just what this blog is going to try to help you with.

Right now it just consists of a weekly (or thereabouts) blog post and a FB Page but very soon I am going to be adding videos and other free things I think you will find interesting and informative.

And maybe even profitable!

If you’d like to get a quick email when I make put up new stuff you can sign up HERE.

If you’d like to take a look at it right now go to SideHustlePLUS.com. Enjoy!

Apple Watch Review

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Many of you who have read my writing over the years know that I have an affinity for gadgets, and Apple products in particular. To be more accurate, I like tools we can use in our every day life. I am well known in my circle of friends for being an early adaptor of new technology and consequently everyone was quite surprised (as was I) when I did not jump on the Apple Watch bandwagon from the get go.
For once in my life I decided to sit back and wait. As taken as I was with the technological aspects of the watch, I wasn’t sure that it really added to my productivity or enhanced my life relative to what I was already getting from iPhone. I don’t even wear a regular watch as I don’t like jewelry and it seems we are surrounded by time telling devices anyway.
So I waited. I watched. I listened. I regularly asked the people I knew with Apple watches what they really thought. Was there any buyers remorse? Were they happy with the purchase? Ecstatic? Remorseful?
I finally decided to take the plunge.  After some research I found that the lightest watch in the group (and there are a lot of choices), was the Sport model. As luck would have it, it is also the least expensive model. Normally the so called “bottom of the line” comes with a lot of compromises. In the Apple Watch world, the compromise is all in the fashion end of things. The electronics of the product is exactly the same in the $399 Sport model or the $17,000 gold version. How does it look in the Sport version? I think it looks great.
IMG_2689I bought the Space Gray (black IMHO) Sport. No muss, no fuss. The flouroelastomer band is superbly comfortable. The whole package is so light I barely know I have it on. My friend Wendell has the higher end link bracelet model and when we held them next to each other it was astonishing the difference in weight. He thought the heaviness made is feel “solid” and “substantial” and more “high end.” I on the other hand, loved the lightness. He wanted fashion, I wanted function. Different stokes for different folks. (One important note. You can easily swap out the bands in about 5 seconds. You can buy extras at either Apple or any of several vendors that are out there.  I’m considering buying an after market leather band to wear on dressier occasions, for instance).
Okay. So lets get down to the nitty gritty. What does it do? More importantly, what do I use it for?
To start with, there is a bit of a learning curve. I find something new each day. It is typical Apple, a very sophisticated piece of technology wrapped in a beautiful, usable device that delivers a positive experience in the day to day world. Just like other technology, each person will use it differently so all I will talk about is myself. Others will have an entirely different experience. Not better or worse. Different.
So how do I use it so far? Studies show that most people use only a few apps on their iPhones on a regular basis. I think this will be true of the Apple Watch also. Let’s look at a few of my uses after two weeks out in the wild.
Time
Let’s get this out of the way. It tells time. Whoopee. It tells it very, very accurately and I guess that is nice. I’d likely buy it if it didn’t tell time but I have to admit, I look at it for the purpose of seeing what time it is way more than I ever thought I would. So that’s that. The watch face itself can be changed to several different styles, and most of the styles are quite customizable. I keep switching back and forth but am sure one of these days I will settle in on one of them. The one I am using today is called “Utility.” It looks like a regular watch but I have it set to display the activity, temperature and battery life “complications.” I don’t know where Apple came up with that term but basically they are each functions the watch can handle and if you want, you can put a good number of them on your screen at the same screen as the watch. Tapping on any of them takes you to a full screen version. At the end of the day, I am enjoying wearing a watch again. It is great to have these tidbits of information available at a glance.
Activity and Health
Another way I use it daily is the Activity function. I try to stay as fit as possible and find having a live IMG_2693scorecard on my person is a good way to keep me doing the right things. For my purposes, the Apple Watch is great at this. My guess is that for a more serious athlete like my crazy niece Whitney, (she is an Ironman!), a dedicated device will be a better fit. For me, though, the watch is great. For one thing, it doesn’t count phony steps. you need to be putting some oomph into your steps to get credit and burn calories. Based on your preset goals it measures walking, minutes of reasonably robust activity, calories burned, and reminds you (and records if you do or don’t) the number of hours you got up and at least moved around. It reminds you to do this every hour and has a preset goal of getting you to do this 12 separate hours of the day. It displays ll four of your results in a single rainbow like circle of circles, each color being one of the four activities. You can quickly glance at the icon and tell where you are for the day. As an aside, the watch is also measuring your heart rate all day long, every ten minutes I believe, and sending it to your phone.
All of this activity is synced with the more robust Health and Activity apps on your phone where you are able get long term reporting if you like (I do). There are also a myriad of third party apps that sync with the Apple health app. I think these areas of health and activity will get a lot of attention from third party vendors.
For more serious workouts there is a Workout app on the phone. I’ve only used it a couple of time but it looks to have a lot of promise.
Texting
 
To be honest, I am surprised at how much I am using this. It is quite easy to initiate a text, especially to a core group of friends you are able to designate. It is all done with either preselected stock phrases or with dictation. The dictation isn’t perfect but it is much improved. I haven’t figured out a way to correct errors so there is that. (You have to cancel and start over). Another option is to send it as an audible recording but I haven’t used that feature so won’t offer an opinion. In a nutshell, it has not replace texting on my iPhone or my laptop, but I guess I’d say it has augmented it. It is much easier to give a quick reply by simply raising your wrist up and talking and it is really easy when it is one of the pre-selected rejoinders like “OK.” It is nice to not dig your phone out every time it vibrates with a new message. The Apple Watch can be set to vibrate on your wrist letting you know you have a new incoming text.
Other things I think I will like down the line.
IMG_2697Speaking of not digging your phone out, there are a number of things you can do with the watch to “run” your iPhone apps without taking the phone out. I’m not doing a lot of this yet but suspect I will as time goes by. You can listen to music and control it from the watch. you can browse your emails to see if you need to respond to any of them. You can remotely run your camera (yes you have to take it out lol). Want a picture of two of you? Set the camera up and then walk into the picture and press the “take” button or use the 3 second delay, on the watch. It works great. You can also very easily raise your wrist to your ear and listen to voicemails. Handy. I have not yet tried making a call! Of course there is Siri. Ask away. She is new and improved. Apple Pay is another thing I haven’t tried and am not sure if I will. Perhaps.
Evernote, weather, Instagram, Wunderlist or Things, timers, your photos, banking, calendars and of course, stocks. Choose your poison.
My son asked me “What’s the killer app?” Well, for me, there isn’t one yet to be honest. It is sort of an incremental improvement of a lot of things I am already doing albeit in a more efficient manner. Compelling? I’m not sure, but I can honestly say I would do it again. It has been two weeks and I am reaching the “crap, I forgot to put my watch on and I need to go back and get it” stage.
Some random thoughts
 
A few things come to mind. Apple just released a new Watch OS and it had several new features in it. The most significant by far is that they have opened the OS up to developers to create native apps. This means outsiders will be able to create apps that reside on the watch itself, separate from the iPhone. They will be able to use many OS features such as the Force Touch and Time Travel. Apple won’t really admit it but they sort of stumbled into the app business with the original iPhone. It not only became a great source of revenue, it spawned incredible innovation on the iPhone itself. I expect some version of that story will be spun by the Apple Watch app community.
Everyone is curious about the battery life. It is good enough. I wish it was better. It has all but one time lasted the day for me. I’d like to see Apple sell a version of it’s charger with 3-5 inches of cord that I could throw in my laptop bag and have to top off the charge on my laptop USB port. That would be handy. I’m sure someone will come up with something. (Nomad? Are you listening?)
As for nursing, I am sure the medical apps will show up shortly. Whether this is appropriate for the workplace is a whole different discussion. Some facilities are “jewelry free” environments and some are not. For a travel nurse, however, I think this is a tremendous tool. The communications, maps, all variety of little tools….they very much lend themselves to someone living in a new environment. Take a look and see if it is for you.
That’s it for now. I am very pleased, not quite “over the moon.” I wouldn’t take it back. I am anxious to see what the developer community comes up with. With a new OS every so often and a few interchangeable bands you can have a new watch on a regular basis. Oh, how I love technology!

LPNs wanting to travel. One solution.

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

On a very regular basis I receive emails from LPNs who are interested in travel nursing assignments. It is understandable but the problem is that there just are not very many of these jobs available.

If you find yourself in this situation you may want to consider becoming an RN. A lot of you are unable to go back to school for a variety of reasons but there is an alternative.

It is possible to get your RN degree by studying at your pace at home by doing it online. One of the schools that does this is a prominent university working through The College Network. If you would like to receive free information on this program fill out this short form and I will see that you get it.

Good luck!

Conrad

Nursing salaries around the United States

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

This is always a hot topic and I hate “averages” but at least this will give you some reference points. Keep these two things in mind when you are talking about salaries. 1. Supply and demand in different specialties always have a bearing on current wage scales, and 2. geography has a lot to do with it.

If you make $90,000 a year in California but have to pay $2500 for a 2 bedroom apartment (plus other cost of living expenses) you could be better off making $70,000 in Phoenix where you might get that same apartment for $900. Just a thought…… Just be sure to do a little research.

This short article and excellent documentation will give you some nice up to date averages.

See it here.

Adding TravelnursingUSA.com to your iPhone

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Would you like to add TravelnursingUSA.com to your iPhone so you can check for new travel nursing jobs postings and blog posts with a simple single click? A lot of us are not aware how simple this is to do. Let me show you.photo

1. Go into your browser and type “www.travelnursingUSA.com” into the address bar (or just click on the link).

2. At the bottom of the page look for an icon which is a rectangle with an arrow pointing up. Select it. (Older phones may have a square with a right arrow instead).

3. Choose “Add to Home Screen”

4. In the uppoer right of the screen select “Add”

Voila! You now have an visual bookmark that will take you directly to the site with one easy step.

PS: You may also want to do the same thing for our “Weekly 25” listings of new hot travel nursing jobs. Follow the same procedure above at this link.

One final tip. You might want to shorten the title before you press the “Add” button to make it easier to read on your smaller screen.

Was that helpful? (Feel free to comment or rate)

 

Where can I go on a travel nursing assignment?

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Good question. After all, this is what it’s all about right?

The fact is, in this day and age of the notorious “nursing shortage” your options are almost without boundary. (I’m talking about the United States right now but we’ll address international assignments in later postings.)

Some of this is just common sense. Larger metropolitan areas will have bigger needs for healthcare pros such as yourself. Communities with greater proportions of retired people will also have greater needs. But think about this. Today’s retirement population of baby boomers are leaving the workplace in greater numbers then before and at younger ages where they are active and interested in having fun, active lives. They are going to places that lots of people want to live, (or go on travel nursing assignments.

Places like Florida, California, and Hawaii have tons of travel nursing jobs for this reason. But they aren’t alone. Virtually any of the larger cities in all fifty states have traveling nurse jobs. Many smaller communities face staffing problems because the younger folks are bailing out to go to the “bright city lights.” There are many pearls out there….small, friendly towns with lots to offer to an adventurous soul.

So what I am trying to say is that there are almost unlimited choices. Keep an open mind and consider places you’ve never been to. Research the areas you think you might be interested in. Check the various seasons weather patterns and what the region may offer you on your times off.

One of my goals on my travel site, www.travelnursingUSA is to provide that kind of information along with the contact information for state nursing boards.

You also may want to subscribe to my weekly newsletter that sends out new job listings in an email newsletter each week. These come from several different agencies and are all over the United States. You can see the online version or subscribe by going HERE.

Top Travel Nursing Jobs

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Every once in awhile I feel the need to do a little self promotion. Today is one of those days! Hopefully it is something of value to you, my readers.

A few years ago I decided to do a weekly newsletter listing new travel nursing jobs being posted by various travel nursing agencies. I decided to send it by email to only those people who ask for it and to date more then 15,000 of you have asked to receive it. There must be something to it!

I call it The Weekly 25. It is featured at that link as a standalone website and there is a link there you can subscribe to receive it in your email box.

If you’re interested in travel nursing jobs around the United States this is a great way to get a weekly dose of what’s out there. Give it a try.

iPad Mini is a nice travel partner

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

I love technology and increasingly, so does the general public. The Internet has become a basic part of society and keeping up with email accounts, social networking and who-knows-what-else becomes an issue for those of us living a fairly mobile lifestyle.

I personally think that a tablet device is almost a perfect traveling companion and the new iPad Mini is simply a near perfect rendition of that genre if you are on the go like I am.

Let’s explore it a bit.

iPad Mini review It weighs about 11 ounces, let’s start there. You can throw it in a purse or a pocket (large) and barely tell that you have it with you. The screen is deceptively large and from where I sit is just fine for doing anything I do consuming content on the Internet. The screen is beautiful although it is not the state of the art retina screen Apple is using on their higher end products. I’ll be surprised if that isn’t added in the first upgrade likely to come out next Fall. I wouldn’t wait for it, though. This one is just fine. Watching a Hulu or Netflix movie on it is great.

Read More

How does the Virgin Islands sound this time of year?

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Heck I even live in California and this sounds good! I can imagine what some of you snow trapped denizen of the Northeast part of the country must think about escaping to white sand and sunshine. Anyway……one of our member travel nursing agencies has just posted a job for an ICU/CCU RN right smack dab in the Virgin Islands. Here’s the link

Good luck!

Conrad

IPhone App

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

I am in the process of having a new iPhone application for travel nurses. Watch this space for updates on when it will be available.

We are also working night and day to create a social networking presence so that you will have announcements, new hot job postings and all kinds of travel nursing information in one centralized community site.

Keep your eyes out for lots of new announcements this month.

Conrad

What about a large dog on a travel nursing job assignment?

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Conrad, my niece is a great nurse and is interested in becoming a traveling nurse. She is also interested in getting a LARGE dog, a Newfoundland or a Great Dane. She thinks that this will not be a problem but I would like to know if this will be acceptable or if it will cause problms or limit her opportunities. I mean, don’t some apartments have weight limits? Please reply as this is important and thank you so very much. Perhaps not the usual question! Barbara
P.S> She already has a cat.
_____________________________________________________________________
Dog and travel nursing

Agencies have gone to great lengths in the past to accommodate travel nurses. As you likely know, a lot of folks who rent out housing are not all that into pets. it’s a problem that can be overcome with deposits but it is normally a smaller animal or cat.

In today’s market there is a different balance of supply and demand though. My best guess is that a large animal like that would present a real liability in getting an assignment, and certainly would preclude one from having his or her top choice. It is just easier to place someone without this baggage.

On a more humane note, it seems to me that these are just not the type of animals that belong in a small housing environment, not to mention being left alone for long periods of time. I’d very much suggest she not attempt this. There are also issues of transporting this animal from assignment to assignment.

I’m not saying it can’t be done. Just saying it sounds like a very bad idea from where I am standing.

Just my two cents!

Conrad

iPhone Apps for Travel Nurses

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Here are a few suggestions for using your iPhone in your nursing environment. Having this information on your iPhone/iPad is especially handy for those of you on travel assignments.

MedCalc

Free- MedCalc is a free medical calculator that gives you easy access to complicated medical formulas, scores, scales and classifications. Each formula has been individually designed and optimized for the small iPhone screen.

Fast Facts for Critical Care

$46.99 – The popular and acclaimed reference book is now in iPhone format. Must know information at your fingertips. Over 250 color illustrations.

Pedi Stat

$2.99 on both iPad and iPhone. A rapid reference for healthcare pros who care for pediatric patients in an emergency or critical care environment.

For more detailed information on these apps (and others) visit the Apple App Store on your phone or iPad. You can also see them on iTunes.

Alaska? San Diego? Virgin Islands?

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

This weeks issue of the Weekly Top 25 Top Travel Nursing Jobs includes travel nursing jobs from such diverse locations as Anchorage, Alaska, Boston, Houston, Guam, San Diego, the Virgin Islands and more.

These are pretty cool locations if you are feeling the urge to get up go someplace exotic for the next 13 weeks.

The jobs in this newsletter change each week so if the one you are looking for isn’t listed it doesn’t mean it isn’t still available. Go ahead and click on another job and in when you hit the “apply” button there will be a place for you to ask for a different location then that particular job.

Good luck!

You can find more listings at Nursetown.com and TravelnursingUSA.com

Travel nurse publishes her book

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Lynda Lynton is a career RN from Rhodesia who now lives in the United States and is a travel nurse. One of her passions is writing and recently she published her first book, “Born Under An African Sun”.

One of the interesting aspects of this particular story is that she wrote it while on a travel nursing assignment in the Virgin Islands. I am reading the book currently and will be putting up a review of it in the next couple of weeks and then Linda has agreed to let me interview her. I’ll publish that interview here at AskConrad.com.

Keep checking in. I will try to have it up sometime this month if she and I can catch up to each other.

Do you have contracts of 6 months or more?

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Do you have contracts of 6 months or more?

Sincerely,
Paola

Hi Paola. first of all I am not an agency but i think I can speak for them and give you an answer.

Travel nursing assignments are almost universally for 13 weeks, (three months). If everyone is happy with each other and the facility still has the need you are very likely to be asked to renew. It is not uncommon to do this over and over.

It is entirely possible to stay a year at a given assignment. You are more valuable as a trained “broken in” nurse. Your recruiter should be able to give you an honest assessment of whether a particular assignment could result in a longer duration.

If you would like to speak with a number of different recruiters without the hassle of individually contacting them one by one go to AAATravelnursing.com and fill out the form.

Good luck!

Conrad

iPads Heading To Nursing

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

According to Apple Insider “a California hospital plans to distribute more than 100 Apple iPads among its health care workers to allow them look at X-ray images, EKG results and more on the portable touchscreen device, according to a new report.”

I am an iPad early adopter and this makes all of the sense in the world to me. Healthcare could be a huge market for this type of product. In my opinion, the “instant on” feature of the iPad coupled with the genuinely long battery life make it a natural.

Read the article HERE.

I am a US citizen with a BSN and…..

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

I am a US citizen with a BSN (4 years). Am I qualified to be a travel nurse?

Thanks for the question. Unfortunately I am a bit unclear of whether the 4 years was experience, or time in college. Also you did not say if you have any experience in a clinical setting.

Here’s what you need to qualify initially as a travel nurse.

You should be an RN

You should have a bare minimum of 1 year experience in a clinical setting, and a lot of travel nursing agencies are looking for 2 years of experience.

You should be a U.S. citizen.

I hope this clarifies it for you. Once you meet these criteria go to TravelnursingUSA or Nursetown and fill out the “request information” form.

Good luck!

Conrad

Been Away

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

I’ve been out of the blogosphere for awhile but am back in the saddle. I had a memorable trip to Vietnam where I served in the Marines in 1967 and 1968. My son and I traveled up and down the country visiting places I fought 40 years ago and even had dinner with a North Vietnamese Army guy in his home. If you have any interest you can see our pictures, video and commentary at PeteAndCon.

Travel Nursing Handbook

| By Conrad Lopez | 1 Comment

In May of this year I will be releasing my new book on travel nursing. It is a work in progress but it looks like it is going to really be a handy addition to your library. If you are a travel nurse, a student, a "wannabe" travel nurse or just an interested party this may be the best think to hit your desk in quite a while.

It will be very readable (not a 700 page text book!) and will contain a bit of history, a solid Q&A section, real travel nursing stories and, importantly, a workbook section with up to date contact information for hundreds of travel agencies with tips and room for notes.

Keep your eyes open on this site for further information. We will begin taking pre-publication orders (at a significant discount) soon.

Conrad

 

Do I need a license in every state I work in?

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

The short answer is yes. Any agency will be happy to help you with this process. Some states have what is called reciprocity. That means if you are licensed in certain states you will be automatically accepted as a licensed person in the state offering it. Check with your agency representative to find out what to do in the state you are interested in.

Do you provide travel assignments outside of the US?

| By Conrad Lopez | 3 Comments

The question sent to me was…..

“Do you provide travel assignments outside of the US? My husband is being transferred to Edmonton, Alberta Canada. I am a critical care RN with over 10 years experience. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.”

TravelnursingUSA is not an agency per se. We are a site that supplies interested nurses information on travel nursing as a career alternative. When you fill out the “Request Information” form it is automatically sent to various travel nursing agencies that request certain profiles. There is a large comments section where you could put this very question and then when the subscribing agencies get your form they know exactly what you are looking for and can research whether they have anything that is a match for you.

I would suggest doing that. Many of the agencies have Canadian opportunities. You can find the form at REQUEST INFORMATION.

Best of luck to you!-Conrad

Low Rider Nursing Uniforms-a fun read

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

One of the things I do as a site operator is to host discussion boards where nurses in a variety of settings can voice there opinion on lots of different topics.

About three years ago I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal about a new fashion trend young women were taking a liking to….low rider pants. The WSJ article was exploring the concept of fashion in the workplace and the appropriateness (or not) of dressing this way at the office.

I decided to toss out the idea of nurses wearing low rider uniforms. Holy cow! It was like throwing a grenade into a discussion group. To this day nurses are opting in with opinions and they make for a good, fun read.

Here is just a sample:

I don’t think low riders have any place in the nursing “uniforms” we’ve already seen some pretty unprofessional attire with some of the scrubs, and sweatpants I’ve seen. And I feel that some, not all, of the nursing students are way out of line with their attire to their clinicals….I had one student show up in the clinic for her rotation in white low riding capri jeans, with a leopard print thong that came above her low riders every time she squatted down or bent over, and a midriff t-shirt that of course showed her belly button & clog style tennis shoes….all I know is, if I had shown up dressed like that when I was in nursing school, I would have probably been kicked out of the program. Seems like that’s how things get started though, one person wears low riders and has everything covered, and then the next person comes along and “it just ain’t right”, but they are allowed because the other person got to….and it just goes on and on and on………

There are some heated and some comical responses. If you’d like to read along or comment go to Nursetown Discussions.

Have a great day!-Conrad

 

Merry Christmas to all

| By Conrad Lopez | Leave a Comment

Just a quick holiday greeting to all of you out there and a very special Merry Christmas to all of you nurses who are sacrificing your holiday to work today and make your patients holiday a healthy and happy one.

Good things happen to good people and whether you are a travel nurse or are in permanent assignment today, the world is a better place because of it.

Thanks you for being a nurse!

Conrad

Did anyone see this “Dear Abby” letter the other day?

| By Conrad Lopez | 1 Comment

NURSE DISILLUSIONED WITH JOB CONTEMPLATES CAREER CHANGE

DEAR ABBY: I love your column and no-nonsense advice. I guess what I want is for you to tell me it is OK to change careers.I am a registered nurse who graduated from nursing school a year ago and hates her job. I am getting ready to change careers. It will cost me money, but I feel the payoff in time and peace of mind is worth it.

What do I say to people who are going to criticize me for it? Yes, I know it seems crazy to have spent four years getting a degree and not use it…………..

Read the full posting http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20060830

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