If you think you’re too old to be a travel nurse, think again. It’s common for nurses to want to try something new in their career, and while it may seem that younger adults gravitate more towards travel nursing, nurses of any age can be travel nurses.

If you’re a seasoned nurse considering making the switch to travel nursing, then here are a few reasons why this role would be perfect for you.

Why You’d Make a Great Travel Nurse

• You Have the Experience – Since travel nursing has grown in popularity through the years, the talent pool is more abundant and competitive. Your established nursing career will help you stand out and land you your dream role.

As an experienced nurse, you’re likely used to working in different settings with various team structures for all types of patients. Plus, you may even have special certifications and skills (as mentioned in our blog post on tips on how to make your travel nurse resume stand out) that will further prove that you’re qualified for the new travel nursing role.

• Travel Nursing Knows No Age Limits – Just because you’re an older nurse doesn’t mean you won’t get anything less than what younger travel nurses experience. Regardless of your age, you’ll still have the chance to explore a new city, help a new community of patients, meet new people, and grow in your career.

If anything, being an older travel nurse may grant you more opportunities for where you are in life. For example, if you have a retired partner, you can bring them along on your travel assignments. Or, if you’re an empty nester, then now may be the perfect time to adventure, travel, and temporarily live somewhere new.

• You Can Share Your Knowledge – Travel nursing gives you the opportunity to share your knowledge and experiences with different people all over the country. As a more accomplished nurse, other nurses in your unit have the opportunity to learn from all you’ve experienced throughout your career. For example, since hospital policies vary from location to location, you’ll get to teach each new unit the best of what you’ve learned in your past experiences.

Know That Our Team Will Support You

As a national staffing resource for the healthcare industry, the team at HealthCare Support believe it’s never too late to start your travel nursing career. Our recruiters are ready to listen to your goals as a travel nurse and place you on assignments that align with what you want in your career. Through dedicated advocacy, compassionate guidance, and highly responsive support, we’ll get you started on the travel nurse career you desire.

To learn more about our open jobs and services, please give us a call at 888-219-6285.

As exciting as it is to be a travel nurse in a new city, adjusting to your role can get challenging. Not only will you have to learn new procedures,  you’ll also need to learn how to best interact with patients and your team. While these tactical and interpersonal skills can be challenging to learn for anyone, they can be especially difficult if you’re still new to travel nursing. However, the sooner you adjust, the better you can be at your job. Below are some tips on how to best get used to your new travel nursing facility. 

Tour the Facility

You’ll likely be at your new facility for 13 weeks, so the earlier you learn where things are and how to get from one place to another, the better it will be for you throughout your assignment. Typically, you’ll get offered a tour once you start work. If not, take the initiative to ask for one.

At the start of your assignment, try to connect with someone who has years of experience or knowledge about the facility. Not only will you have someone to learn from throughout your 13 weeks, but it’s always helpful to have a mentor and friend there for you as you settle into a new role in a new city. 

Get to Know Your Team and How They Work

People and policies vary from place to place so be a sponge and take in all you can throughout your assignment, and especially during your first days on the job. Whether you’re getting your bearings on your facility’s computer system, figuring out the charge nurse at each shift, or familiarizing yourself with scheduling procedures, be open to learning what you need to know to work efficiently. 

Ask Questions  

As a newly assigned nurse, you’ll need to be flexible and learn quickly, but no one will expect you to understand everything on your own. Your supervisor, co-workers, and even your recruiter are excellent resources for you to ask questions when you’re unsure about what your next step should be. 

Know Your Value

While you’ll be learning many different skills at your new facility, your new team can learn a thing or two from you, as well. As someone who’s worked with different people in a different city, you bring a unique perspective to the table. Such personal and professional experiences are what we value most at HealthCare Support. 

As a premiere, national staffing resource for the healthcare industry, our team helps talented, passionate healthcare professionals, like you, land dream assignments. Our professional network is vast, and our dedicated team provides customized staffing solutions, advocacy, compassionate guidance, and highly responsive support to help unlock your potential and place you in your ideal city and role. 

To learn more about our open jobs and services, please give us a call at 888-219-6285.

One of the most fun aspects of being a travel nurse is being assigned to a new location and getting to explore a new area. However, a great way to make the experience of travel nursing even more fun is by being on assignment with a friend, or a group of them. 

Here are some tips on how to travel with a friend or within a group as a travel nurse. 

Get Group Assignments 

Before you decide to travel with a friend, you must first land jobs in the same area. While hospitals aren’t always specifically looking for teams of nurses, if you let your recruiter know that you’d like to find an assignment together, they will likely be able to suggest hospitals with multiple openings. The key here is to remain patient and stay flexible. 

That said, while you should definitely try to find assignments at the same location, try to avoid overlapping in other places. For example, try to avoid competing for the same specialty. Furthermore, it is important to be flexible with your schedule and not to necessarily expect to be working at the same time as your friend. 

Be a Considerate Roommate 

If you are on assignment with a friend, you are likely going to be living together. If this is the case, it is incredibly important to sit down with your travelling companion and future roommate to find a place that works for you both. Also, be sure to figure out before the move if you have compatible living styles by discussing your expectations for living together. 

It would be unfortunate to move into a rental or hotel together only to find out that one prefers an impeccably clean space while the other likes a more lived-in home. Assignments can last a while, so once you express your expectations to each other be sure to respect them. 

Adventure Together 

While you may be traveling for work, don’t forget to enjoy the area and adventure together. After you have your schedules, compare them to see when you and your friends have time off. Then, depending on how much overlapping free time you have, try to plan both small and big adventures. This can include anything from picking a day every week to try a new restaurant to planning a weekend trip to a nearby city.

Furthermore, adventuring together does not just mean taking small trips after you arrive at your assignment. Road-tripping or caravanning to your assignment can be a wonderful start to your journey together if it is convenient for everyone in the group. 

Reach Your Healthcare Goals Together 

At the end of the day, one of the greatest benefits to traveling with a group of travel nurses is that you will have a support system on the road that will understand the highs and lows of your career. However, if you need a little extra support, the knowledgeable team at HealthCare Support is here to help. 

HealthCare Support is a healthcare staffing resource that is perfect for those looking for both short-term jobs and long-term careers. With the help of our staff of experts and our vast professional network, we can help you and your friends take the next step towards your ideal careers. For more information on our open jobs and services, call us at 888-219-6285 today.

The holidays are all about surrounding yourself with loved ones and enjoying time together; however, such an experience can be difficult if you are a travel nurse on assignment over the holidays. If you are unable to be with family due to work commitments, you may begin to feel lonely and depressed, but just because you’re not able to travel home for the holidays does not mean you’re doomed to a sad holiday season. 

Here are some tips for traveling healthcare professionals on how to get through the holidays on assignment without feeling too homesick.

Celebrate With the Locals 

Local venues and restaurants will likely have unique holiday events and offerings that are exclusive to the area. If you’re on assignment in a place with a special local holiday tradition, be sure to do your research and partake. Even though it may not be the holiday you imagined for yourself, you may end up having a more memorable one than you’ve experienced before. 

Get Together With Other Travelers 

Most of the time, you’re not the only travel nurse on assignment, and it is likely that everyone on assignment will be missing their family and friends during the holidays as well. Therefore, a great idea is to rally the other travel nurses on assignment and celebrate the holidays together. Whether you have a potluck, a small gift exchange, or just go out together, you’re sure to have a good time with others who are going through the same experience as you. 

Don’t Skip on Holiday Treats 

Even if you can’t be home for the holidays, don’t deny yourself the wonderful treats associated with the holiday season. From pumpkin spice lattes in the fall or gingerbread cookies in the winter, no matter what your favorite holiday treat is, you should be able to find it wherever you are. If you can’t, then try and make it yourself or have your family send you a care package.

Schedule Time to Call Your Loved Ones

Of course, even if you are far away, you can still spend some time talking to your loved ones over the holidays. You can easily phone them or see their lovely faces by video calling them to send your holiday greetings or open presents. Do remember that because the holidays can get a little hectic at home and at work, it is recommended that you schedule special times to call home. 

Enjoy Year-Round Goodwill and Support 

At HealthCare Support, your premiere staffing resource for the healthcare industry, we offer career support to healthcare professionals all year round. If you’re in the market for a new job or are ready to start the next chapter in your career, our talented team of dedicated industry experts will help you navigate our vast professional network to find both short-term jobs and long-term careers. Whatever you’re looking for, we can help you design a customized solution to achieve your healthcare goals. 

For more information about our services, call us at 888-219-6285 today. 

If you have experience as a travel nurse, you understand how isolating it can feel to go weeks at a time without companionship or any reminders of home. That’s why it’s common for travel nurses to bring their pets along with them on assignment. However, as comforting as it is to have your pet accompany you on assignment, travelling from place to place can be taxing on them. 

Nevertheless, if you wish to bring your pet along with you on your next assignment, keep these tips in mind for a safe and comfortable trip.

Keep Your Pet’s Safety Top-of-Mind 

Before you and your furry friend leave for your next assignment, make sure you’ve checked on your pet’s health. This includes scheduling a wellness visit to ensure your pet’s vaccinations are up-to-date. Also, take a copy of your pet’s health records with you and do your research on local veterinarians or pet hospitals near where you’re staying so you already know where to go if an emergency takes place while you’re on assignment.

Keep Them Comfy While Travelling

When you’re on the road, make sure you have your pet’s medication, food, water, and cleaning supplies. You may also want to consider using a crate or carrier with a cushioned pad or blanket. Additionally, make sure you plan breaks throughout your trip. If you’re driving, make stops frequently to take your pet out for a walk to stretch or go to the bathroom.

Get to Know Your New Location

If you can, try to get to your new location a few days before your start date at work so you and your pet can get acclimated to the area. For instance, you can take your dog for a walk while you find your way around town, or if you have a cat, you can have them roam around your living space so they’ll feel more comfortable where they’re going to be living.

Set a Routine for You and Your Pet

A new travel assignment can mean you’re working different hours or days than your pet is used to. New shifts can affect your pet’s feeding time or when they get taken out on walks. If this is the case, then have a plan in place to make sure your pet isn’t neglected. This may mean signing your pet up for a daycare service, hiring someone to walk your pet, or connecting with neighbors you trust to take care of your pet while you’re working. Whatever you find works best for you and your pet, stick to it so both of you fall into a routine while you’re on assignment.

Ask Your Recruiter for Help

From placing you in your dream position and location to finding a pet-friendly home so you and your pet are comfortable in your new assignment, the right recruiter can help you in many aspects of your travel nursing career.

HealthCare Support is a premiere, national staffing resource for the healthcare industry that helps talented, passionate healthcare professionals like you land your dream travel assignment. Our professional network is vast, and our dedicated team of experts provide customized staffing solutions, dedicated advocacy, compassionate guidance, and highly responsive support to help unlock your potential and place you in the ideal situation for your career.

To learn more about our open jobs and services, please give us a call at 888-219-6285.

As a traveling nurse, you know that some assignments can be shorter than others. While longer assignments may call for prolonged accommodations, shorter ones may only require temporary lodging at either an Airbnb rental or a hotel. Here are some handy hotel living tips to help make your shorter travel nursing gig more comfortable.

Don’t Forget to Pack the Essentials

No matter how short the assignment, there are some essential items that you should consider bringing on your hotel stay.

1. Your own sheets and pillow – The quality of hotel linens can be hit or miss. By bringing your own sheets and pillow, you can ensure your own comfort and bring a sense of home to your hotel room.
2. Hot plate – Eating out can be expensive. If your hotel room is not equipped with a kitchen, consider bringing a hot plate so that you can make your own food.
3. Streaming stick and e-reader – Hotel rooms only offer basic cable, so it is important to bring access to other forms of entertainment so you can unwind and stay up-to-date on your favorite series between shifts.
4. Sound machine – Hotel walls can be paper-thin. To help you get some sleep, a sound machine—either as a portable device or an app on your phone—is a great way to block out the noise from your neighbors and get some much needed shut eye.
5. An array of clothes – Even if your assignment is in a particular season, it is good to have at least one clothing item for any type of weather. For example, even if you’re working during the summer, a sweater is good to have in case your hotel room is particularly cold.
6. A large cooler – Having a large cooler in your room is a great way to take advantage of the endless hotel ice that you will have access to. Furthermore, your own cooler will be bigger and cleaner than the ice container the hotel provides—allowing you to keep more items cool than can fit in your hotel minifridge.
7. A sentimental item – Most hotel rooms have fairly cookie-cutter décor, making them feel distinctly like a hotel room and not like a home. One way to personalize your stay is to bring a sentimental item from home. Some great examples include a treasured stuffed animal, a vase of beautiful flowers, or a framed picture of loved ones to set up on your bedside table.

Keep Your Room Clean

Just because a hotel room isn’t your home doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t prioritize keeping it tidy. Hotel rooms can start to feel cramped very quickly if you throw things around without any regard to organization. Not only is a tidy, organized room easier to live in, but you will also reduce the risk of accidentally leaving something behind when you check out.

Your Premier Healthcare Staffing Resource

At HealthCare Support, we are experts at landing you both short-term jobs and helping you find long-term careers in travel nursing and healthcare in general. We help you excel by providing you access to our impressively vast professional network and our expert team of industry specialists. Furthermore, we are dedicated to helping you by providing you with a customized staffing solution that will ensure you reach your healthcare career goals.

For more information on our available jobs and services, call us at 888-219-6285 today.

If you love to travel, the idea of becoming a travel nurse may seem incredibly appealing. However, when first starting a career as a travel nurse, it can often be difficult to adjust to the demands of such an unconventional position. To help ease your transition into the exciting but unfamiliar role, here are some essential tips for first-time travel nurses. 

Recruit Housing Help 

If you’re unsure on where to live for your new assignment, don’t worry. You don’t have to go it alone and blindly pick somewhere to stay. You’re likely not the first travel nurse that your assignment will have worked with. Therefore, you should ask someone at your assignment for advice on how to find long-term or short-term housing. At the very least, they will be able to direct you to places that other travel nurses have stayed at while on assignment. This can help minimize the stress of researching housing options in an area you’ve never been to before. 

Don’t Forget Your Home

No matter how exciting your assignment is, it’s incredibly important to not forget your permanent residence. Depending on the length of your assignment, you will likely have many things to get in order before departing. For example, you may need to forward your mail to your new temporary address as well as inform your bank that you’ll be working in a different area for a significant amount of time so your accounts do get flagged for suspicious activity. These things can be tedious and time consuming, so be sure to do them before you become too busy with work. 

Know What to Bring 

Packing for an assignment is an entirely different game than planning for a simple trip. You’re going to need much more than a few sets of your favorite clothes and a hairbrush. For example, even if you are staying at a hotel, it is recommended that you bring your own sheets and pillows. Not only are these likely to be more comfortable than what is provided to you, but they will also help your temporary space feel more like home. Furthermore, make sure to look at the year-round weather at the place you will be working so that you will know what types of clothes you will need to pack. 

Here to Help You Start Your Career

If you’re interested in a career in travel nursing but don’t know where to start, look no further than the services and job listings provided by the experts at HealthCare Support. HealthCare Support is a staffing resource for the healthcare industry that can both help you land a short-term job and achieve a long-term career. As a premiere, national resource, our healthcare experts will help you navigate our vast professional network in order to ensure you achieve the next step in your healthcare goals. 

For more information on our services and current job listings, call us at 888-219-6285 today.

Our mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well being. When it isn’t well taken care of, we can feel its effects in the way we think, feel, and act. As a healthcare worker, it’s easy to neglect taking care of yourself when you’re busy taking care of everyone else, but your mental health is important. Below are ways you can better prioritize looking after your mental well-being. 

Find What Recharges You

Self-care looks different for everyone. It can look like never missing an exercise class or giving yourself quiet time to enjoy a good book. It can also look like prepping healthy meals for the week or letting yourself enjoy ice cream after a long day. It may take some time to find activities that give your mind and body the most peace, but once you find what works for you, make it a priority to do it everyday. When you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or burnt out, your self-care activities can help you recharge and get you back to feeling your best. 

Surround Yourself With Uplifting People

If you find yourself feeling depleted, it might help to take a look at your social circles. For example, after you spend time with your friends and family, ask yourself if you feel recharged or drained by how they treat you. If you feel uplifted after you say goodbye, then those people are likely good for your mental health. If you feel distressed after, and maybe even before, you hangout, then consider giving yourself some space from your friends and family to best help your mental health.

Get Professional Help 

While a healthy social circle is crucial for your mental well-being, you should respect your friends and family’s boundaries when it comes to constantly needing emotional support. For example, your stress may be too heavy for them to carry on top of what’s going on in their own life. 

If you find yourself wanting guilt-free vent sessions, objective advice, and professional guidance on how to cope with what you’re going through, consider therapy. Remember, you don’t need to experience a crisis or have a mental illness to get professional help. However, if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms for more than two weeks, reach out to your primary care provider for a referral to a mental health specialist: 

• Difficulty sleeping
• Unwanted weight changes from shifting appetite
• Struggling to get out of bed
• Difficulty concentrating
• Inability to complete daily tasks 

If you are experiencing a crisis, tell someone who can help immediately or dial 911 in an emergency. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text the Crisit Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). These calls are free, available 24/7, and are confidential. 

HealthCare Support Is On Your Side

HealthCare Support understands how stressful and overwhelming working in healthcare can be. That’s why our team wants the best for you, and your mental health. Our recruiters work to understand where you’re coming from and where you want to be. We are a dedicated team focused on placing passionate healthcare professionals in long-term careers or short-term jobs. Our network is vast, and with our customized staffing solutions, dedicated advocacy, compassionate guidance, and highly responsive support, we can get you living a life you love. 

To learn more about our open jobs and services, please give us a call at 888-219-6285.

From getting to know new workers to taking care of diverse communities, one of the greatest benefits of being a travel healthcare worker is meeting people from all walks of life in a new city; this also includes meeting people while off the clock. 

If you’re interested and open to the possibility of dating while you’re on your travel assignment, read our tips below on what you can do to connect with someone new. 

Update Your Distance Preferences

When you’re in a new city, dating apps, like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, make for an easy way to date and find romance. While most apps automatically update your location when you open the app, distance ranges, which can help you match with more or less people, require a manual change. If you want to match with someone near or far, consider making any updates you need to land a date. 

Attend Events

Whatever your interests are, someone else is bound to have the same ones. From days-long festivals to one-time events, resources like Evenbrite or Facebook events make it easy to find local happenings in your area that align with your hobbies and interests. You can attend these events on your own to meet someone, or, if you’ve already made a connection, these events can make for an awesome place for you and your partner’s next date. 

Sign Up for Group Exercise Classes

Working on your fitness? If you’re attending exercise classes frequently, you’ll likely see the same people, so try to strike up a conversation with them before or after your sessions. Whoever you connect with, you can encourage one another in class, keep each other accountable with your workouts (which is another way to continue seeing each other often), and make your move to talk or hang out more outside of class. 

Be Open in Every Adventure

Don’t let finding someone hold you back from enjoying your assignment. Connections can happen at any moment, so go about your life as you normally would. You can do everything you want to do, and if you happen to find someone, awesome! If not, then the whole city is still yours to adventure. The key is making sure you’re where you want to be, doing what you want to do. Everything else will fall into place. 

Have a Trusted Team Get You Where You Want 

If you’re looking for a new travel assignment, or want to begin your traveling career, trust HealthCare Support to get you started on your adventure. We are a premiere, national staffing resource for the healthcare industry that helps talented, passionate healthcare professionals find the perfect long-term career or short-term job. Our professional network is vast, and our dedicated team experts provide customized staffing solutions, one-on-one guidance, and highly responsive support to help you thrive in your career. To learn more about our open jobs and services, please give us a call at 888-219-6285.

Part of the allure of becoming a traveling healthcare professional is the excitement of arriving at a new place and connecting with an entirely new community of locals and medical professionals. However, it is also important to stay connected with the people who have supported you on your career journey along the way.

While distance makes it difficult to share a hug or grab lunch in person, there are still many ways to stay connected with your loved ones while you’re on assignment. Here are some ways that traveling healthcare professionals can stay connected with their family, friends, and loved-ones back home while working on assignment.

Best Ways Travelers Can Keep in Touch With Loved Ones

• Send Daily Messages – One of the easiest and most obvious ways to stay connected with your loved ones from a distance is to message them often. Through the use of smartphone technology, you can find out in an instant how someone is doing by simply calling them, video messaging them face-to-face, or shooting them a quick text—which can easily be done during your break or when you get off your shift. Of course, if you prefer more long-form communication, you can opt for emails, or even letters, instead. If you want to have a little extra fun with it, consider mailing out postcards from your new location. Your loved ones will be thrilled to have a small souvenir from your time on assignment.
• Start a Travel Blog – If you can’t consistently message all of your loved ones on a daily basis or if you simply want to reach a broader audience, you could consider starting a travel blog. What you post is up to you, but your loved ones will enjoy seeing pictures of you at local attractions and reading stories of you exploring the area and growing in your career. While writing, encourage your friends, family, and followers to leave comments on your posts for an additional opportunity to stay in touch.
• Check Social Media – If you lack the time needed to set up and maintain a travel blog, turn to social media to give quick updates to your crew back home. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are great for showing your friends and family what you’re up to while also being able to keep up with them at the same time. Even if you’re not a big social media person, you may find that seeing updates from your loved ones from far away will make the distance between you feel like it isn’t all that great.

A Community to Connect to Wherever You Are

When you’re on assignment in a new place, it can be easy to feel like you’re alone. However, with the support of the dedicated team at HealthCare Support, you’re never alone no matter where you are.

At HealthCare Support, a national staffing resource for the healthcare industry, our talented team is dedicated to providing driven healthcare professionals like you with the support you need to achieve your short-term and long-term career goals. Rely on us and our vast professional network to get you to where you want to be in your healthcare career. For more information on our services, call us at 888-219-6285 today.