Allied and Rehab Healthcare Travel with HSN

I just wanted to talk today about Allied and Rehab travel. Over the years, we've managed to really gain a favorable presence in the industry of RN travel. But did you know, HSN also caters to other healthcare professionals?

The projections for rehab and allied travel are impressive, to say the least. Every day we have a long and growing list of many assignments for PT and PTA, OT and COTA, plus for SLP-- can't staff them fast enough! In fact, I've seen a big increase in SLP assignments over the past month that I can't just attribute to the regular ebb and flow of things. (By the way, HSN just partnered with a company in California for rehab travel assignments in some really desirable locations, including the San Francisco Bay area, North- and South- Central California, and even Monterey and Salinas.)

It's the same thing for allied health-- the demand is definitely growing for ultrasound and echocardio techs, for RRT and CRT's.

Some of the obvious drivers behind this are a large, aging population who require more care, plus an aging workforce who are retiring. Another interesting reason may be that geographical distribution is spreading out-- there are more remote areas where people are settling, and where we need to provide care; they may not have enough people residing in these areas, so they hire travelers to staff for their census. Which brings us to HSN.

We've been working hard at trying to update our website so that you allied travelers and rehab travelers know, we can get you those assignments. We have them. It's a challenge to try and keep current, too, because sometimes by the time a new job posts online, it's being interviewed and filled. It's competitive, and sometimes daunting.

But I do want to emphasize one more time, as we grow to accommodate your healthcare travel needs, HSN's same reputation for kindness and fairness in the industry is paramount in the field of allied and rehab travel assignments. Happy hunting! Thanks for checking in...

Healthcare Traveler Magazine Article this May!

May 2008 was an exciting month for Healthcare Staffing Network, because the experiences of one of our wonderful travelers, Lori Moretti, were chronicled in their feature article called "Cardiac Care - At the heart of many travelers' careers". Wow, Lori! Way to be in the industry-leading magazine for travel nurses!

Lori has been a nurse for 13 years, and she has spent the last three years in cardiac care. She's been a tremendous asset to HSN and recently completed a long-term contract in Las Vegas, wher she got to visit her sister and even got married.

(Author note--Now, this story is also very near and dear to my heart because one of my favorite travelers now works full-time for this very same hospital in Las Vegas, and she's getting married in June...Guess who gets to be in her wedding party?)

After Lori got married, she took another travel assignment with a hospital in Pennsylvania to be near her husband. During that time she was instrumental in bringing a brand new cardiac unit up to speed and running. In their first year, the surgeon conducted over 200 surgeries on patients who previously would have had to be transported somewhere else. It is such a proud moment for her-- and for us, too!

Lori's also responsible for making sure that open-heart patients are stable after their surgeries and make sure that if there are ccomplications, she can prevent further open heart procedures from being necessary. Well, this is a wonderful article if you get a chance to read it-- and Lori, thank you so much for being such a valuable part of our HSN team.

Software Scenario for HSN Travelers and Recruiters

"Growing Pains" - Sometimes things get a little worse before they get better-- sort of like cleaning your house.

In light of that, we just had a database upgrade (boy, did we ever!).. Our CEO said it was like the cartoon where Custer's in battle and telling someone, "Not now! There's no time!", as a "salesperson" or whoever he was, walks away with a suitcase in which there was a gatling gun he wanted to sell Custer. My point- and I have one - is this: Sometimes you have to take the time for change, and the spoils are worth the cost of the hunt.

Better software will enable us to be more efficient in helping our healthcare travel professionals. It's so wonderful, because I think we're better able to focus our time on the personal relationships and effectively your targeting specific needs, and spend less time with the minutae of data entry and piecing the whole puzzle together-- it's so genius!

In this case, I think a lot about the fact that, yes, there are people who have great software backing them up, but then they take this wonderful invention and see it only as something to send out mass emails and see if anything sticks. Rather, this database conversion into more efficient recruiting is hopefully going to create and solidify the foundation of what HSN has always represented- our commitment to provide great, fair recruiting, and the time to be the best. It's not just about getting the assignment, after all; anyone can do that. It's about what happens once you begin at each position, and having the time to be proactively present during each one.

In wrapup, I'd like to say thanks to those healthcare travel professionals who have been patient with our database conversion. We are all looking forward to proving that there's a reason people come to HealthCare Staffing Network-- because they come back!

We'll Miss Geoff Chatham in HealthCare Travel

I've been working with Geoff Chatham on and off for years now, and watched him help develop the recruiting side of HealthCare Staffing Network and then become our Business Development Manager.

During that time, we can proudly say that he's been a key reason that HSN has become a small, but mighty, industry leader within RN and Allied Healthcare Travel. He has contributed so much to branding us with the earmarks of integrity, fairness, and best practices.

Today, Geoff has submitted his resignation with HSN to move on to a brand new industry, and even though it's selfishly sad, because we'll miss him, we also wish him and his wife, Amanda, much happiness.

I can tell you that we're very much of a "family" team here; and, although change is inevitable, it's sometimes a little painful. Geoff-- if you ever do get in here and read this blog-- WOW, I'm so proud of you; your new company is very lucky to have you on board. Your positive attitude, generous spirit, and your knowledge and dedication have been wonderful to watch. Don't be a stranger. We'll be here carrying on with the same principles that you established many years ago when HSN was a new vision, a dream. And speaking of dreams-- May all yours come true! Cheers, good luck, and Geoff, I couldn't have said this better--
Another turning point;a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist; directs you where to go. So make the best of this test and don't ask why. It's not a question but a lesson learned in time. It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life. So take the photographs and still frames in your mind. Hang it on a shelf In good health and good time.Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial.For what it's worth,it was worth all the while.It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life....

The heart of the matter

There's no question that the scope of the nursing and healthcare profession is increasingly transitional these days, and the end to that isn't in sight. Even though there's the obvious shortage of nurses and nurse/health profession travelers, the more important issue, I think, is that the demands- especially to travelers- just seem to pile on, and flexibility is very key, to the point of feeling like an emotional and professional gymnast!
From a staffing/recruiting standpoint, I can definitely say that the workplace is more saturated than ever, and sometimes (dare I say) I question the motives of recruiters who care more about the short-cycle instant placement without any regard for the satisfaction of their already overburdened client - the RN travel industry has lost valuable employees because of hamhanded car salesman tactics replacing sensitivity and fairness.
At this moment, there MUST be increased emphasis on caring and integrity toward the process and the long-term relationship. (You know, there are allied travelers and travel RN's who have never once worked with me for a mobile assignment, but we still keep in touch over the miles and share our stories. Now, it's not for everyone, but it's that attitude of availability, by email AND telephone that creates an ebb and flow really and keeps recruiting from being just an endless race and transforms our job with travel nurses and allied travelers into something more meaningful and rewarding for everyone, including the industry itself.
Most of all, this travel industry requires flexibility, give-and-take-- we'll meet you 75% of the way. Sometimes there are frustrating changes that take place, so this relationship between recruiter and traveler is so important. After all, if it's the lodging availability, or anything else that rears its' unpredictable head, then after everything sifts out, it's that relationship that separates the wheat from the chaff, the women from the girls-- the men from the boys. Ciao for now!

Hamsters and Travel Nurse Recruiting

Good morning! Well, it's another day here at HSN, and it feels like-- well, here's an analogy I like to use. I remember one day when I was in a hurry to take my baby hamsters to a pet store, and the top accidentally came off of their cage, so I suddenly had all these little baby hamsters running in every direction while I chased them around trying to scoop them up and get them back into one place.

(I know, the "cage" part of it, we have to overlook.) What I mean is that sometimes travel nurse recruiting feels like I felt at that time-- you have people whose assignments are beginning, people whose assignments are ending or extending, and you're trying to manage new clients. All the while, new assignments are coming in and it's kind of like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole-- say, someone wants ER in Denver, and the only assignments coming in are for Cath Lab, ICU, and Tele.

Then you have the assignments that only last for a day, and there's the endless struggle to get paperwork in order- skills checklists, copies of certifications, work history, references before ten other travelers get there first-- It's like playing Beat the Clock. It can be an adrenaline surge, that's for sure. There's that push-pull I can really understand-- travelers don't want to fill out paperwork until something's a sure thing, but when that sure thing comes along, it comes and goes in the wink of an eye, and then it's too late.

Sometimes the most challenging part of it is, we all work so hard to get everything together, travelers, recruiters, hospitals, and then... the interview waiting game: "hurry up and wait". Well, in this big gamble, the main part is to stay positive and remember that some seeds are being planted, some seeds are being harvested-- some of them grow quickly, and some of them take forever to flower. HealthCare Travel in its' basic form is often a leap of faith-- So it's Friday morning, and here we go: we're jumping!

HSN's First Blog!

Travel Nurse… Travel Allied Health Professional… Travel Physical Therapist... There, I said it! And I’ll say more…Mobile nurse… Travel RN... American-mobile nurse... Mobile- Healthcare Travel… Not done yet.

That was just a searchable string of words that brought you to me, and this is my first blog for HealthCare Staffing Network. In fact, to be open about it— I’m suddenly at a bit of a loss for words— there are so many words, and only seven of them that you can’t say on TV and radio. Doesn’t THAT leave me a huge opening? Well, hopefully I’m going to pick the right words to engage you in a conversation, you the professional healthcare traveler. Or if you don’t travel, that’s okay. Or if you used to travel, that’s great, too.

Now, I may sound vague, because I pondered ridiculously on questions like this: Do I say, “I”? Can I really talk in the first person? I’d like to take advantage of this opportunity first to answer the first question with an introduction to, “Who Are You??”… Well, we’re (Ah!) HealthCare Staffing Network: HSN, the acronym for my employer; the company for which I’m a recruiter; the rascal behind all of this noise.

After all, this is actually my first blog. It feels important, and so we have all these reasons to be here, these things to define—why am I (are we?) talking in the first place? Who am I talking to? (You). And will there be feedback? I hope so! I’d like this to acquire a shape of its’ own.

What this is supposed to be, is a BLOG on Travel Nursing. It’s quite a universe, this travel nursing and travel health professional industry. I won’t insult your intelligence with the impressive ten-year projections for growth. (I’m sure you discovered those projections when from your college recruiter.) Hopefully, this will be an interesting and truthful place in your virtual universe—a place you’ll want to visit- a place to which you’ll want to travel!

So please, kick off your traveling shoes, forget about your type-o’s, and let’s really talk about your experiences. It would be fun to introduce you to a more personal side of recruiting, as well. (By the way, I always thought it was nice that realtors put their pictures on their business cards, because then you see who they are, except that it’s always some fake retouched photograph that doesn’t look like they do, anyway). See, there I go, saying what I’m really thinking. Nonetheless, we’re here, we’re “blogging”- whatever that means...

What you won’t see here are a bunch of photos like this one:

What you will see here are opportunities for feedback, comments on real life experiences from traveler RNs, LPNs, Allied Health professionals, Physical Therapists—all of it; plus, I may sneak in the occasional story from the recruiting side of things, and hopefully we’ll evolve a forum for authentic dialogue. As a reader, and potentially, a participant—if you want to communicate with us, you can use our blog, our email or our open phone line at 800.388.2610 ; and my email is janet@hcstaffingnetwork.com. If you have ideas for our format, let us know; you’re welcome here. I hope that this serves as a valuable reference tool, a vehicle for input and feedback, and even disagreement. We’re glad you’re here, let’s talk!