8 Mistakes That Rookie Travel Nurses Make While on the Job

8 Mistakes That Rookie Travel Nurses Make While on the Job

by | May 13, 2023 | Travel Nursing

8 Mistakes That Rookie Travel Nurses Make While on the Job

Working as a travel nurse is one of the best decisions you will ever make in your nursing career. Of course, just like any other newbies, you can’t wait till you are assigned to a different location.

While waiting for an assignment, it is best to read about the eight mistakes that rookie travel nurses make so you can avoid doing them in the future. Here’s what you need to know. 

Avoid These While Going Through Your Contract

#1. Skimming through your contract.

It is a big booboo on your part if you do not read your contract thoroughly. Your travel nurse contract is an essential part of your assignment, so any responsible nurse will carefully read through it before signing [1]. Skimming through your contract will place you in a situation that you might not like. 

Before signing, make sure to check for accuracy and completeness. Check also for the assignment, pay rate, dates, travel reimbursements, bonuses, time offs, and other special agreements that you may have.

Your agency should be able to answer all your concerns if needed. So, don’t just skim through it; read your contract well!

#2. Being unprepared for your assignment.

As nurses, we are trained to be ready at all times. We can even give boy scouts a run for their money if we talk about preparedness! It is a part of our nurse’s skills to be alert and ready for anything.

However, rookie travel nurses are too complacent about their assignments that they don’t bother preparing – a big mistake! They let their excitement get the best of them. Remember, you are traveling for work, not for fun.

Be in a work-mode mindset as you take on an assignment. While you can still see sights along the way or during your offs, you still have to be prepared to do your nursing duties. Avoid these mistakes that rookie travel nurses make, and you will save yourself from trouble.

Agencies will help you process everything you need – even your license entering a compact state. In short, you have all the help you need. All you have to do is show up on time and make sure that you make a good impression on your first day.

Always bring your supporting documents if your supervisor needs them – it will show how responsible you are for a rookie travel nurse!

#3. Bringing too much stuff with you.

The shortest duration of your assignment is around four to eight weeks, with the longest of thirteen weeks. There’s no need to bring too much stuff with you.

Bring only the essentials, and make sure you have enough to reuse. If you are assigned to a different state during winter, bring clothes suitable for the weather. Other than that, leave the ones you don’t need during this assignment. Besides, the weeks will fly by, and the next thing you know, you are off to another location again. 

Take note also of the place you are staying. Is it furnished or not? See what is included in your accommodation. This way, you can decide whether to bring other items along or not. 

#4. Not asking questions.

As a travel nurse, you will always be the “new kid” in town. And as much as you want to do your job and go, it is not always the case. Whenever you are assigned to a new facility, be sure to ask the right questions.

You need to learn where things are, who you need to call for emergencies, what practices are done, or protocols to follow. Asking these questions will help your survival on each shift. 

Be sure to make new friends too. Sure, you are the extra hand, but it won’t hurt if you greet people and be friendly. After all, you work in the same facility. Besides, having new friends broadens your network.

So, do not hesitate to be nice to everyone you meet along the way. You will need guidance and help as you go. 

#5. Acting like you are not part of the team.

Sure, you may be a temporary nurse extending help, but that does not mean you should also exclude yourself from others. Staff nurses will expect you to do your best. Showing up on time and doing your duties are essential, but you are not hired to work there to separate yourself. 

Try to be a part of the team, be nice to people, be prepared, and do your part. If you work like you are part of the team, your coworkers will treat you the same. Don’t be a total stranger. 

#6. Acting like you know it all.

Another mistake that rookie travel nurses make is acting like they don’t need help from anyone. Being a know-it-all is something you should avoid. Sure, you have the skills and knowledge, but ignoring protocols and not following the standard procedures in the facility you are working in is a huge mistake. 

Take time to listen and learn from your coworkers. It does not matter how long you have been a travel nurse or new to the job. Being open to suggestions and learning the trade is vital if you want to keep your job.

Learning new skills will only strengthen your ability as a nurse. Once you have shown that you are valuable to the team, you might find your coworkers asking for your input. 

#7. Joining the hospital drama.

One mistake that rookie travel nurses make is by joining hospital politics during their brief stay [2]. As a result, they found themselves tangled in the drama that they could’ve avoided in the first place. 

As tempting as juicy gossip can be, avoid engaging in it. Remember, you are only working in this facility for a few weeks. It is always better to build strong relationships than to be part of the gossip crew.

Besides, you don’t know the people involved or the whole story, so why bother becoming a part of it? So, do what you came to do, avoid gossiping, and focus on your patient care. You will be appreciated more!

#8. Working hard or hardly working.

Last but not least, one of the mistakes that rookie travel nurses make is working too much or too little. As a nurse, your work is a priority, but you can become a workaholic when you work too much and don’t pause to breathe.

So find time to balance work and recreation. One of the reasons you became a travel nurse is to see other places, so do it! Take a look at your schedule and plan an activity for the day.

While you are assigned a job, why not take the opportunity to see places? Knowing when to work and have fun has its perks. Besides, after a long day of serving patients, a breather sounds about right. Enjoy the moments while you can! 

Find Balance on Your First Job

Becoming a travel nurse is exciting, primarily if you are assigned to a place that you haven’t been to before. But as you do, find balance in your work and play. Be mindful of your ways, be presentable, arrive on time, and leave work at work.

Over time, you will enjoy each assignment, and you don’t have to make the same mistakes rookie travel nurses make! Being a nurse is a rewarding job, and for you to deliver quality care, you must also take care of yourself.

Hopefully, this list cleared it out for you. Best of luck! 

Looking for more nursing and travel nursing information? Check out these helpful links!

 

EP 214: How to Land Your First Nursing Job With Benjamin Baker

EP 214: How to Land Your First Nursing Job With Benjamin Baker

by | May 5, 2023 | Nursing Student, Podcast

EP 214: How to Land Your First Nursing Job With Benjamin Baker

In this episode, we interview Ben Baker, a current ICU travel nurse, and new grad coach, about how to succeed in your first nursing job. We discuss new grad nurses’ challenges, how to thrive in your practice and best practices for resumes and interviews. We also touch on how healthcare facilities can better invest in and retain new nurses and the issue of “nurses eating their young.” Join us for an informative and engaging conversation!

It’s totally normal to feel both excited and nervous about starting your first shift as a Registered Nurse. Take a deep breath and remember you’ve worked hard to get here. To help ease any anxiety, take some time to prepare for success. You’ve got this! Join us for an informative and engaging conversation!

Questions for Our Guest

The questions below are some we’d like to tackle. We often go off-topic, so we don’t expect to hit them all. If you have any ideas, please let us know.

    1. Can you give us a background about yourself and some of the experiences you’ve had throughout your career that bring you here today?
    2. What area(s) do you think new grad nurses struggle with?
    3. How do you cultivate resilience as a new grad – to see your “mess” as a “message”
    4. What are the best tips you can give to nurses getting ready for their interview? 
    5. What are the key things to remember when writing your nursing resume?
    6. How do you stand out as a new grad to get hired?
    7. How do you think healthcare facilities can better invest and retain new nurses coming into the workforce?
    8. How do we cancel the call light on nurses eating their young?

 

Ending Questions

Before we end the show, we have one last question we like to ask all our guests.

If you had the opportunity to have a Cup of coffee with anybody one last time, who would it be & why? 

 

Links: 

Coaching: www.nextlevelnurses.com

To watch the full episode:👇👇

https://youtu.be/1-j6kuNrbVg

 

 

EP 213: What Role Does Humor Play in Healthcare?

EP 213: What Role Does Humor Play in Healthcare?

by | Apr 28, 2023 | Podcast

EP 213: What Role Does Humor Play in Healthcare?

What does humor play in healthcare? Everything! Without humor, working in healthcare can drain our energy. A good laugh while working or seeing funny and comical things helps our healthcare professionals ease up even a little bit.

As nurses, our jobs require us to deal with stress almost 24/7. Finding humor in our actions helps us stay sane and make it through the day. It’s also a good feeling to laugh after a stressful day, so humor is important in this line of work. 

In this episode, we would like to introduce you to Jim Fulmer. Jim is currently a  board-certified Internal medicine hospitalist who has worked with nurses in a lot of different healthcare settings over a long career. 

He has had experience working in health care in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky, Australia, and Alaska, public health, traditional office practice, research, and in various leadership roles as a hospitalist.

He is also a medical cartoonist on Instagram and has created a hospital-themed board game and card game called Doctor Wars. 

Questions for Our Guest

The questions below are some we’d like to tackle. We often go off-topic, so we don’t expect to hit them all. If you have any ideas, please let us know.

Looking forward to our conversation!

These are the questions you had in Calendly. We’ll go off your questions and wherever else our conversation goes.

  1. Can you give us a background about yourself and some of the experiences you’ve had throughout your career?
  2. How has your perspective on medicine and healthcare changed over your career?  
  3. Was there a point in your career when you realized that the way you interact with people and the way you treat them is just as important as the treatment you give? 
  4. What do you think about the insurance side of healthcare? 
    •  Insurance can be frustrating to patients and healthcare workers. Time to evaluate the patient is less and less, and the most important factor for the quality of the care of the patient is the TIME you spend with them…now we are focusing more on documentation and coding system than actual care. 
  5. What made you start, and what is the Doctors Wars game? 
    • You recently posted if musical instruments were healthcare specialties,  were humor and education something you were always passionate about? 

 

Ending Questions

Before we end the show, we have one last question we like to ask all our guests.

If you had the opportunity to have a Cup of coffee with anybody one last time, who would it be & why? 

 

Links: 

https://www.instagram.com/doctorwarsgame

https://www.doctorwars.com/ 

To watch the full episode, click here for the full video 👇👇

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction
01:52 About James Fulmer
08:58 The distinction between working in hospitals and rural places
12:17 Adapting and respecting multiple cultures as a travel health professional
16:21 The very complex problem of improving healthcare
18:28 Why is improving healthcare such a challenge in the face of a massive project?
22:19 Using our talent to improve everything around us
25:42 Is medicine’s future headed in the right direction?
37:45 Can a single-payer system solve one of healthcare’s problems?
42:49 There is no perfect healthcare system
44:52 Bias decisions in healthcare
48:26 The pros and cons of social media and humor
53:45 How Jim came up with the card game
1:00:05 Wrapping up the show

EP 210: ER Nurse to Viral Content Creator With Stephanee Beggs

EP 210: ER Nurse to Viral Content Creator With Stephanee Beggs

by | Apr 7, 2023 | Podcast

EP 210: ER Nurse to Viral Content Creator With Stephanee Beggs

Can one become a viral content creator? The short answer is yes. Our profession gives us the freedom to become an inspiration to others. Whether it be through bedside nursing or content creators, we have the means to help others.

It is unsurprising to see many healthcare professionals rise to the ranks of online personalities as they help educate others about health and well-being. If you’re a nurse interested in making digital content, this episode is for you. 

In this episode, we would like to introduce you to Stephanee Beggs. Stephanee is a content creator, Forbes 30 under 30, and Emergency Room nurse.

She unintentionally became viral on social media for her quick, concise educational tools that led to the creation of RNExplained, Inc.

Our main focus today is ER nursing and crazy patient experiences. 

Questions for Our Guest

The questions below are some we’d like to tackle. We often go off-topic, so we don’t expect to hit them all. If you have any ideas, please let us know.

Looking forward to our conversation!

These are the questions you had in Calendly. We’ll go off your questions, and wherever else our conversation goes.

  1. Please give us a brief background about yourself and your nursing experience. 
        • What made you decide to get into emergency nursing?
  2. Let’s address the elephant in the room, do you have any beef with ICU nurses?
  3. What is the day in the life like of an emergency nurse? 
  4. Has your life changed significantly being a social media influencer? 
        • Did you get any backlash from your employer?
  5. How did you create RNExplained? What inspired you?
        • You became the 30 under 30 on Forbes for the education category. 
        • How do you juggle multiple roles as a nurse?
  6. How do you prioritize self-care as a nurse? 

Ending Questions

Before we end the show, we have one last question we like to ask all our guests. If you had the opportunity to have a Cup of coffee with anybody one last time, who would it be & why? 

Connect and catch up with Stephanee through her socials at: 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/stephaneebeggs/?hl=en
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RNExplained
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stephbegg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rnexplained/featured 

Want to become a viral content creator too? Watch the full episode here 👇👇👇

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction
01:39 About Stephanee Beggs
05:08 What causes the conflict between ER and ICU nursing?
07:24 What does an ER nurse’s shift look like
11:19 Traumatic experiences as a nurse
16:03 The love of helping and nursing patient
18:05 How RNExplained started
18:47 What is it like to be an entrepreneur and a social media influencer?
19:46 Secrets on how Stephanee balances her life
21:29 Nurse Influencers are being misunderstood by hospital administration.
27:51 Tips on how to avoid trouble with what you post on social media
29:13 Setting Boundaries with Employers and Social Media Influence
30:47 How Stephanee grew RNExplained
33:11 Stephanee’s future business plans
34:30 The importance of self-care?
35:52 Wrapping up the show

EP 205: 9 Qualities of a Good Nurse

EP 205: 9 Qualities of a Good Nurse

by | Mar 3, 2023 | Podcast

9 Qualities of a Good Nurse

In this episode, we will discuss the nine qualities of a good overall nurse. It is undeniable that nursing is a noble profession that requires a unique set of skills and qualities.

It is not an easy job, and nurses must possess several qualities that make them stand out. In this podcast, we will discuss nine qualities that every aspiring nurse should strive to have.

1. Be a team player – hard work ethic.

One of the most important qualities of a good nurse is being a team player with a strong work ethic.  Nurses should be willing to work collaboratively with their colleagues and be proactive in helping them.

Even if your shift is difficult, can you still go out of your way to help another nurse? What if you’re busy and your co-worker wants a 15 min break? Will you say no? Do it for the squad! In some units, you know the team got you back.

2. Learn to communicate with everybody on the healthcare team

Communication is another critical skill that every good nurse should have. Nurses interact with several people, including patients, families, physicians, and other healthcare professionals.

Therefore, excellent communication skills are a must. Nurses should be able to convey information, listen actively, and respond appropriately. Effective communication ensures that patients receive quality care and that the healthcare team works together seamlessly.

3. Flexibility in your shift – going with the flow

Flexibility is also crucial in nursing. Nurses must work flexible hours, including night shifts, weekends, and holidays or even deal with floating multiple times a shift as we did in our travel nursing contract.

Flexibility helps ensure that patients receive the care they need and that the healthcare team is adequately staffed. Can you float as a nurse without negatively impacting your team?

4. Don’t be hyper-independent and not help others

While nurses need to be independent and resilient, they should also be careful not to be hyper-independent and not help others. Nurses work in teams, and every team member should be willing to help their colleagues.

Being a team player means being willing to lend a helping hand, ask for help when needed, and work collaboratively to achieve the best patient outcomes. This is what makes you a high-quality nurse to be around. 

5. Having empathy – compassionate 

Empathy is another crucial quality of a good nurse. Nurses should be empathetic and compassionate towards their patients.

They should be able to connect with their patients, show them kindness, and provide emotional support. Having empathy helps patients feel valued, understood, and cared for, which can positively impact their recovery.

6. Emotional Stability – Tempered 

Nursing is a challenging job that can be emotionally draining. Thus, a good nurse should be emotionally stable and tempered.

They should be able to manage their emotions, remain calm under pressure, and handle stressful situations effectively.

Emotional stability helps nurses provide quality care and maintain a positive work environment.

7. Attention to detail 

Attention to detail is another critical quality for nurses. Nurses are responsible for administering medications, monitoring vital signs, and providing treatments. Therefore, they should be meticulous and detail-oriented.

Paying attention to detail ensures that patients receive the right medication, dosage, and treatment, which can significantly impact their recovery or potentially cause harm.

8. Problem-solving skills – a Critical thinker 

Problem-solving skills are also essential for nurses. Nurses encounter complex problems daily and must be able to solve them effectively. A good nurse should be a critical thinker and possess problem-solving skills.

They should be able to assess a situation, identify the problem, and develop a plan to solve it. If you don’t know how to solve the problem, who can you escalate the situation to (chain of command)? 

Problem-solving skills help nurses provide quality care and improve patient outcomes.

9. Patient advocate 

The core of nursing is centered around being a patient advocate. They should speak up for their patients, protect their rights, and provide the best possible care.

Being a patient advocate requires nurses to be knowledgeable, assertive, and proactive in advocating for their patient’s needs.

In Closing

In conclusion, becoming a successful and effective nurse involves possessing several qualities. These qualities include being a team player, having excellent communication skills, being flexible, empathetic, emotionally stable, detail-oriented, possessing problem-solving skills, and being a patient advocate.

Every aspiring nurse should strive to possess these qualities to provide quality patient care, maintain a positive work environment, and achieve the best outcomes for patients.

Do you have all the qualities of a good nurse? Check out the full episode here 👇👇👇

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction
02:09 1. Be a team player – hard work ethic
04:00 2. Learn to communicate with everybody on the healthcare team
06:03 3. Flexibility in your shift -going with the flow
09:50 4. Don’t be hyper-independent and not help others
13:32 5. Having Empathy – Compassionate
17:53 6. Emotional Stability – Tempered
23:47 7. Attention to detail
27:02 8.Problem-solving skills – Critical thinker
29:53 9. Patient Advocate
35:02 Wrapping up the show