• Discuss the diagnosis with the patient in a room with privacy
• Be clear and specific
• Describe the next steps in treatment and what to expect along the way
• Provide the patient with plenty of opportunity to ask questions
• If the diagnosis comes late and it is not easy to instill hope of recovery, still try to do so by discussing available therapy options
• Align patient and physician hopes
• If you are worried about full disclosure in a late diagnosis situation, encourage but don’t impose the dual agenda of hoping and preparing
• Respect hopes and fears and respond to emotions
• Speak to the family as you have with the patient and don’t say things to the family that you haven’t said to the patient

Most of the time it is the physician’s job to break bad news but on the occasion that you, as a nurse, are appointed this daunting task, you will now be prepared.

Source: Ron Goodspeed MD and Bruse Y. Lee MD, Journal of Ambulatory Care and Management, www.nursingcenter.com

The Compact requires that the nurse be licensed in the state in which they permanently reside under what’s called a home state license. The nurse must meet the licensure criteria of their home state in order to obtain and retain multistate licensure recognition (MSR) privileges on their home state nursing license.

Other states belonging to the Nurse Licensure Compact are known as “Party” states because their state governments have also agreed to recognize nurses licensed in other compact-member states. This recognition allows a nurse to practice in a party state on their home state license. A nurse practicing in another party state pursuant to the multistate privilege must comply with the state practice laws of the state in which the patient is located at the time care is given.

List of States currently participating in NCL

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Delaware
• Idaho 
• Iowa 
• Kentucky 
• Maine 
• Maryland 
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Virginia
• Wisconsin

A nurse can hold a home state license in only one state at a time. If a nurse changes permanent residence from one party state to another party state, then the nurse must relinquish licensure in their previous state of residence and apply for licensure in the new home state. Rule 220.2(f) permits a nurse to practice on a home state license other than Texas for a maximum of 30 days when the nurse is changing permanent residence. Under the Compact, the nurse may move back to their previous party state and re-establish licensure or move to another party state and apply for licensure there.

If a nurse moves to a state that has not enacted or does not recognize the Compact, the previous home state license converts to a Single-State license valid only in the former home state. A single-state nursing license does not entitle the nurse to practice under multistate privilege in other party states.

Source: Texas Board of Nursing and www.nursetogether.com

Here are a few key things that nurses can do to help de-stress their lives:

1. Think positive self-thoughts

Thinking positively about who you are as a person will not only affect your inner strength but your physical strength as well. Your state of mind is very important when pertaining to your health. One needs to learn how to respect and treat themselves well before they can treat others in such a manner.

2. Identify stressors

Identify what stresses you out, acknowledging those triggers, accepting the ones out of your control, and adapt a plan to deal with them. Realize what is not going they way you want it to within your life and career and see if you can change it.

3. Collaborate with administration to resolve workplace issues

If part of your stress is related to being overworked, short-staffed, miscommunication with fellow workers, or any other form of workplace downfall, talk to your supervisor about the issue. Refrain from getting upset or speaking derogatorily about the issue but instead just address the issue and it may be an easy fix.

4. Take time for yourself

Nurses must make the effort to balance their lives and pursue supportive relationships with people outside the job. Try not to work overtime as it will only add extra stress upon your life. Always take your breaks and allow yourself enough time during your downtime to get all your errands done. Don’t feel guilty about having some time off, you deserve it!

5. Support each other

Supporting fellow nurses and acknowledging successes also helps reduce workplace stress. Instead of being against each other and critical, realize you are all one the same team and there for the same reason: to take care of the patient.

6. Adopt healthy habits

Although nurses easily talk with patients about eating healthier, exercising, and getting enough sleep, nurses often do not follow their own advice. Eating healthy is vitally important to both your physical and mental health. Exercises like running and yoga are known for clearing and relaxing the mind. Sharing your own exercising and relaxation tips with your patients is another way to relate and communicate with them.

8. Give back to others

Giving back to the community can be a great way to loosen up and give yourself some hobby time without feeling selfish. Helping others while you help yourself relax is a great way to spend your downtime.

9. Find joy in life

Find things in your life that bring you pleasure. It may be a walking our dog in the park, an afternoon playing with your children, or a night out to dinner with your spouse. Whatever it is, allow yourself some of it within your life. Depriving yourself of happiness only leads to further destruction of both your personal and career life. When you are relaxed and happy, your patients will be as well.

Source: Debra Wood, RN, www.nursezone.com

Enjoy…

In addition to caring for your 50 patients, each nurse will follow these regulations:

1.Daily sweep and mop the floors of your ward, dust the patient’s furniture and window sills.

2.Maintain an even temperature in your ward by bringing in a scuttle of coal for the day’s business.

3.Light is important to observe the patient’s condition. Therefore, each day fill kerosene lamps, clean chimneys and trim wicks. Wash the windows once a week.

4.The nurse’s notes are important in aiding the physician’s work. Make your pens carefully; you may whittle nibs to your individual taste.

5.Each nurse on day duty will report every day at 7 a.m. and leave at 8 p.m. except on the Sabbath on which day you will be off from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

6.Graduate nurses in good standing with the director of nurses will be given an evening off each week for courting purposes or two evenings a week if you go regularly to church.

7.Each nurse should lay aside from each pay-day a goodly sum of her earnings for her benefits during her declining years so that she will not become a burden. For example, if you earn $30 a month you should set aside $15.

8.Any nurse who smokes, uses liquor in any form, gets her hair done at a beauty shop, or frequents dance halls will give the director of nurses good reason to suspect her worth, intentions and integrity.

9.The nurse who performs her labors and serves her patients and doctors without fault for five years will be given an increase of five cents a day, providing there are no hospital debts outstanding.

As travel nurses, you guys move ten times more than we do.  Share some of your funniest or worst moves you’ve experienced.

Travel nursing is reclaiming its level of being the hottest trend to hit the profession in years. The nursing shortage that is sure to rise due to the expansion of healthcare will hit the nation hard, forcing medical facilities to get creative to fill positions to care for rising census numbers. For many of them, the real challenge is in finding a nurse who can take on a temporary position. What do you do when there are barely enough local nurses to fill the permanent positions? For many hospitals, the solution is turning to organizations like Cirrus Medical Staffing that places quality travel nurses – which are credentialed nurses who are willing to relocate for periods no less than thirteen weeks.

If just the travel is sounding good to you, take a look at the rest of the Cirrus Medical Staffing’s packages and travel nursing benefits. Here’s what traveling nursing professionals can expect when they sign up with Cirrus.

- Generous Pay Scale
The hourly rate for travel nursing assignments varies from locale to locale, but you can expect a competitive travel nurse salary rate with a guarantee of 36-40 hours per week.

- Housing Provided
Most agencies will provide you with a free one bedroom private apartment, with basic utilities paid for the length of your stay in the assignment. All the arrangements will be made for you before you arrive.

- Health, Vision Dental Insurance
In most cases, your health, vision and dental insurance package will be completely paid for by Cirrus Medical Staffing. This will also include basic life insurance, ADD and Long-term disability. These along with 401K start on day one of your assignment.

- Varied Assignments All Over the Country
There are thousands of medical facilities around the country that regularly employ travel nurses for their nursing needs. Most assignments run from 13 to 26 weeks, and many can be extended for more than one assignment period. You’ll work with your Cirrus Medical Staffing recruiter to choose where you want to work and the kind of work you want to do. From small-town and rural settings to the glittering lights of the big city, from chronic care retirement communities to the most renowned research facilities in the world, you’ll have your choice of workplaces and specialties.

- Flexible Schedule
Since you choose your assignments, you always have the flexibility to take some time off, or schedule an assignment close to home if you want some family time. The medical world has always depended on temp staffing to help fill slots. Travel nursing is the logical extension. You can work three months and take three months off, or choose to stay in one city for a year or more. The choice is ultimately up to you.

- Career Advancement
Travel nursing offers almost unlimited opportunities to expand your resume and add to your professional experience.

Travel nursing may be the best way to expand your professional experiences—and your personal ones as well. If you think that you have what it takes to travel the country practicing your profession, what are you waiting for? The world is waiting for you!

Many recruiters are facing difficult conversations right now and having to turn away very qualified RN’s who are really looking for local travel and not traditional.  Recruiters are in this business to help medical professionals find jobs that are satisfying and enhancing to their career, and to tell someone that you can’t help them find a position (because they are only looking for something in their home area) is heartbreaking.  As a RN looking for a job, it is important to determine what you are really looking for, do you want to travel and see friends, family members, new places, or do you really need a local position?  Then do the research on agencies that can best help you with your career goal.   This will save you and your recruiter a difficult conversation.

Attention traveling nurses; we want to hear all about your funniest travel tales! Submit to us (as a comment to this post) a job-related memory, anecdote, or adventure. The story can be about you, your co-workers, a boss, or even a patient (please use pseudonyms for privacy). The more eccentric, silly, or downright hilarious, the better.  The person with the most wild and entertaining story will win a $50 American Express Gift Card!

Let us know and good luck!

(When submitting your comment, please include your full name and a valid email address where we may email prize redemption details.  Your email address will not be published as part of the comment.)

When you are considering a life as a Cirrus Medical Staffing travel nurse, you have to ask yourself if you really like to travel. The life of a travel nurse is serious, hard-core traveling. Travel nurses are constantly on the move, going from one state to another, taking assignment after assignment, some great and some not so great. All the moving around eventually takes a toll on the body and soul.  The beauty of being a Cirrus Medical Staffing travel nurse is that we provide paid time off programs to assist with your personal needs. 

Bear in mind that travel nurses are working, this is not an extended family vacation, they aren’t back packing across the Rockies. While they are on an assignment travel nurses are on a schedule. They are expected to report to work, on time, at the beginning of each one of their shifts. While they are working they are dealing with sick and injured people. They are expected to give one hundred and ten percent of themselves while they are working. Cirrus Medical Staffing travel nurses go away to work, not to party.

Do you have an easy time making new friends? Travel nurses are constantly going to cities and towns where they are strangers. They don’t know anyone in these places. In order for their experience to be positive they must have a talent for turning complete strangers into close friends.

Before you sign with Cirrus Medical Staffing decide if you can tolerate moving away from your family, friends, and pets. Working as a travel nurse is going to require you to spend several months away from your home town. Carefully consider all the requirement and responsibilities expected from a travel nurse before you sign with Cirrus Medical Staffing. Qualities that a good travel nurse should embrace are a zest for adventure, a strong work ethic, confidence in their medical knowledge, and a gregarious personality.  You will be required to maintain compliance with Joint Commission standards and the requirements of your facility.  If you are a nurse with at least one year of experience working in a hospital and feel that you would make an excellent travel nurse start your application process with Cirrus Medical Staffing!

“The Act will increase the number of nurses in the Unites States. It takes a comprehensive approach that helps to retain nurses and to address financial barriers that nurses and nurse faculty face today.The Act awards competitive grants to nursing schools to strengthen nurse education and training programs and to improve nurse retention programs throughout the country.It increases the student loan amounts for nursing students and addresses critical nurse faculty shortages by making nursing faculty eligible for loan repayment and scholarship programs.”