Healthcare Traveler - May 2008 - (Page 12)

Field Notes P E R S P ECTIVE S F ROM E XP E R I E NC E D MOB I LE P ROF E S S IONALS The Magazine for Healthcare Travel Professionals ® The best career move ever www.healthcaretraveler.com Editorial Advisory Board Members are mobile providers nominated by their respective travel company representatives. As schedules permit, they submit story ideas and/or manuscripts and agree to be interviewed. By discussing issues with our staff, they assist Healthcare Traveler in creating a base of knowledge, experience, and insight for defining and developing editorial content. A bout 7 years ago, I worked with a group of mobile nurses. They made traveling seem so exciting that I just had to give it a try. It turned out to be the best move I ever made. My first assignment was in California, 3,000 miles away from my home in Upstate New York. During my first 6 months on the road, I learned the true value of being flexible. Traveling appealed to me because I have a tendency to get bored if I’m in the same situation for too long. The lifestyle allows me to change my atmosphere, meet people, and see new places whenever I want. After spending time on the West Coast, I chose assignments in Manhattan, Queens, Rochester, and Buffalo, New York, in order to be closer to my wife, Kerrie. Nursing Members Mary Jo Alessio, RN Supplemental Health Care Teresa (Terri) Allen, RN Onward Healthcare Lora Anderson, RN Banner Health Travelers Virginia Bialk, RN Bridge Staffing, Inc. Brian Bidan, RN Cross Country TravCorps Dayne Bowers, RNC RN Network Pam Campbell, RN Trustaff Rose Cousineau, RN Medical Express Nigel Day, RN MedCall NorthWest, Inc. Dorothy Del Valle, ADN, RN First Assist Christopher Freedman, RN NursesRx Katrina Geiger, RN Clinical One Tim Groves, RN American Mobile Healthcare Mary Hadsell, BSN, RN Advantage RN Casey Hall, RN Innovative Placements Terry Hall, RN Trinity Healthcare Staffting Group Jennifer Hamrick, RN, CNOR NovaPro Staffing Glenda Hardy, RN PPR Healthcare Staffing Mickey Kruse, BSN, RN, CEN, TNCC Medical Resource Network Karen LaBlanc, RN Aureus Medical Group Vicki Lawson, RN Attentive Health Care Yvonne Lawson-Thomas, RN InteliStaf Travel Jean Magnuson, RN Soliant Health Monti (“Micki”) Marsh, RN HRN Services Inc. Alan Nash, RN MedStaff Healthcare Solutions Joni Parcell, RN Favorite Healthcare Staffing Bill Pletch, RN Professional Nursing Service Rosemary Primeaux, RN Preferred Healthcare Staffing, Inc. Bonnie Richlin, RN Matrix Healthcare Services, Inc. Susan Sabatula, RN The Right Solutions Mandeep Smith, BSN, RN Procare USA Jenny Thompson, RN American Traveler Staffing Professionals Aleksey Yukhvid, RN White Glove Placement, Inc. Family time Now that I have young children, 3-year-old Caleb and 1-year-old Carli, I want to be home more to help raise them. Thanks to the mobile alternative, I’m able to tailor my schedule to my family’s needs. Currently, I’m on assignment in Buffalo through Park City, Utah-based Supplemental Health Care. I’m working two contracts simultaneously—one at Buffalo General Hospital and the other at Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital (MFGCH). My managers at both facilities “Healthcare know I have two assignments travel has raised and are very accommodating when planning my schedules. Healthcare travel has signifmy standard icantly raised my standard of living. I used to bring my work of living.” home with me every night, often tossing and turning over —Jim Pygon, RN whatever the “drama of the day” happened to be. These days, I am removed from the politics. I’m also making a better salary, which allowed my family and me to build a new house a couple of years ago. And I’m not afraid of economic slowdowns affecting my job. Because, as a traveler, I know my skills will always be in demand. Right now, I work year round. Sometimes, I’ll take a week or two off between contracts. This summer, for instance, Kerrie and I will be taking our kids someplace fun, though we haven’t quite decided where we’re going just yet. In addition to my commitments as a traveler, I’m enrolled in an online Master’s degree program in nursing, and I run a sideline snowplowing business. When wintry conditions strike, I wake up at 4:00 a.m. to take care of my plowing contracts, and then I go to work. (Sometimes, I have to plow at night, too, depending on the weather.) After my children go to bed, I do a little schoolwork and spend time with Kerrie. I have a very busy schedule. But that’s my choice. I never forget that healthcare travel allows me to pursue all of these different opportunities. And when I want to take time off, traveling lets me do that, too. Allied Health Members Shannon Ball, RRT Cirrus Medical Staffing Emily R. Brawner, OT American Traveler Staffing Professionals Keith Carregal, PT Sunbelt Staffing Lindsay Clark, PT PPR Healthcare Staffing Marsha Dexter InteliStaf Travel Josephine Feldman, RT TeamStaff Rx Debora Janzen, RT (R)(T) ATC Travelers Brian Koetkemeyer, ORT National Healthcare Staffing Erika Lee, PT Supplemental Health Care Richard Mahnke, PT Soliant Health Dawn Morse, PT Trinity Healthcare Staffing Group Apollone Reid, MPH, PT Destination Healthcare Staffing Joel Sauer, CNMT Favorite Healthcare Staffing Kurt VanZandt, ASCP, BS On Assignment Allied Travel Patti Witkiewicz, RPT Cross Country TravCorps Jodi Wolfgram, RDMS, RT Aureus Medical Group Eternal friendships The friendships I have developed over the years are very important to me. They are, in fact, one of the greatest benefits of this lifestyle. I have friends all over the country and keep in fairly constant contact with most of them. » 12 Healthcare Traveler May 2008 www.healthcaretraveler.com http://www.healthcaretraveler.com http://www.healthcaretraveler.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Traveler - May 2008

Healthcare Traveler - May 2008 Editor's Desk Contents In a Flash Paws for Thought Field Notes Cardiac Care at the Heart of Many Travelers Careers The Current Economy Clinical Tips Drug Update On Assignment Name It When In Advertisers' Index Good for You Tax Facts Big Deals Contest Rules Starter's Kit Going the Distance Tales from the Road Allied Corner Classifieds

Healthcare Traveler - May 2008

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