Healthcare Traveler - July 2008 - (Page 14)

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 ® In the big leagues grew up in a small town in Oregon, which has always been “home” to me. But after getting divorced, I wanted to increase my professional experience and see the other side of the country. Healthcare travel was the perfect option for me. Today, I’m a mobile cardiac and med/surg nurse with Jacksonville Beach, Floridabased PPR Healthcare Staffing. Since I wanted to start out close BETH WATTS, RN, visited the World War II to home, my first assignment took Memorial while on assignment in Washington, DC. place in Portland at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center. The 523-bed facility is huge, so I was a little anxious. But I quickly learned to adapt and soon felt like I was working in the big leagues. I saw things I hadn’t witnessed at the rural hospitals I was used to, such as the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators and a physician cracking a patient’s chest at the bedside. For my next contract, I drove 3,000 miles cross-country to Washington, DC, to practice at Washington Hospital Center, the largest facility in the na“I regularly delivered care to tion’s capital and one of the busiest on the East Coast. I was immediately some of the most influential struck by the city’s diverse population. The work environment was people in the world.” very advanced, and I learned so —Beth Watts, RN much while I was there. When the contract ended, I moved across town to George Washington University Hospital (GWUH). The 371-bed facility is one of the best in which I’ve practiced. 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. I 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 Katrina Essenburg, RN Clinical One Christopher Freedman, RN NursesRx 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 Christopher LaCounte, RN, CEN, NREMT-P, LP National Healthcare Staffing VIP treatment Because new cultural situations arose constantly, working at GWUH taught me about diversity and compassion. And I regularly delivered care to some of the most influential people in the world, like congressmen, reporters, billionaires, and dignitaries. After leaving the busy District of Columbia for a slower pace in western Florida, I never imagined I’d, again, meet someone famous while on assignment. But in the Tampa Bay, Florida, area, I had the opportunity to be around a well-known athlete and television personality. That person and his family were very nice, and the experience taught me that celebrities and VIPs are simple people with the basic needs of any patient. As a traveler, I’ve received a good share of VIP treatment myself. In DC, for instance, I had the chance to live in a highrise, high-security condo unit with a great view of the District. And in Florida, my apartment was located on a boat dock, where manatees and dolphins could swim practically up to my back door. » 14 Healthcare Traveler July 2008 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. Allied Health Members 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 David Garrard, BHS, RRT, RCP, CCEMT-P, PNCCP Cirrus Medical Staffing Debora Janzen, RT (R)(T) ATC Travelers 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 www.healthcaretraveler.com http://www.healthcaretraveler.com http://www.healthcaretraveler.com

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

Healthcare Traveler - July 2008 Editor's Desk Contents By the Numbers Paws for Thought In a Flash Field Notes California Love Affair Taking Your Home on the Road Drug Update Clinical Tips Cityscape Advertisers' Index Name It When In... Good for You Big Deals Tax Facts Going the Distance Contest Rules Starter's Kit Allied Corner Classifieds Tales from the Road

Healthcare Traveler - July 2008

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