1) Build your network.

Just like all professionals, travel nurses benefit immensely from a strong, well maintained network of connections. Whether it’s a recommendation from a former colleague, or passing along a job opportunity only to receive a favor in return, there are endless ways your network can support your career. Check out this Onward Healthcare blog post about Twitter networking tips and this episode of the Travel Nursing Insider about social media for travel nurses if you need any refreshers to keep your network working for you.

2) Sharpen your skills.

Make 2012 the year that you outdo yourself by taking all your expertise and education to the next level. Keeping your skills sharp is the perfect way to impress future employers, and build a great reputation. Your career will benefit from a boost in know-how, so why not go for that certification you’ve been thinking about? Onward Healthcare also offers continuing education to all nurses. Your career, plus your patients and colleagues, will thank you for it, so don’t forget to ask your travel nursing recruiter for more details.

3) Broaden your horizons.

Along the same lines of keeping your skills sharp, make broadening your horizons a priority this year. Think about all the different places you want your career to take you and make it all happen. If that means working in a city all the way across the country, go for it! If that means expanding your skills to include a new specialty, why not? Dream bigger this year because your career in travel nursing is all about what you make of it!

4) Challenge yourself.

Were there any assignments or job opportunities that you shied away from last year?  Behind some of the most uncomfortable and challenging scenarios in your career lies some of the best learning and growth experiences you’ll ever have. The next time an assignment comes up that seems a little bit less than ideal, go for it. You never know who you’ll meet, what problems you’ll solve or what you’ll experience that could make a huge difference in your career.

5) Treat yourself right!

Amidst all the traveling, moving, orientation, and settling in, you can’t ignore the investment you must make in keeping yourself healthy and happy. When you’re well rested, exercising enough, eating right and feeling supported by friends, family and loved ones, all the stresses that can come from a travel nursing career will roll off your back much easier. Plus, feeling your best means your performance on the job will improve as well! Refer to the Onward Healthcare Travel Nursing Tips article about maintaining a healthy lifestyle on assignment for a great start to a healthy 2012.

If you need any more information, guidance or inspiration for making your travel nursing career the absolute best it can be this year, don’t hesitate to contact your travel nursing recruiter. They look forward to helping you start off the New Year right!

For the second year in a row, members of the Onward Healthcare and Onward Search teams filled the bins below with coats, hats, scarves, gloves and any other outerwear items they could offer.

Onward Healthcare had these bins completely full before they were collected the week before Thanksgiving

The Bridgeport Rescue Mission is dedicated to fighting poverty from the inside out and assists the hungry, homeless and addicted all year long through educational programs, counseling and case management. Before and during the holiday season however, the Mission organizes special efforts, like the Coat Drive, to ensure everyone across Fairfield County, CT can have a warm and happy Thanksgiving.

Donna Romano, Bridgeport Rescue Mission Communications Manager

Donna Romano, Communications Manager for the Mission (left), was happy to show us the coat staging area at the Mission where donations were being prepped for their excited new owners to take them home. The racks below, filled with coats for women and girls, represent only a portion of the outerwear items on display, which is only part of what the Mission collects. Donations of turkey’s and canned goods are welcomed as well to bring true Thanksgiving dinners to tables across the area.

These racks are the women's and girl's coats, which made up only a portion of the donations made ready for distribution.

We were thrilled by the donations this year and want to thank every one who contributed to the Coat drive for their generosity. Hopefully the Onward Healthcare Coat Drive has inspired you to share your own good fortune with others. If you’re interested in helping the Bridgeport Rescue Mission make the holidays a little brighter, please visit their website, http://www.bridgeportrescuemission.org, for more information.

To all of our friends, family, coworkers, clients and candidates across the country, everyone here at Onward Healthcare wishes you a very happy, healthy and warm Thanksgiving holiday!

The Travel Nursing Jobs Guide is built upon a survey of over 200 of Onward Healthcare’s nationwide travel registered nurses. Their responses about professional motivations, favorite career perks and various job experiences make this guide an reliable source of real-life information about what it’s like to work as a travel healthcare professional.

Onward Healthcare is proud to be the leading provider of educational materials in the travel nursing space, and invites all members of the travel nursing community, as well as those who are interested in starting their own travel nursing career, to check out and share the new Career Guide to Travel Nursing Jobs!

New on the Onward Healthcare Blog – Saving Money On The Road

When you’re traveling between assignments, moving into new places, and getting comfortable in your new facility, the last thing you want to worry about is breaking the bank on the road. With these useful and easy Thrifty Travel Savings Tips about Saving Money On The Road, you’ll be saving money like a pro, no matter where you assignments take you, or how you get there!

New Resource Article – Questions to Ask Your Travel Recruiter: Part 1

For those who are brand new to Travel Nursing and aren’t sure where to start, or even what questions to ask, this handy Healthcare Traveler Tips article is the perfect career resource. Part 1 of Questions to Ask Your Travel Recruiter offers the top 10 must-ask questions that you should cover with your Travel Recruiter as you set off on your exciting career as a travel nurse.

New Travel Nursing Insider – Top 5 Travel Nursing Specialties

The latest episode of the Travel Nursing Insider brings you insight from Onward Healthcare’s Director of Travel Nursing, Lindsay Francis, and Senior Recruiter, Suzanne Johnson, about the top 5 specialties in travel nursing. Tune into this episode for great tips on how you can leverage this demand to land awesome assignments all over the country.

Identify Potential Costs

Before you step out the door, or pack your bags for that matter, identify where and when in your trip you’re likely to spend money you can save instead. If you’re taking a flight, will you be tempted to buy things you can bring with you instead? If you’re embarking on a road trip, is it possible to avoid tolls and pricey meals? No matter how you’re getting to your next assignment, you can always plan ahead to avoid spending when you don’t have to based on how long you’ll be traveling and where you’ll be.

Research Your Route

There are plenty of opportunities to save money while traveling as long as you research your route. Plan your stops off the highway based on regional and seasonal attractions and sales. Take advantage of a layover by coming equipped with coupons for local businesses. Book your room only after you’ve compared rates and availability at smaller hotels as well as national chains. The more you know about what lies between point A and point B, the better your chances are of saving money.

Travel In Pairs (or more!)

Buying in bulk and saving a ton isn’t just for paper towels and frozen foods. Group discounts and cost sharing are a great way to cut your travel expenses significantly. Look online for group deals on everything from airline tickets to dining and lodging. Know someone who’s hitting the road as well? Ask them if you can tag along, or if they’d like to join you. You’ll end up splitting everything from gas and dinner bills to hotel rooms (if you don’t mind the room mate).

These are just a few ways you can save money while traveling between your nursing assignments. For more tips on traveling, as well as the best advice for your travel nursing or therapy career, check out the Onward Healthcare Resources for Healthcare Travelers page. It has everything you need to find your next dream travel job and build the career you want!

Here are some easy but effective research tips that will ensure you walk into your next interview fully prepared and ready to impress.

Research The Facility Where You’ll Be Working

Since you’re going to be working there for the next few months, you’ll want to find out everything you can about a potential hospital or medical clinic. How big is it? Has it received awards? Does it contain specialized departments or any other unique facilities that you should be familiar with? This information will prepare you for working there and help you impress your interviewer with your initiative and interest in the facility.

Research Who You’ll Be Working With

Once you find out who is interviewing you, look them up on Google, LinkedIn and even Twitter. The more you know about them, the more you can tailor the interview process to them. Perhaps they used to work in a part of the country you’re familiar with or maybe they graduated from the same school you did. The more you know about this person, the more chances you’ll have to connect with them and the less intimidating they’ll seem during the interview.

Research The Area Where You’ll Be Working

This research will not only help you during the interview, but also once you land the assignment. For the interview, showing your prospective boss that you know what’s happening in the local area will give the impression that you’re not just some stranger from out of town. Your knowledge of nearby events, attractions and culture will help you connect with each person you meet from the area. Once you land the assignment, knowing more about the local scenes will make getting comfortable in the area that much easier!

Research Yourself Online

This is an important pre-interview step for every job seeker, and travel nurses are no exception. Get on Google and search for your full name. A majority of hiring managers do this exact search before they meet with candidates to learn more about them. If you discover an awkward Facebook picture or a less than professional comment you left on a blog, you now have the chance to clean these things up before your future boss sees it. We at Onward Healthcare recommend you do a quick search for yourself at least once a year just to keep up your professional online image as a travel nursing professional.

We hope these tips bring you that much closer to a very successful interview experience. If you have any additional questions about how to prepare for your next interview, don’t hesitate to contact any of the dedicated Onward Recruiters. They’re happy to help you ace your next interview!

Marketing Director, Steve Dobrowski

Our newest episode of Travel Nursing Insider from Onward Healthcare explores the best ways to work a job fair or exhibit hall at a nursing conference with Job Fair Tips for Travel Nurses.

Getting the most out of  nursing job fairs and conferences is important to the success of your travel nursing career, so Onward Healthcare Marketing Director Steve Dobrowski (pictured) joined host Peter Clayton to share his advice and tips for networking success at your next event.

Steve highlights value of mapping out a game plan before the conference or job fair so you arrive with resume in hand and a list of companies and people you want to connect with. Once you’re there, making the best impression is important, even if you don’t have a formal interview scheduled. Arriving prepared will help you appear more professional, organized and approachable to everyone you meet.

Peter and Steve wrap up this great episode with helpful tips on organizing all your conference takeaways, solidifying the connections from the show and what shows Onward Healthcare will be participating in over the coming months.

To listen to the show, visit the Travel Nursing Insider home page or click the link below to find it on iTunes.

Think Local

When everyone else is out hitting the interstates and getting stuck in airport security lines, you could enjoy a mere fraction of the travel time and have just as much fun. With so many culturally and historically rich metro areas around the country, you’ll be hard pressed not to find great weekend activities near your all of your assignments. The best part – most local attractions are either very cheap or free to enjoy!

Visit Friends

Over the course of your travel nursing career, you’re bound to meet more people across the country than you can count. The Memorial Day Weekend is a fantastic time to reconnect with your friends and favorite colleagues who live or are working out of your area. Not only will you have a blast catching up and strengthening your professional network, one of your buddies might invite you to stay in a spare room, saving you money on your trip.

Travel Wisely

Before you hit the road, prepare as much as possible to save yourself time, money and energy. If you’re driving somewhere, map out your route and keep track of traffic issues using Google Maps. Save money at the pump by locating the cheapest gas prices along your route using GasPriceWatch.com or GasBuddy.com. Don’t forget to fill your tires for better gas mileage, get an oil change and pack your car with travel ready snacks and beverages. You’ll make fewer stops and save money on refreshments.

Find Deals

The last minute vacation marketplace is often full of great travel deals that will be perfect for a long weekend. Airlines, hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues release last minute booking deals just before holidays like Memorial Day to ensure rooms, flights and seats are taken advantage of. Websites like Expedia.com and LastMinuteTravel.com are excellent resources online. Don’t forget to check Groupon.com, LivingSocial.com and Thrillist.com for deals on dining, spa services, and entertainment in the area you are visiting.

As a travel nurse, you already know what to pack and how to survive travel woes, so the rest is all about having fun and relaxing during your time off. From everyone here at Onward Healthcare, have a happy, safe and memorable Memorial Day Weekend!

National Nurses Week kicked off on May 6th and extends through this week to May 12th, which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale. Nurses are the backbones of support at care-based facilities ranging from emergency rooms and hospitals all the way to schools and homeless shelters. This is a wonderful week to thank and honor the nurses in your life, so please join us all at Onward Healthcare as we celebrate talented nurses across the country!

If you would like to join our nation’s celebrated community of nursing professionals, contact an Onward Healthcare recruiter today about starting your career in Travel Nursing!

Congrats to the Onward Healthcare, Livingston, NJ Office on their award!

We are proud to announce that the Onward Healthcare, Livingston, NJ office has been selected for the 2010 Best of Business Award in the Healthcare Staffing category by the Small Business Commerce Association.

The SBCA Award Program recognizes the top 5% of small businesses throughout the country. Using statistical research and consumer feedback, the SBCA identifies companies that it believes have demonstrated what makes small businesses a vital part of the American economy.

“We are extremely pleased to be recognized within our community,” stated Kim McCabe, branch manager for Onward Healthcare’s Livingston office.  “At Onward Healthcare, we pride ourselves in providing the New Jersey market with the best-of-the-best healthcare professionals are excited to be recognized by the SBCA.”

Congratulations to the entire team of the Livingston, NJ Onward Healthcare office on being recognized for providing outstanding service and exemplifying what makes small businesses great!