TRAVEL NURSING WITH SELECT MEDICAL CONNECTIONS. FAQ s and Stories From The Road

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1 TRAVEL NURSING WITH SELECT MEDICAL CONNECTIONS FAQ s and Stories From The Road

2 Travel Nursing With Select Medical Connections FAQ and Stories From The Road Table of Contents Welcome to Select Medical Connections! 2 The Story of Select Medical Connections 2 Why Choose Travel Nursing? 3 Oh the places you will go 3 The possibilities are endless 3 Reaching your financial goals faster 4 How do I get started with Select Medical Connections? 4 Am I qualified to work as a travel nurse? 4 Who can work with Select Medical Connections? 4 What is involved when I work with a Select Medical Connections Placement Specialist? 5 Becoming part of the team at Select Medical Connections 5 The inner view interview 5 Personalized service 5 Where will I live while I am on assignment? 6 Who pays for the travel expense to get to the assignments and back? 6 How long are the contracts? 6 What should I pay attention to when I accept an assignment? 6 Meet Some Of Our Team Members 7 You can have the best of both worlds! 7 Nothing is impossible 7 Achieve Personal and Financial Goals selectmedconnections.com 1

3 Welcome to Select Medical Connections! What a wonderful career you have chosen. Now it can also be your passport to travel Canada! Now you just need to pack your suitcase and let Select Medical Connections worry about the rest. Travel Nursing has been around for decades in other parts of the world. You probably already know of a friend or colleague who has gone to the United States, the UK, perhaps Central America or even Africa to work. Now the option to Travel Nurse is here at home. Canada s communities need Travel Nurses like you NOW. The Story of Select Medical Connections In 1999, Jacqueline Cummings and Melanie Olsen dreamed of a Healthcare Placement Agency that would connect nurses with employment opportunities wherever they wanted to work in North America. In the early days Canadian nurses helped hospitals in the United States. Our nurses went to all four corners of the country. What a great time that was for Canadian nurses to explore their options in the US. Of course, things change and the opportunities that began to open up in Canada started to make Canadian nurses look differently at their own country. In 2007, with growing demand from our Canadian clients, we began to focus on the hospitals here at home who were starting to ask for our help in assisting them with their staffing needs. By connecting Canadian nurses with Canadian hospitals, Select Medical Connections travel nurses began to make a difference in smaller, rural facilities where they really needed the help, right here at home. That felt really good! For the past 8 years Select Medical Connections has provided more than one million hours of nursing services to large urban hospitals and small rural facilities. We have been responsible for staffing Federal Corrections Institutions and providing preceptors in Education programs. Our nurses have worked staff positions and management positions. We are so proud that our team of travel nurses works from coast to coast and helps Canadians every day of the year! selectmedconnections.com 2

4 Why Choose Travel Nursing? Oh the places you will go We live in an amazing country! Travel Nursing provides you with the chance to explore it from coast to coast. Imagine seeing places you have only heard about and others you may not know existed. Want to see firsthand the kaleidoscopic Aurora borealis or the powerful polar bears in Manitoba (from a distance, of course). Do the majestic waters of Lake Louise, the world class wineries of the Okanagan, lobster season in Halifax or the Lake Festival in Whitehorse want to make you pack your bag? Travel Nursing allows you to see all of that and more all while you re truly making a difference. There are communities that are filled with warm and caring people and hospitals where the healthcare teams are waiting to greet you. We have the plane ticket, what are you waiting for? The possibilities are endless Travel Nursing may open new doors for you. Have you ever wanted to improve your skill set or perhaps you want to move into a different specialty but the opportunities just aren t available locally right now? Our nurses have found themselves starting out in one area of practice and with strategic planning have accepted Travel Nursing assignments that have allowed them to pick up new skills. We have more than one nurse that started out working Medical assignments and is now working in Emergency Room units. If it is your goal to enhance and increase your skill set, then let one of our placement specialists work with you to formulate a plan that will help to see you reach your career goals. By putting a plan into place with Select Medical Connections you may be surprised to find yourself accomplishing your goals quicker than you imagined selectmedconnections.com 3

5 Reaching your financial goals faster Travel Nursing can help you reach your financial goals faster. Are you dreaming of purchasing your first home? Are you struggling to pay off debt? Would you like to take your family to Disneyland, but the funds just aren t there? With no housing costs while you are working, you might be surprised at how fast your savings account can grow or your debts can be paid off. Select Medical Connections nurses consistently share the good news with us when they buy their first home or pay off their student loan or take a dream vacation sooner than they imagined. We love to learn how excited they are and it is such a thrill for us when we hear that Travel Nursing with our company played a part in that. How do I get started with Select Medical Connections? Am I qualified to work as a travel nurse? If you have a year of experience as a nursing professional, have a how can I help? attitude and want to see this country, then You are Qualified! It s that simple. Who can work with Select Medical Connections? In a word, everyone! Whether you have one year or 40 years of experience, we can work with you. If you are young and your career is a just a year old but you are filled with adventure and the prospect of travelling excites you, then we should connect. If you began your career many years ago and still have that passion and can t imagine a day going by without practicing, we want to speak with you, too. And Guys, don t think there isn t a place for you in all of this! Our clients love it when you show up on site. In other words, Select Medical Connections is proud to say that we have opportunities for everyone! selectmedconnections.com 4

6 What is involved when I work with a Select Medical Connections Placement Specialist? Becoming part of the team at Select Medical Connections When you first contact us we will connect you with one of our experienced placement specialists to help you become part of our team. Your placement specialist will be your connection to all of the assignments and locations that are right for you while you Travel Nurse across Canada. From that day forward they will guide you every step of the way as your new adventure begins to unfold. The inner view interview The first order of business will be to have you answer a series of questions. We take the time up front, so that there are no complications down the road. Questions such as, does your family support your decision to travel nurse?, how much experience do you currently have?, how long would you like to go out for at a time? and are you comfortable sharing accommodation? are all designed to help us understand you as best we can. We want your work with Select Medical Connections to be rewarding, career expanding and a dream come true. Personalized service As you and your placement specialist start to work together, you will be asked to share your goals for travel nursing. Together you will start to formulate a list of the type of assignments that will work best for you. We take pride in placing our nurses into assignments that they are truly interested in working, that best match the goals they have for their new adventure. In other words, all of the information you share with us at the beginning will be taken into consideration before sending you on your first assignment. And, if you change your goals, we will change the types of assignments that we present to you. We are flexible and want to make Travel Nursing work for you! selectmedconnections.com 5

7 Where will I live while I am on assignment? There are numerous possibilities. Each assignment comes with housing that is unique to that assignment; sometimes it will be private, other times you will be required to share. We promise that you will know that detail BEFORE you commit to the assignment. We always provide you with your own private bedroom and try our best to make certain that Wi-Fi is available. After all, we know how important it is to stay connected with your friends and family when you are on the road. We insist that your housing is clean and comfortable and not too far from the facility, if you are in a rural community. If you are flexible, like to meet new people and understand the principals of being a good guest, then you won t have any concerns about our housing arrangements. Who pays for the travel expense to get to the assignments and back? Client facilities pay for your travel to and from your assignment. You do not usually need a driver s license, or a car for your assignment. If you do, we will let you know ahead of time. We will fly you to your assignment, but if you choose to drive, you may. It s your choice! How long are the contracts? Travel Nursing gives you the flexibility you want to work when you want to. Maybe you have a block of holiday time that you would like to use to explore Canada. Maybe you want to go Casual at your home hospital for a year and seek out adventure. Whatever your timing is, chances are we can match you with an assignment that will take advantage of your dates. Be it one two shifts or 3 months of worth of work, our clients can likely use your services. What should I pay attention to when I accept an assignment? When going on assignment as a Travel Nurse, it is important to consider ALL of the details. After all, your profession literally deals with life and death. We take that very seriously and think you should too. The assignment is always about the location, job duties, remuneration and insurance protection. Select Medical Connections takes pride in knowing that we fully insure our nurses and fully inform them of the details of their assignments. Where you will be staying, who you are to report to, how long your orientation will be, how much per hour you will make, which unit(s) you will be working on and what level of care you will be expected to provide are all questions you should have and expect your placement specialist to answer selectmedconnections.com 6

8 We take care of the details and believe strongly in making sure our nurses know what they are committing to when they accept an assignment with our team. Additionally, and this is a big one - We won t let you go out and risk your license by not being properly insured or working on a unit where you don t have the appropriate experience. Your safety and patient safety are paramount for us. Period. The fine print details are so important to you. Please ask us about them. We will help you with the details and can assure you that you and your patients will be safe practicing with Select Medical Connections. Meet Some Of Our Team Members Take a moment to read a few of the stories behind the nurses that are a part of the Select Medical Connections team. You might be surprised to find your own story woven into theirs! You can have the best of both worlds! Christine K., Operating Room RN From B.C. Christine told us when we first met her that Travel Nursing was something she had always wanted to do, but she couldn t until her family was ready to be on their own. When she connected with us a year ago, her family was grown and it was time for her to realize her dream. She believed Travel Nursing would help to make it a reality! You see, Christine wanted to do mission work; something she had been waiting a long time to do and very important to her. Travel Nursing made sense. By working at different hospitals in Canada, Select Medical Connections would fly her there and pay for her housing all while she was growing her nest egg for mission work. Christine has worked steadily with Select Medical Connections since July, She has completed 5 assignments ranging in length from 2 months to 4 months. She has already travelled to Bolivia, Guatemala and Mexico to work with the less fortunate. This summer she is on her way to Thailand to work in one of Bangkok s inner city communities. Select Medical Connections is proud to have Christine as part of our team, knowing she makes a difference wherever she goes. Nothing is impossible Matthew C., RN, ER, ICU and Shauna P., LPN, LTC Matthew and Shauna first connected with Select Medical Connections in the fall of Their plan was to Travel Nurse together at the start of They were young and eager to do selectmedconnections.com 7

9 some Travel Nursing before their lives started to get more complicated. We learned that they were from the Maritimes and wanted to see new parts of Canada while saving some money. They wanted to work together and needed 3 months to prepare before their first Travel Nurse assignment. Now what you have to understand is that not every Client facility needs two agency nurses at the same time. We asked Matthew and Shauna if it was a deal breaker if they couldn t go to the same hospital. They told us that it was definitely their preference, but if they could be within 2 hours of one another, then that would work too. We are happy to report that we were able to get them their first assignment together in a rural hospital in Manitoba! Their first assignment was for 3 months; Matthew in Acute Care and Shauna in LTC. Here is the cool part.matthew and Shauna married in 2013 and last year they welcomed a little baby girl into their world. Matthew continues to work with us while Shauna stays a little closer to home. We are so pleased to be a part of their success and wish them all the best for their new family! Achieve Personal and Financial Goals Amanda P. Medical/Surgical, Oncology and Palliative Care RN Sault Ste Marie, ON Amanda connected with her recruiter, Michel, in March, Michel learned that Amanda was hoping that Travel Nursing could be a way to help her pay down her debt (Student Loans), allow her to experience parts of Canada she had only heard about and give her the flexibility to vacation when she wanted. Below is what Amanda has to say about the last 15 months working with Select Medical Connections Although this has only been my first year as a traveler, I have had some of the most amazing experiences, met some lifelong friends and have seen parts of Canada I may never have experienced before. My recruiter Michel has made me feel like she s had my best interests at heart since the first day we spoke, I feel like she s more of a partner than a recruiter. Select Medical Connections has been instrumental in helping me achieve many of my professional, personal and financial goals. The personal and financial freedom is something many nurses only dream of. I look forward to working with this group for many years to come! Michel (placement specialist) and Select Medical Connections are so pleased that Amanda has been able to meet her personal and financial goals. Amanda started working in BC and is now on assignment for us in SK. She has travelled to Mexico and has a trip planned for Bali, Indonesia. Way to go, Amanda! selectmedconnections.com 8