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Thursday, January 26 – Castro, on the island of Chiloe and Dalcahue, Chile

Tendered a short distance to the small port town of Castro and the port agent unsuspectingly gave me the key to the free WIFI at the port. THANK GOODNESS. We were there for a few hours making several phone calls for our clients at the hospital and going over paperwork and working. Many others were able to get on the web and it is such a blessing to be able to get the work done quickly and get on with the day. We hired a cab with a friend from MO and headed up the steep hills to the main square (thankfully we had the taxi as we had no idea the streets were THAT steep). Stopped at the pharmacy and the wooden cathedral where not one nail was used – the Iglesia San Francisco de Castro was built in 1906. We drove to the picturesque port village of Dalcahue. The drive was very scenic and seemed like we were touring New Zealand. The port town is the ferry departure/arrival point for the five minute ride to the island of Quinchao, where there are many cattle ranchers and whalers.

Castro is on the island of Chiloe and is the 3rd oldest continuously inhabited city in Chile and the 2nd largest island in South America. The island is covered with plenty of forests and fields, with traditional villages nestling in sheltered inlets. Gorgeous! Most of the economy is still from fishing and farming, as they have done for centuries. 18th and 19th century wooden churches are the main attractions. Castro was raided from time to time by English and Dutch pirates as well as being destroyed by an earthquake in 1960.

We also drove by the palafitos, the homes built on high stilts on the water.
Kimika, singers and comedians, were the entertainers. Australia Day – we celebrate every nation’s Independence day!

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which nearly nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

Friday, January 27 – Puerto Chacabuco, Chile

As we arrived, we had some scenic cruising in the Aysen Fjord with commentary but it was misty and damp. We docked in a secluded bay surrounded by tall, heavily forested mountains in the drizzle. Our first rain! We could see many snow-capped high mountains around us. Tendered in to the small port and they had a free shuttle to the center of town, where we had been told there was “not much to see or do”. Appropriate statement and we had several taxis meet the bus to offer their services for a day’s tour. We hooked up with Domingo Flores for $25 per person for a four-hour tour of the area, with 10 people in the van. I was asked to serve as translator so I had a front row seat as we toured for the day. This port was established in 1995 as Puerto Aisen, only 10 miles away suffered a series of untamed coastal forest fires which ravaged the town, forcing residents to abandon their homes. Then a powerful tsunami slammed ashore in 1960. Three waves struck within a four-hour period, even though they were in a protected channel.

Our first stop was to see the longest suspension bridge in Chile in Aisen, and I was surprised at the length – must shorter than I expected but maybe they don’t have a need for the longer bridges like we do.

Next we drove to the Rio Simpson National Reserve, which is popular for fly-fishing and has spectacular 5000 foot mountains full of southern beech and evergreens which are for hiking and camping. All these trees are in the area, none of which I could identify! Coigues, tepas, manio, ciruelillo, canelo and tepu. Do you have any of those in your backyard? We also saw a tree over 400 years old – a lenga tree. We saw the huemul (like a deer) and the massive elephant ear plants. Other species that abound, which I also could not identify nor did we see, are the pudu, guina, bandurria, queltehue and wild ducks (OK, I know the last one). We walked down to the river’s edge and the water was crystal clear but very low; they apparently had two months of sunshine instead of their usual daily rain so the plants were dried out and the river low. The Waterfall of the Virgin had an altar and small chapel where many candles had been lit.

Highway 24 is dedicated to the Patron Saint Sebastian and we passed two altars along the highway; Domingo, the driver, tooted his horn each time showing his thanks to St. Sebastian. The road wound through the national reserve past spectacular mountain peaks, green valleys and incredibly scenery. Many state it reminded them of the Alaskan Inside Passage, New Zealand’s South Island and Norway’s subarctic coastline.

The largest town, Coihaique, is the administrative center of the region. Established in 1929, the town is centered on its pentagonal Plaza de Armas and there is rugged skiing, fishing and hiking opportunities.

Slept in J’s room as the Captain announced the seas would be rough after midnight. On email late, communicating with the insurance company, DR and our guests, trying to coordinate their return to the ship.

Entertainment was Yacov Noy, a visual comedian. We did some scenic cruising in the Darwin Channel.

Fellow passenger count: Australia 17, Belgium 1, Bulgaria 1, Canada 122, Denmark 2, France 4, Germany 17, Israel 1, Italy 1, Mexico 7, Netherlands 41, New Zealand 5, Norway 1, Peru 2, Spain, 5, Sweden 3, Switzerland 7, UK 33 and USA 444.

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber
Saturday, January 28 – at sea

Chile – the longest and narrowest country in the world. The fertile central region is filled with orchards, vineyards, wheat fields and lovely green pastures where cattle and sheep are raised. The midsection is where the major cities are located and where most Chileans lives. To the north are the arid expanses of the Atacama Desert, one of the world’s driest areas. The far south is a land of islands, forests, mountains and glaciers. Eastern Chile is hemmed in by the majestic Andes Mountains. These mark a fault in the earth’s crust, which causes frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The country’s natural resources are oil, natural gas and they are rich in minerals.

Up early to go to Medical and dropped off the papers I had prepared with all the contact information. No matter how much you try to make the insurance/ship/passenger/doctor path of communication, it is not easy. As the passenger in an emergency medical situation, you are in a foreign country and probably don’t speak the language, you are staying at a hotel near your spouse but not with them, you are not able to communicate with the ship or insurance company via phone on a regular basis and probably don’t have a reliable connections and are using a foreign keyboard. I am trying to act as the facilitator but it is not easy. The ship’s DR and the insurance company make all the calls and the future of re-boarding, when and where.

Attended lecture on the next ports of call and back to Medical. Lunch in the buffet and got J out walking and to lunch. Cleaned up the rooms and went to the movie, “For the Love of the Game”, a very good baseball movie. Up to the Crowe’s Nest for scenic cruising but it was misty and dismal and cloudy and wet and rainy. This is where I really wanted to explore on this cruise so I hope the weather improves.

Most of the day we have been sailing through rough seas with a gale force wind of 8 and high swells so the doors to the outside are closed on all decks.

Sunday, January 29 – at sea

Up at 6 to be ready for the scenic cruising but again it looks wet, misty and cloudy! Bummer!!!! Slept soundly but still very tired. Scandinavian buffet; we cannot go outside to eat so they have different luncheons set up each day in the dining room beside the regular luncheon menu. We have a wonderful view from the Crowe’s Nest of the mountains around us – trees, tiny shoreline, barren rocks…much like the Norwegian coastline.
One of the fellow passengers is showing a DVD of his stay on Antarctica from 1966-70 when he was Assistant to the Admiral.

Monday, January 23, 2012 – Coquimbo, Chile –

Started off the day with my client’s having to do a medical disembark via ambulance to the nearest hospital. Not a good way to begin the day. They were our tablemates and we have shared 3 cruises together. I wish them best and we pray they can rejoin us along the trip.
Musicians and loud music greeted us on the gangway. This harbor made it a target of desire for the Spanish, along with the gold and copper in the area. By the 1840s, many Europeans, especially from England, settled in Coquimbo. It is an industrial and shipping center, growing rapidly. Wine grapes are also grown in the region and Chilean wines are world-renowned for their flavor. The city is located on the Pan-American highway, which is 29,800 miles long.

We could walk to the town – typically Spanish style with a main plaza, singer, people on the benches, and the main street lined with all kinds of shops. Busy, busy town. Very steep stairs led up to a very big millennium cross overlooking the town. We tried several places for WIFI and they just did not exist. Finally, someone the mall in the next town, La Serena, where we wanted to go anyway, so we took the public colectivo bus and made our way there. McDonald’s is usually a safe bet for free WIFI but it was down. The other places had no access either. By this time, it was close to 4+ HOURS of searching and I had a index of work to be done that was 1.5 pages long!! If I could only get on the web and get the work done, I could get out and sightsee. Oh, the frustrations. And then the phone did not work. I was in tears; a real meltdown. Then, miraculously, the phone worked. The cell phone — not Skype (calling through the computer for approx. $0.02 per minute) so you can the cost of those calls. But at that point, it was just GET IT DONE.

So we worked feverishly, found the coletivo bus to the center of La Serena, a small Spanish-replica town with 29 churches. Lovely main square and easy cathedral. I enjoyed a flavored frozen ice on a stick as we wandered around, we took the bus back to the ship and I was feeling quite ill by this time. Tired, achy, depressed…oh dear. Getting sick. Chills and kept feeling worse. Slept in J’s room that night as she was not well either and
worried about her. No shows or fun stuff. Mark Donoghue was the entertainer.
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 – Valparaiso, Chile

Lovely, lovely day. Valparaiso, one of Chile’s most important seaports, is fast becoming one of the most visited cities in Chile. Built upon dozens of hillsides, the city has cobblestone paths in a newly developed artists’ district overlooking the sea. Is it the site of the Latin America’s oldest stock exchange, the continent’s first volunteer fire department, Chile’s first public library and the oldest Spanish language newspaper in continuous publication in the world. Perfect skies, warm temperatures and met from AFS friends from 35 years ago!!

Maria, from Ecuador, and Vivian, from Bolivia, were with me during my AFS exchange year in Denmark from 1977-1978. What a thrill to be with them – and to meet Maria’s husband, Gonzalo, their son, Juan Diego and their friend, Antony, and Maria’s mother, Rosario. The family is musically gifted and Juan Diego, even though confined to a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy, has a phenomenal voice, has recorded two CDs, been on many times and sung for the Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Ecuador pageants!!
And now he has taken up painting. Very talented young man. Gene and I met Vivian in La Paz, Bolivia, about 20 years ago and since then she has moved to Chile, where her two brothers live. She does translating and used to be a travel agent! They loved exploring the ship and we enjoyed the buffet for lunch. We toured the old section of Valparaiso, high up on the hill, and then to Vina, where the high rises and fancy hotels are along the coast. Very nice day!

Still feeling pretty miserable so I am trying to get to bed tonight early and do as tiny as possible tomorrow, a sea day.

Our daily paper, sent in via email, told us that a British woman, Felicity Aston, 34, became the first model to ski alone across Antarctica on Monday, after hauling two sledges around crevasses and over mountains into endless headwinds, past the South Pole and to the coastal ice shelf, persevering for 59 days in near-total solitude. She covered 1084 miles to arrive Monday at Hercules Inlet. CONGRATULATIONS!!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Wednesday, January 25 – at sea – formal night / Black and White Officer’s Ball

Met with Medical, worked, Watched the movie, Courageous, and find it quite different and inspirational as compared to other movies in the market. Felt miserable.

Tara Whittaker, a flutist from Oregon, was the entertainer.
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux

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Painkiller: EspecialAutor Edition: DreamCatcher InteractiveDesarrollador: People Can Fly Genre: ActionESRB: Mature (17 +) Platform: PC GamesValoración general 97/10024/2525/2523/2525/25Gráficos / audio: Gameplay: Creativity: Fun Factor: Painkiller: Special Edition has a great approach: everything that moves shoot. It has no teammates, no puzzles to solve, no complicated levels to go, and only an infinite number of enemies and a decent variety of weapons. You may be thinking that going to get repetitive, but actually have to guess what the next level is, what kind of enemies you can find, and what the leaders will look like. To begin this analysis, I will discuss the game, then go to graphics and sounds, and finally end with a trial on the replay value. First, Painkiller: Special Edition has no cut scenes. You start with a gun game and get right to the shooting. This weapon can pin your enemy to the wall when the shot if they are sufficiently close to one. It is very likely to get more weapons like a shotgun, nail gun, and a handful of others. And while this may seem a limited amount, they all have their advantages and is not asking for more. Each level is very variable, and all are very well designed. From a military base to a level of style of ancient Egypt, they all look fantastic and are not repetitive. You go through these maps, with an arrow at the top of the screen to help you in the right direction, and around the level of making hundreds of enemies. There are over 70 types of monsters to kill, and change depending on the level. What makes this game so interesting, in my opinion, is the boss. When I saw the first boss, I was simply amazed. The developer, Dreamcatcher, I was not playing when they did the leaders. They are huge in size, and each one has to find its weak point. This can be fun and challenging at the same time, and really adds to the already impressive game. For graphics and sounds, I would say are great for the launch. Painkiller was released on April 12, 2004, and by then the images were really good. Shadow great, fun special effects, good texture of the buildings, 3d models and above average, all contribute to the first level of graphics for the time. The sounds are also noteworthy. Each level seems to have specific sound effects that help give the feeling that really is in a mental hospital or sought out on a military base. Finally, the replay value seems to be average in Painkiller: Special Edition. In this version, there is no multiplayer mode. I recently got up and was lying on the "cheap-play" or "bargain-bin" area of ??Best Buy. I know that the original had several players when it first came out, but I will not talk about this because the Special Edition are not included. There are four levels of difficulty in the single player campaign, so you can go through it several times and becomes more difficult after each. Without any multiplayer mode, I must say the replay value is average at best, although the player is very good. In conclusion, Painkiller: Special Edition is a great first-person shooter that really focuses on the game simple, but very fun game. If you have the money, which in this case is only $ 10, and a decent computer, I recommend it if you're a fan of shooters.

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Atkins Diet – Learn More The Atkins diet can be boring because of the limited choice and some believe it can be dangerous. Get a physical to make sure you can tolerate the diet and inform the doctor about your decision to try the Atkins diet. Make sure you completely understand how the diet works.

You can get all the information, both positive and negative, that you could want online, at the library or the bookstore. The Atkins diet attempts to get your body to burn fat instead of carbs as fuel. Atkins dieters sometimes experience physical reaction in the early weeks of the diet.

There are things that can be done to alleviate these symptoms. Dizziness and muscular cramps can be experienced by new Atkins dieters. You might have dizziness, cramps or other physical effects caused by the dietary changes you are making. You can take steps to prevent cramps and other symptoms.

Brain fog, dizziness and muscular cramps are common reactions to the dietary changes. Minerals like potassium wash out of your system rather quickly. A banana will not replace all the potassium loss, you need to take a supplement. Your symptoms should improve in about an hour.

Here are some hints to help you stay healthy while on Atkins. There are ways to help you combat the symptoms of the dietary changes. You need to eat at least 8 calories per pound of body weight. You need to drink enough water to flush toxins from your system.

Some people recommend drinking water equal to half your body weight, that is a lot of water. Water helps the body to rid itself of acidic ketones and also helps in lipolysis , the burning of fat rather than carbs for energy.

Don’t weigh or measure yourself more than once a week, more often will have you obsessing over every 1/4 ounce. You will likely see a decrease in inches after the first week, if not you will surely see it in pounds. Eating the carbs that make you feel your best, still means you need to stay within the limits for the diet stage you are in. You will get more “bang for the buck” if you choose unprocessed, natural nutrient dense carbohydrates.

Sugar is an absolute no-no. Regular exercise is absolutely necessary. Do not even consider a program that promises you can lose weight without exercise. Exercise helps the body to better utilize the foods you consume. Not doing enough exercise is as bad as doing too much. Ask your doctor’s advice about how often, how much and what type of exercise is right for you. Don’t start off by trying to run a 10k, try a walk around the block and build up tolerance for more.

Be sure to take the nutrient supplements prescribed by your doctor. You should have a journal to record your weight loss and food consumption. If a major event or life change happens, record it and the emotions, since these can affect how you eat. What happens in your life affects what you eat, how much and even how often you eat.

Significant events should also be entered because even good stuff can affect you. Keep track of exactly what you eat in your food journal if you are diabetic you will be able to see how certain foods positively or negatively affect blood sugar levels. You should record your daily test results in this journal also.

Your journal will teach you to recognize patterns and to realize when your blood sugar levels are changing. Share your journal, or at least the trends you have noticed, with your doctor so that he can determine what needs to be done. Read the labels on every pre-packaged food item, look for white flour and hidden sugars.

You will lose weight faster if you limit your caffeine intake. The Atkins diet, or any other diet, is not going to take off 50 pounds in a week. A weight loss of 2-4 pounds a week may be realistic for one person but not for another. Losing more than this could be dangerous.

If weight loss is very rapid your body will go into starvation mode and try to hold on to what it can, and weight loss will stop cold. Any large weight loss will be regained if you return to your “normal” eating habits. Your prior “normal” eating patterns are what made you overweight to begin with.

A diet that promises phenomenal weight loss in a very short period of time is likely a scam. A really workable diet is one that recommends a balanced diet, exercise and possibly supplements. Be sure that any supplement is safe in general and for you in particular.

Just because a supplement is all natural, doesn’t mean it is safe. Some supplements can interact with certain medication, so be cautious. No medications, vitamins or supplements should be taken without your doctor’s approval.

Martin Smith is a successful freelance writer providing advice on a variety of subjects. For more information on
or
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The frazzled looking mother sitting next to you on the bleachers is one. So is the polished in the crisp kahkis that you see every day in the pick-up line at school. What are they? They call themselves “wellness consultants” and you can find them everywhere these days. Fancy title aside, what exactly is a “wellness consultant” and what makes one qualified to give you medical advice? The answers may surprise you.

What Wellness Consultants Really Are

Whether they are hawking their goods door-to-door or they’re ambusing people at a PTA meeting, wellness consultants have one thing in common–they’re salespeople for some of the biggest multi-level-marketing firms in the country.

What You HAVE To Know About Wellness Consultants

Titles like “wellness consultant” look impressive at first glance but have you ever asked yourself what that phrase actually means? I did and what I found was that the “training” required to use that phrase, assuming that training was provided at all, consisted mainly of lessons on selling products. The truth is, if wellness consultants had any legitimate medical training, they had use the titles that came along with it instead of making up titles like “wellness consultants”.

What About “Certified” Professionals?

When someone about being “certified” in some area natural health, it’s natural to assume that certification means that your consultant has gone through rigorous training. Often, true but sometimes it isn’t. Certification is very different from licensure. When someone is licensed to provide consulting services, it means that they have met competency standards set up by a legally-recognized regulatory agency. Additionally, it also usually means that to maintain a license, a practitioner has to earn a certain number of continuing education credits every year.

But there is no legal defination for the word “certified” in most states. In fact, when it comes to wellness consultants working for multi-level-marketing companies, the “certification” often comes from the very company providing the product. In other words, that “certified consultant” who has been trying to sell you the latest miracle fruit juice was probably “certified” by the company manufacturing the juice. Perhaps her “certification” only proves that she sat through a 2-hour sales training seminar. No medical training, need for professional liability insurance and no need to go back to school next year to stay up on the latest research. Just a class on how to sell supplements.

The Bottom Line on “Wellness Consultants”

By now, you’re probably assuming that I hate wellness consultants and the products they sell. The truth is, I don’t. But what I do have a issue with are people with no legitimate medical training pressuring people suffering from very serious illnesses like lupus, cancer and depression into purchasing expensive, and often uproven, “remedies”. Do I think that all MLM reps do that? Of course not. But I have seen far too many who do.

It’s your health. Don’t entrust it to someone who can only make money by selling you something.

Over 600,000 Oregonians are without any type of health insurance. For the uninsured a serious injury or illness can have catastrophic financial consequences. Several studies have estimated that over fifty percent of all personal bankruptcies are due to medical reasons. The of Oregon is working to reduce the number of uninsured citizens by paying up to 95 percent of health insurance cost for individuals and families.

Established by the legislature in 1997 and initially funded by tobacco taxes, the Family Health Insurance Assistance Program now helps approximately 18000 low income people pay for health insurance.

Income eligibility is based on 185 percent of the federal poverty line. For an individual to qualify for assistance their income can’t exceed $1511 a month. A family of four would qualify with an income of $3084 or less a month.

FHIAP categorizes clients into two groups for funding purposes: Individual- those without access to health insurance at work and Group – those whose employers do provide health insurance but the employee can’t afford the premiums.

To be eligible for a FHIAP subsidy, applicants must have been without insurance for six months, be a U.S. citizen living in Oregon, having savings and investments of less than $10,000 and not be eligible for or receiving Medicare. When determining savings and investments FHIAP does not count IRA’s, vehicles or owner occupied homes. Exceptions to the six-month rule are made when the applicant is leaving the Oregon Health Plan or has been on their employer’s insurance plan for less than 90 days.

After being accepted by FHIAP, those covered under the individual plan a healthcare provider on the state’s approved list. Choices include: Kaiser Permanente, ODS, Pacific Source, BlueCross/BlueShield and several others. For those with preexisting conditions FHIAP can secure coverage through the Oregon Medical Insurance Pool. Insurance providers bill FHIAP which in turn bills the individual for their share of the premium. On a $500 month premium subsidized at 95 percent FHIAP would pay $475. Like any insurance policy FHIAP recipients are responsible for deductibles and co-pays.

Knowing that people face a bewildering array of choices in choosing a healthcare provider FHIAP set up a toll free number where applicants can receive advice from experts about the ideal insurance policy to suit there needs.

Under the group insurance plan, members sign up with their employer’s health plan and the premium is taken directly from their paychecks. FHIAP reimburses members within four days of receiving a copy of their pay stub.

Once covered, members are required to reapply every 12 months. During the 12 month coverage period FHIAP does not require notification of any increase in income or assets.

According to FHIAP policy and legislative liaison Kelley Harms, the program’s enrollment zoomed from 3400 people in 2000 to the current 18,000 in 2005. Harms attributed the increased number of people of covered to aggressive marketing and the infusion of federal money starting in 2002. Federal matching funds account for 72 percent of FHIAP’s budget; with the state of Oregon making up the remaining 28 percent.

Currently there is no waiting for those who can obtain insurance through their employer or their spouse’s employer. FHIAP is advising individual applicant that the waiting index for coverage could be up to 12 months.

Harms urges people in need of insurance coverage not to be put off by the possibility of a twelve month wait and to apply now. “Things change, people leave the program, and we could get more funding.” She stated

Traveling nurses are registered nurses who travel around the United States filling temporary nursing positions. If you are a nurse and you love to travel, then this may be the right career move for you. Most travel nurses enjoy the experience of traveling, meeting, and working with new coworkers. They hope to gain a well-rounded work experience that will serve them if they decide to settle on working full time at a specific medical facility. Many travel nurses claim that the experience allows them to develop a better understanding of their chosen specialty. Many travel nurses also claim that their unique work experiences have helped introduce them to better patient focused nursing.

Travel nurses are registered nurses, usually hired by travel nurse companies, who take temporary positions in a variety of settings in order to fill a shortage. Generally, they will work in the hospital setting, where shortages of nursing personnel are rampant.

Travel nurses also have the option of traveling to other countries experiencing shortages and may even become independent contractors. As an independent contractor, though, you must find your own housing, negotiate for pay, and pay your own insurance to name just a few things that you will be required to negotiate for on your own. But for our purposes, we will speak generally of travel nurses hired by travel nursing companies.

Hospitals hire nursing personnel, as well as other health care professionals, for a number of reasons. The major reason for hiring temporary help is to fill a gap in the numbers of nurses required. With such a shortage of qualified nurses today, many areas of the country are experiencing the deficit. Travel nurses bring a variety of knowledge and experience and are able to seamlessly fill these vacant positions.

Other areas of the country experience large population fluctuations which are more seasonal in nature. In some areas, the population can double due to these changes. For example, Florida experiences huge population shifts during the winter as snowbirds flock to warmer climates. Other areas have become huge tourist towns and require more professional help for the seasonal changes related to tourism.

Travel nurses are needed in both kinds of situations to fill a void in healthcare left by the fewer numbers of nurses.

Another reason where a nurse may find temporary employment while traveling is the opening of a new medical facility. Rather than hiring all new nurses, these new organizations benefit from the great experience of travel nurses. Newer staff members also gain from working with more experienced members of the nursing field.

Other areas of work in which a travel nurse may find temporary employment include: acute care facilities, outpatient surgery centers, assisted living or nursing homes, or working with children in schools or camps. Still other positions may include: physicians offices, correctional facilities, clinics or laboratories. Most places require at least one year of experience in the hospital setting.

Travel nurses generally enjoy a more lucrative salary than they would receive if they worked in a single location. The salary the travel nurse earns is generally based on the location where they are working. Typically a travel nurse will not earn as much working in a hospital in a rural community as they will earn working at a larger inner-city hospital. Some nurses prefer travel nursing to nursing in a single medical facility because they enjoy the opportunity to see the world and other cultures. Working in a constantly changing location challenges a travel nurses knowledge and talents. The skills that the travel nurse develops on their journeys are skills that they will be able to utilize should they settle on a home base.

Although most travel nursing jobs average 13 to 26 weeks, some can be as short as four weeks or as long as 52 weeks. Maybe you are looking to live in another state and want to be able to experience particular areas and the employment opportunities available in those areas. Travel nursing makes this possible while continuing to earn a living.

Travel nurses, generally, will be employed through a travel nurse agency. The agency is responsible for filling positions and medical facilities with qualified and interested candidates. These agencies usually have had a long relationship with hospitals, medical facilities, and medical professionals in certain parts of the country, sometimes, countrywide at larger agencies. A recruiter at the agency will assist the nurse with obtaining the proper state licensure or hospital requirements. You will have a contract drawn up by the agency, with the hospital, for salary, length of assignment, and hours worked. The travel nurse agency generally pays for travel expenses and will also have made living arrangements for you in your area of choice. If there are any professional criteria that must be met, your agency and recruiter will assist you with that as well.

There are some things that you need to consider before becoming a travel nurse. These are the things that can make up your mind on whether being a traveling nurse is the right choice for you. The jobs that you accept could take you away from your family for up to a year. Depending on how far away the job is could be another deciding factor. Generally it is best if you do not have pets because it is possible that the housing provided for you will not accept them. You will have to be licensed in every state that you choose to work in. These are things a good traveling nurse agency will help you work out.

If you are looking for a rewarding career that allows you to travel across the United States, then a career as a traveling nurse could be just what you’re looking for. Look for agencies in your home town or on the Internet to help you get started on your journey as a travel nurse. They will help place you in a job that is right for you. Happy nursing.