By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

In most U.S. schools, budgets are strained and educators are looking for creative solutions to juggle all the responsibilities on their already crowded plates. Therefore, identifying potential developmental disorders and learning disabilities in children may unfortunately fall through the cracks. This is where physical therapists and occupational therapists and especially speech language pathologists working even part time in schools, can play a critical role in spotting disabilities and positively affecting a child’s future.

Common early childhood developmental disorders include cerebral palsy, hearing loss, mental retardation, vision impairment and the autism spectrum disorders. Funding for autism care is a hot button issue among educators, parents, primary care providers and rehab therapists now. Travel speech therapists and traveling speech language pathologists may soon see the benefits, in the form of increased assignments, from autism treatment funding legislation.  Eight states – Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas – have currently passed some form of the bill. Twenty-four additional states have introduced similar bills.

Therapists and traveling rehabilitation therapists working in schools have the experience and knowledge to see things in children that teachers and parents may not immediately pick up on.  Early detection may lessen the severity or slow the progress of developmental disabilities or learning disorders so it is well worth the therapist’s time to conduct thorough assessments and screenings. Traveling therapists in all three disciplines – speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy – are greatly needed in all areas of the country.  Fill out the quick application on our “Apply Now” page to find a traveling therapy agency that best suits your needs and goals.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN. BSN

Following is part one of my conversation with Ann Marie Ruggiero, Director of Travel Therapy and Recruiting at Medical Connections, another valued travel agency partner of Allied Travel Careers.  I spoke with Ann Marie Ruggiero about her company and the hottest physical therapy travel jobs, occupational therapy travel jobs, and speech therapy travel jobs.

What would you like travel therapists to know about your company?

We specialize in travelers and accommodate our clients the best we can for travel, whether for a typical 13 week assignment or sometimes we do shorter assignments based on their needs.  We also have a permanent placement division.  This is great for therapists looking to stay in a certain area or those looking for something more on the permanent level.

What makes Medical Connections really stand out is our customer service. When someone has initially made that call to us, or we receive an ATC lead, customer service is the number one priority for us.  The travel therapy candidate is in constant communication with their recruiter.  They answer any questions the candidate has about the assignment, benefits, compensation, and any other information we have available for them. The recruiter and candidate keep in contact throughout the entire assignment.  A lot of companies, especially the bigger ones, let you speak to your recruiter at one point before the assignment, but once you are on the job you really don’t have any communication with them. That is the biggest difference between us and the competition.

What would you like rehab therapists (physical, occupational, speech) to know about being a travel therapist?

A travel assignment does not necessarily have to be in another state; it’s anything over 50 miles from your home.  People who have never done travel really don’t know that unless a recruiter tells them; they think they have to go to another state.

What are the most popular states for travel therapy assignments right now?

We have assignments everywhere and here are some examples.  California has the largest amount of needs I have seen in awhile. Texas is also a really hot state right now. So are Arkansas, Louisiana, Hawaii, Georgia, Ohio, New Mexico and New Jersey. How about going to the shore for the summer?  The assignment possibilities are really unlimited. This is a great time for travel therapists to go anywhere they want to work.

Read Medical Connections Travel Therapy Company Focus part two.

Medical Connections
www.medicalconnections.com

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Kat Sanders

The job outlook for physical therapists (PT) has never been better, what with the advances in medical science increasing the life spans of older people and improving the prospects of survival for accident victims and babies with chronic conditions and diseases. A PT is a god-sent blessing to people who need their services because of the immense contribution they can make in improving the quality of life of people who need rehabilitation or occupational therapy. They play a large role in regulating and minimizing their pain and in helping them get back to normal life or live as normally as possible.

A qualified PT must graduate from an accredited physical therapist education program (a Master’s or Doctoral degree) in accordance with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education and be licensed according to the requirements in the State he or she chooses to practice in. Besides this, they are required to continue their professional development through continuing education courses and workshops in order to maintain licensure.

Physical therapy job opportunities and physical therapy travel jobs are usually available in hospital and home settings for rehabilitative, therapeutic and orthopedic care. According to the US News & Career Report, the employment of PTs is expected to grow much faster than the average for all other occupations until the year 2014. While hospitals remain the largest employers of therapists, jobs are aplenty in private homes, nursing care facilities, offices of physicians and corporate offices (to develop exercise programs and teach safe work habits to employees in order to reduce injuries). Some therapists prefer to go into business on their own and freelance at various hospitals, adult day care centers, home health centers, rehabilitation centers and private homes, as and when their services are needed. Others choose to enter the field of consultation or teach in schools and colleges; a small number also choose to dedicate their lives to research.

If you’re looking to travel and see new places, a career as a traveling physical therapist could just be the opportunity you’re looking for. When your reputation is well established, you could gain employment in various parts of the country and work at jobs that pay well, provide you with decent accommodation, and make it worth your while with medical benefits, relocation allowances and other incentives.

You can expect to earn around $50,000 a year at the entry level and go on to make as much as $95,000 with experience and skill gained with the passing of the years. The average salary for physical therapists is around $78,000.

So if you’re good with people and are able to treat them with kindness and patience and help them cope with and get over their physical disabilities, you could check out the physical therapy profession – it could be your cup of tea.

This article is written by Kat Sanders, who regularly blogs on the topic of physical therapy assistant schools at her blog Physical Therapy Blog. To contact Kat, visit her website.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

As part of my research for upcoming columns, I have had the pleasure of interviewing travel therapy recruitment representatives from www.AlliedTravelCareers.com list of valued partner agencies. I have to admit that, even though I was well aware of the need for rehab therapists in hospitals and acute care settings across the country, I had no idea the extent of staffing needs in this area of medicine.

Each travel agency representative I have interviewed so far (with several more to go), has expressed a great need for physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists who are looking for travel therapy jobs. One representative even pointed out that the definition of “travel” is a flexible one that can mean within 50 miles from your home.  Many of these same recruiters are hiring therapists into permanent positions.  If you are a therapist looking to custom design your career – from assignment locations (Texas is overflowing with available assignments) to salary, comprehensive benefits, your choice of clinical settings and assignment flexibility – this is absolutely the time to contact a recruiter from our partner agencies.

Stay connected with the blog here on ATC for more details from these interviews including specific information about the travel therapy companies and what they have to offer. Whether you are already a traveling therapist or considering a career in travel physical therapy, travel occupational therapy, or travel speech language pathology, the information generously shared by these industry experts will benefit your career.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

If an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure than physical therapists, occupational therapists and traveling rehab therapists in these fields have many reasons to be optimistic. It is important for rehab therapists including traveling physical therapists and travel occupational therapists to remind the public that it’s not necessary to wait until something is broken, pulled, strained, dislocated or twisted before seeking the services of a therapist.  Here are some specific patient demographics for traveling therapists with a passion for patient preventative education to target for assessments and consultations.

Elderly Patients: Fall prevention, balance and core stability are key preventative measures for this age group. Traveling occupational therapists can also focus on risks that elderly patients encounter in their activities of daily living.

Weekend Warriors: Teach these ambitious folks to seek out therapy before they find themselves sprawled on the basketball floor or at the bottom of a ski slope. They can benefit from ROM assessments, teaching about proper warm up and stretching techniques and an assessment to determine their health level for desired sports and activities along with recommendations for maximum exertion levels.

Office Workers: Therapists are a valuable source of info for employees at risk for carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive use injury and other ergonomic issues.

Child Athletes: Physical therapists are an excellent resource for young athletes and their parents to learn about how to prevent injuries and assessments for any movement, alignment or balance issues that place the child at a higher risk for problems.

All of the Above: All individuals suffering the regular aches and pains of life can benefit from a therapy assessment to learn how a more conservative therapy approach may benefit them more than their medications or other forms of current relief.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

There are elderly residents of all ages and different levels of health living independently in retirement communities across the country.  In fact, traveling rehab therapists looking for assignment ideas serving this patient demographic, should consider Florida, Arizona, Texas and California among other popular senior destinations. Residents in these communities often have more physical and occupational therapy needs than they or their loved ones may realize. Just because they are living independently for now, does not mean that a wobble, slip, fall or minor mishap couldn’t change everything.

Travel physical therapists, travel occupational therapists and other therapists can make a profound difference in the lives of senior and allow them to maintain their independent quality of life through community education. Physical therapy agencies frequently offer their educational services to retirement communities. Therapists can do a world of good simply by educating seniors about how to prevent falls, household safety tips, how to manage their health, how to maintain their core and leg strength and keeping tabs on their vision.

Fall prevention is a biggie for seniors. I saw this as a nursing home nurse and later as an orthopedic nurse. I used to watch my nursing home residents being taken away to nursing homes with hip fractures with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Approximately 25% of individuals with hip fractures die within one year and another 25% lose their independence when they are admitted to a nursing home for permanent care. Physical therapists can be particularly educational for female residents of retirement communities, as women have a higher frequency of hip fractures and complications due to osteoporosis and a longer life span. Traveling physical therapists have the opportunity to educate elderly patients about these topics in many communities around the country on a regular basis.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

A few seasons back on the popular television show “Dancing with the Stars”, a friend of a friend tore his bicep muscle while competing. I really didn’t know much about ballroom dancing at that point, apparently in opposition to the rest of America. That was the moment that I realized Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers may have been bonafide athletes after all, prone to all the same types of injuries. The list of celebrity injuries on the show is mounting by the season – injured ankles and feet, scratched eyes, ruptured Achilles tendons, and fractured knees and shins. Are celebrities really this accident prone and out of shape or are they just unprepared for the physical rigors of ballroom dancing on such an intensive schedule?

The good news for physical therapists, other than the increased business for those in Los Angeles, is the publicity. Physical therapists and by association traveling physical therapists, are getting the praise they deserve for their hard work in rehabilitating these types of injuries. In virtually every article concerning yet another “Dancing with the Stars” injury, the celebrity mentions their rehabilitation treatment with a PT. This show is taking the “weekend warrior” trend to a whole new level.

As the show’s popularity increases, along with other physically demanding reality shows like it, there will undoubtedly be even more injuries for the public hear about and hopefully learn from. How much stress, strain and repetitive movements is the human body expected to endure, especially in a body not used to it? Stay tuned!

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

As the title suggests, the job description and health care niche for traveling physical therapy nurses is a unique blend of nursing and physical therapy with the added excitement and learning experiences that come with a career in travel. After graduating from nursing school and passing their nursing boards, the aspiring physical therapy nurse must then complete a physical therapist nursing program approved by the American Physical Therapy Association.  The specialized training focuses on teaching the nurse how to restore patient function, increase mobility, manage pain and teach patients how to function with disabilities, especially in long term care settings.

Once graduated and certified, the traveling physical therapy nurse works alongside physical therapists in hospitals, long term care facilities, rehabilitation settings and many other clinical settings. This position is an exciting opportunity to combine the therapeutic care and critical thinking model associated with nursing, along with the rehabilitative functions of the physical therapist. In typical patient care scenarios, nurses are not directly involved in patient rehabilitation programs, handing off this responsibility to physical therapy when acute care is complete. A position as a traveling physical therapy nurse gives nurses the opportunity to follow through with patient care, watching as they take the next steps in restoring their desired quality of life.

For those wishing to explore this area of nursing, there has never been a better time to contact a travel agency recruiter. The demand for physical therapists, nurses and physical therapy nurses is high and expected to reach even greater heights as the aging population creates more and more new patients.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

Steve Jobs and his counterparts at Blackberry, Sidekick and all the other technological wonders that I personally do not own, are a physical therapist and occupational therapist’s dream come true. Opposable thumbs certainly have their benefits, however when hyper-flexed for long periods of time in the awkward positions required for texting, tweeting on Twitter, and jumping from “app” (application) to app elsewhere, thumbs can become seriously impaired. Repetitive movement of any joint can lead to joint, ligament, tendon and muscle problems. When those joints happen to be the ones that we humans use the most, in our fingers, a therapeutic solution becomes a necessity to relieve the pain and inflammation that results.

Fortunately for physical therapists and occupational therapists, America’s addiction with the phalangeal abuse associated with the latest and greatest technological gadgets appears to be gaining momentum. Traveling physical therapists and travel occupational therapists get to experience the benefits of treating “blackberry thumb” in exciting destinations across the country. Today in PT recently reported that physical therapists in Nevada are currently experiencing the highest average salary at $80,960. Physical therapists in California, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Texas, West Virginia and Alaska are also benefiting from the increasing demand for therapists and traveling physical therapists, along with the rising competitive salaries that accompany that demand.

Whether you are an experienced physical or occupational therapist or a new graduate, if you have a taste for travel and a thirst for new learning experiences, a career as a traveling rehabilitation therapist may be just what you’re looking for. If you are considering a travel career, now is the time to act (visit our “apply now” page for more information). As Americans continue to text and Twitter their way to repetitive use injuries, along with the plethora of other conditions requiring rehab therapy, the demand for traveling therapists will only increase.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

I would have to say that the large metal rod and giant screws keeping my spine in place reminds me every day that a healthy back is a very important part of life. When I was 19, I underwent Harrington Rod surgery to correct my extremely severe scoliosis from a combined curvature of 116 degrees to its present curve of 68 degrees. As I worked with my outpatient physical therapist for several months following the surgery, I was reminded of the usually sturdy skeletal centerpiece that largely holds the rest of our body together.

The effects of an ailing or disabled spine are far reaching, affecting the neurological, circulatory, muscular, and skeletal systems. At last count, in 2005 the portion of Americans suffering from some type of back pain had risen to 15 percent (JAMA). Physical therapists have likely seen all of the major causes of back pain and then some. They include obesity (also on the rise), a sedentary lifestyle, lack of core strength, injury from misuse and trauma. Most back pain is located in the lower back, the area absorbing the brunt of daily activity (or inactivity in the case of chronic sitters).

Fortunately for physical therapists and traveling physical therapists who get to see a diverse sampling of back pain patients in popular travel pt destinations across the country, people don’t seem to be learning the essential lessons of maintaining a healthy back. As an orthopedic nurse I learned that most patients have the attitude that it’s okay to abuse and misuse their spine because surgery will fix anything. Even the surgeons don’t have that attitude because it is simply not true. Surgery is not the cure all for everything. Ask one of the residents of VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab”, Jeff Conaway, whose on camera debate with Dr. Drew concluded with the well-known physician telling Conaway that another surgery was simply not an option for the star, who had already undergone years of spinal surgeries, only to remain in chronic pain.

This is the case for countless Americans and thankfully, physical therapists and traveling physical therapists have solutions for individuals with chronic back pain. The solutions include both daily exercises to keep the pain at bay as well as treatments and additional therapeutic exercises for acute flare ups.

Although they were sometimes referred to as “drug seekers” by other medical staff, I always felt sympathy for the “frequent flyers” who would visit the orthopedic floor sometimes monthly for an epidural IV of morphine or other strong pain medicine. I literally felt their pain and I am thankful for physical therapists, who are there to provide a user’s manual to the back, reminding us that movement is sometimes just what the doctor ordered.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.