As a travel allied health clinician or specialty nurse, you’re constantly moving from healthcare facility to healthcare facility to provide care for patients who need it the most. This nomadic professional lifestyle, while highly rewarding, requires a specific set of skills to thrive and excel. Whether you’re considering a career in travel healthcare or looking to enhance your current practice, mastering these four key skills will set you apart as a successful travel healthcare clinician. Let’s explore the essential competencies that will help you navigate the challenges and reap the rewards of this exciting—and growing—field.
1. Adaptability
Every healthcare facility differs in processes and policies, and as a travel healthcare clinician who works on a temporary basis, it’s important to learn and adapt to these quickly. Doing so not only makes it easier for you to provide care for patients in the framework of the facility you’re at, but it also shows colleagues and higher-ups that you truly care about the facility’s mission and values.
Adaptability as a travel healthcare clinician can take a few forms, such as:
- Quickly learning new electronic health record (EHR) systems
- Adjusting to different team dynamics and communication styles
- Adapting to varied patient populations and cultural norms
- Flexibly handling different equipment and resources available at each facility
- Modifying care approaches to align with each facility’s specific protocols
- Swiftly integrating into new departmental workflows and processes
On the first day of any new assignment, make sure to ask questions about how the organization operates and listen closely to any orientation they might provide. As you continue practicing in the weeks or months you’re working at the facility, pay attention to how permanent staff conduct themselves. You don’t need to emulate exactly how they do things—remember, you bring a unique perspective and set of skills to the facility—but keeping an eye on how others act can help you stay adaptable to the facility’s expectations.
2. Effective Communication
There’s no way around it—as a travel clinician at a new facility, there will be moments where you encounter challenges. To overcome these difficulties, it’s critical that you learn how to effectively communicate with managers and colleagues so that they can help guide you in the right direction.
Effective communication in travel healthcare encompasses several key aspects:
- Clear and concise expression
- Articulate your thoughts, questions, and concerns to avoid misunderstandings.
- Active listening
- Pay close attention to instructions and feedback and ask clarifying questions that show you are seeking to understand.
- Non-verbal communication
- Your body language can say a lot about how you feel, so be aware of how you express yourself.
- Conflict resolution
- There might be times when you don’t agree with a colleague on a particular issue, so learning how to handle these situations professionally and constructively is paramount.
To improve your communication skills, consider practicing open ended questions, seeking feedback on your communication style, or proactively introducing yourself to others to establish rapport. By honing this skill, you’ll be better equipped to integrate into new teams.
3. Cultural Awareness
Whether you’re working in a major urban hospital, a smaller rural clinic, or anything in between, you’ll certainly encounter colleagues and patients of different cultural backgrounds. Everyone has their own set of values and sensitivities, and it’s important as a travel clinician to identify these and stay aware of how you adapt your approach accordingly.
As a travel allied health clinician or specialty nurse who’s aiming to maintain cultural sensitivity, you should:
- Educate yourself on the predominant cultures in the area where you’re assigned
- Ask respectful questions when you don’t fully understand cultural practices or preferences
- Avoid assumptions about a singular cultural group and instead seek to understand
- Recognize and understand health disparities that might stem from cultural factors
- Reflect on your own biases and blind spots
Following these tips will help you maintain culturally appropriate and sensitive interactions with colleagues and patients alike.
4. Emotional Agility
Healthcare is stressful—not just for you, but for patients as well. Travel healthcare clinicians must have a level of emotional intelligence that doesn’t just encompass empathy for your patients or colleagues, but also awareness of your own feelings.
Developing emotional agility in healthcare settings involves several key aspects:
- Self-awareness
- Taking stock of your own feelings and emotional responses and working to improve your reactions.
- Emotional regulation
- Understanding your triggers and learning how to handle them as they arise.
- Empathy
- Putting yourself in the shoes of others and working to relate to their emotions.
- Resilience
- Bouncing back from challenges or stress quickly.
By focusing on developing these skills, you will be better equipped to make an immediate impact in any new clinical environment.
Find Your Next Travel Allied Health Job with BHS
Think you have what it takes to be a successful travel healthcare clinician? Check out our job board and apply to one of our open positions today.