Nurse Career Options

Nurse Career Options

Many nurses are frustrated in their profession because they feel that choices are limited, income is inadequate and there is no respect for their professional ability. This is one of the greatest times in history to become a nurse. More and more nurses are becoming aware that career options are available which have never existed before. Who says that a nurse has to work for an employer. Why should you split your profits with a “middleman” Nurses you do the work you deserve the pay. Independent Nurse Contractor is one that is taking the nursing profession to new heights. Nurses you can double, even triple your income, increase your choices as to how often, when and where you practice, gain professional autonomy and best of all achieve the career satisfaction you once had. Get rid of the “middleman” and enjoy the many benefits that you deserve. Visit http://www.independentrncontractor.com

Obtaining State Licensure and/or Federal Certification for a Home Health Agency

Obtaining State Licensure and/or Federal Certification for a Home Health Agency visit

http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?A=189&Q=237828

File Your DBA

If you're structuring your company as a sole proprietorship or a partnership, you have the option of choosing a business name, or dba ("doing business as"), for your business. This is also known as a fictitious business name. If you want to operate your business under a name other than your own (for instance, Carol Axelrod doing business as "Darling Donut Shoppe"), you may be required by the county, city or state to register your fictitious name.

Procedures for doing this vary among states. In many states, all you have to do is go to the county offices and pay a registration fee to the county clerk. In other states, you also have to place a fictitious name notice in a local newspaper for a certain amount of time. The cost of filing a fictitious name notice ranges from $10 to $100. Your local bank may also require a fictitious name certificate to open a business account for you; if that's the case, they can tell you where to go to register. In most cases, the newspaper that prints your fictitious name ad will also file the necessary papers with the county.

In most states, corporations don't have to file fictitious business names unless the corporations do business under names other than their own. Incorporation documents have the same effect for corporate businesses as fictitious name filings do for sole proprietorships and partnerships.

Naming Dos and Don'ts
When choosing a business name, keep the following tips in mind:

• Choose a name that appeals not only to you, but also to the kind of customers you're trying to attract.
• To get customers to respond to your business on an emotional level, choose a comforting or familiar name that conjures up pleasant memories.
• Don't pick a name that's long or confusing.
• Stay away from cute puns that only you understand.
• Don't use the word "Inc." after your name unless your company is actually incorporated.
• Don't use the word "Enterprises" after your name; this term is often used by amateurs.

Retrieved From
http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/homebasedbasics/legalissues/article38818.html
March 16 2008

Small Business Marketing Tips

Small Business Resource Guide. (Version 2 - June 2001)A 425 page document that provides a compendium of practical business information on national, state and local small business resources and, also information on existing small business programs, contracting with the federal government and contracting with HUD and HUD's grantees. The guide is available at the following website: http://www.hud.gov/offices/osdbu/resource/guide.cfm

WomenBiz Web Site. The website http://www.hud.gov/utilities/intercept.cfm?http://www.WomenBiz.gov is organized to target the five specific stages a woman business owner should go through so she can begin to explore whether the federal government is the right customer for her. The stages are:
Meeting the basics
Finding your market
Getting started
Finding business opportunities
Key contacts

In addition, you may wish to register on the Minority Business Development Agency's (MBDA) Phoenix Database which is a database of minority businesses. MBDA uses the Phoenix database with the Opportunities Database to match listed minority firms with contracts and other business opportunities via e-mail and fax. You can access Phoenix at: http://www.mbda.gov/

Register at http://www.hud.gov/utilities/intercept.cfm?http://www.FedBizOpps.gov to receive e-mail about upcoming federal agency contracting opportunities. (Be advised that registering will mean you may receive up to 600 announcements per month.)

Data retrieved 1/29/08
from
http://www.hud.gov/offices/osdbu/tips.cfm

Start Your Own Nurse Agency or work as an Independent Nurse Contractor http://www.independentrncontractor.com/

How to Apply for an EIN

APPLY ONLINE
The Internet EIN application is the preferred method for customers to apply for and obtain an EIN. Once the application is completed, the information is validated during the online session, and an EIN is issued immediately. The online application process is available for all entities whose principal business, office or agency, or legal residence (in the case of an individual), is located in the United States or U.S. Territories. The principal officer, general partner, grantor, owner, trustor etc. must have a valid Taxpayer Identification Number (Social Security Number, Employer Identification Number, or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) in order to use the online application.

APPLY BY EIN Toll-Free Telephone ServiceTaxpayers can obtain an EIN immediately by calling the Business & Specialty Tax Line at (800) 829-4933. The hours of operation are 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday. An assistor takes the information, assigns the EIN, and provides the number to an authorized individual over the telephone.

APPLY BY FAXTaxpayers can FAX the completed Form SS-4 application to their state FAX number (see Where to File - Business Forms and Filing Addresses), after ensuring that the Form SS-4 contains all of the required information. If it is determined that the entity needs a new EIN, one will be assigned using the appropriate procedures for the entity type. If the taxpayer's fax number is provided, a fax will be sent back with the EIN within four (4) business days.

APPLY BY MAILThe processing timeframe for an EIN application received by mail is four weeks. Ensure that the Form SS-4 contains all of the required information. If it is determined that the entity needs a new EIN, one will be assigned using the appropriate procedures for the entity type and mailed to the taxpayer.
Other Important Information

3rd Party AuthorizationA 3rd Party designee must fill out the SEC. 6103(c) disclosure information at the bottom of the Form SS-4. The Form SS-4 must also be signed by the taxpayer for the 3rd Party designee authorization to be valid. The Form SS-4 must be mailed or faxed to the appropriate service center. A 3rd Party designee may call for an EIN; however a faxed Form SS-4, with the taxpayer's signature, is still required. IRS assistors will take the information over the phone from the 3rd Party designee and ask the 3rd Party designee to fax the completed Form SS-4 to them (to the IRS assistor's attention) at an administrative fax number. After receiving the faxed Form SS-4, the EIN will be assigned and faxed back to the 3rd Party designee, or given over the phone. The 3rd Party designee's authority terminates at the time the EIN is assigned and released to the designee.

Highest paid registered nurses are in California

On average, the 2.4 million registered nurses in the U.S. earned $28.71 per hour in May 2006. Registered nurses in California were the highest paid among all of the States, with an average hourly wage of $36.12.

At the metropolitan area level, mean hourly wages of registered nurses were about twice as much in the highest paying areas as in the lowest paying areas.

The metropolitan areas with the highest mean hourly pay for registered nurses were in California: the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan area ($44.42) and the Oakland-Fremont-Hayward metropolitan division ($43.18). The Salinas, San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, and Santa Rosa-Petaluma areas also had some of the nation's highest mean hourly wages for registered nurses.

Among the areas with the lowest wages paid to registered nurses were Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, Virginia ($19.70), Morristown, Tennessee ($20.16), Lawrence, Kansas ($20.55), Jonesboro, Arkansas ($20.68), and State College, Pennsylvania ($20.76).

These data are from the Occupational Employment Statistics program. To learn more about occupational earnings and employment, see "Occupational Employment and Wages, 2006," USDL news release 07-0712

Work as an Independent Nurse Contractor http://www.independentrncontractor.com/

Physical Address of Home Office

PHYSICAL ADDRESS
You need a physical address to receive checks from hospitals (no direct deposit). For simplicity, you would like this to be the same address as your tax home. If you incorporate, you must have a registered agent. You can save the cost of outsourcing this and act as your own registered agent with a physical address in the state of incorporation. This cost varies from $80-$1,500 a year, depending on services required and state involved – often supplied by law firms.

PHONE NUMBER If you have someone you trust to answer your phones at home or an answer machine that you check often, you can use this number. Another solution might be to sign up for an 800 service that can forward your calls where you wish, to your cell phone for example. A simple web search will return lots of links for providers, all less expensive than your local phone company.

This one has no setup fees, $2.50 a month (waived when billing is over $15 a month), 4.5 cents per minute from out of state, and six second billing. The web site is a little confusing but no waiting on the phone for customer service. Custom numbers are available for no charge (if available) or you can transfer your toll free number to them for $2.

You have a few choices to make regarding who answers the phone. Very small businesses get away with voice mail (as does HR in even large hospitals). But you may be uncomfortable with being the company president and the traveler. Many independents have had facilities refuse to deal with you if they know. The best would be having a family member that you can clue in on how to talk the talk (and they can then sign the contracts as well). Some independents talk about partnering with others (making you a bit less independent).
I saw a post on Delphi about an IC calling the hospital as a recruiter and telling them to hold while she connects the traveler for an interview. She then puts herself back on the phone, does the interview, and gets the contract. The manager did not notice that the voice was the same!

Another approach that may work well is to identify yourself as the owner of an agency (number of actual travelers is confidential) and that you contract yourself out as well (to keep your skills up and stay in touch with your clients). This is how many agencies begin.

However the goal is to be just like any other agency and make the process indistinguishable from any other agency. I have found it invaluable to have someone to talk to HR for you. In my case, I have a sister who is doing great handling the phone and negotiating per my instructions. Not very time consuming, under two hours of work per assignment if I do the paperwork.
FAX Forget about mailing contracts. Forget about brochures, business cards, and marketing. Your marketing is your traveler profile and everything can be done by fax. Web based faxing generally allows you to send better looking documents than from regular fax machines, and requires zero space in your car (or airplane baggage).

There is really only one good choice for web based faxing: MaxEmail. This service can be managed by email or directly on a web site for $14.85 a year (plus $10 onetime setup) for a permanent fax number. It will handle multiple file formats (Word, PDF, and so on) and charges about 5 cents a page sent. Incoming faxes are free. Check your faxes from any computer and send as well. You can also get an 800 fax number for more money but I don't think it's necessary. In this age of a multiplicity of area codes, I don't think there is a loss of credibility to have different area codes for your business phone and your fax number, especially if your business number is an 800.

You can also check out eFax. Better known than but not as flexible as it requires proprietary software.
EMAIL Definitely a plus to have a domain name that matches your business name, "info@travelersunlimited.com" for example. Something to keep in mind when you pick a company name as some domain names are not available.

Yahoo registered my domain along with their basic service for $11.95 a month. This includes domain registration, a web page, and ten email addresses. This is $4 a month more than the absolute least expensive of similar services but you get 24 hour customer support and some assurance that they will not go out of business and leave your domain name stranded. A web search will turn up a large list of domain registration vendors and most will make it easy to search for your desired domain name availability.

I try to do as much business by email as I can. Avoids the hassle of getting clients on the phone, and is the fastest, best way to get great looking documents in their hands. You should have completes files ready to send to your clients at all times on your laptop. Makes a great impression on a client to receive everything you were just discussing a few minutes ago. Be aware that faxing will still have to be done; some hospital HR departments do not do outside email.

A short note about connectivity. I hook my cell phone to my laptop (cables are $2 to $25 – check eBay) and avoid ISP charges and landline expenses. About the same speed or a little faster than a landline. Verizon and Sprint are the way to go for basic service, both have built in ISPs and charge only for minutes used against your plan (typically unlimited at night). Sprint's very bad customer service may worth it if you want the fewest hassles about data charges. With some handsets, Verizon may try to charge you by data received rather than against minutes. (Any rep has the power to change it back to minutes – just ask). I haven’t had any issues with Verizon though for the last two plus years. Both Sprint and Verizon would prefer you to buy their $200 laptop PC card and $80 a month unlimited service – just say no!

For faster (no-cost) Internet access, most every hospital that I have worked at in recent years have networks that you can plug your computer into for net access that is not password protected (you do need an Ethernet port on your laptop). And most Kinko's have courtesy laptop stations with network access. Kinkos is also also a good place to print really good looking contracts without carrying a laser printer with you. Expensive prints but deductible. Information taken from nurse traveler org. great resource.
For information on starting up a nurse agency or working as an independent nurse contractor visit http://www.contractornurse.com/