Travel PT – How to Beat Overwhelm and Make a Killer First Impression from Day One
People often panic during their first week on travel physical therapy contract.
I see people posting to Facebook groups and saying things like “I hate this” or “I want to go home”.
I actually remember telling Jazz “I don’t know how much longer I can do this” during week one of my first 2-3 travel physical therapy contracts.
But the reality is, I wasn’t doing the things I needed to set myself up for success. And I was focused only on the negatives of my situation.
Keep reading to find out how to beat overwhelm and kick ass during the first week of your next travel physical therapy job contract.
First impressions matter
The reality is, starting a new travel physical therapy job every three to six months is tough.
You'll be meeting new coworkers, learning a new electronic medical record, navigating a new building, and learning a whole new system.
It's A LOT and it’s one of the main cons of travel physical therapy.
There's a silly stereotype out there that travelers are subpar clinicians jumping from facility to facility who only care about the money. (Psh, don’t hate us cuz you ain’t us. 😜)
Because of this, your first impression matters even more than a perm therapist.
You’ll want to put in an extra effort on your first day/week on assignment to show that you’re a competent, badass clinician who’s there for the right reasons. You want to show you’re ready to bring massive value to your workplace and that you’re ready to help in any way possible.
It's up to you to do the right things to set yourself up for a great experience.
Even small efforts will be noticed, appreciated, and make them excited to have you a part of the team for the next 3 to 6 months.
Take care of your body & mind
If you go into your first day in a bad headspace, you might as well run for the hills.
The clinicians training you are busy with their own schedules and their own lives outside of work. Coming in with a sour attitude is a one-way ticket to a bad reputation and a worse travel physical therapy job experience.
For me, taking care of my mind and body looks like: 20-30 min of exercise, 10 min of meditation, and journaling before work.
My self-care extends into my after-work activities as well and looks like:
Watching my coffee and alcohol intake
Getting plenty of sleep and going to sleep/waking up at the same time each day
Reading a book at night vs. watching a bunch of mindless TV shows
You may have a different self-care routine, and that’s great!
The main idea is that you want to put yourself in a good headspace when you walk in the doors on that first day.
I promise you, there are going to be hiccups on your first day/week.
You’re going to need the bandwidth to deal with these hiccups with grace and optimism. And you have this bandwidth by taking care of yourself.
Pro Tip: Prepare a healthy lunch for the week ahead. I love making healthy crockpot meals because they 1.) make cooking easy as hell (chop up and dump in the ingredients and turn it on) and 2.) make it easy to prepare food in bulk, so I can eat the meal all week with less prep time.
We usually prepare 2 meals at the start of the week and alternate the two meals for lunch/dinner during the week so we don’t get too bored.
Plus, you’ll probably be tinkering with the EMR and/or catching up on documentation for your first couple of weeks. So having your lunch figured out and ready to pop in the microwave will help with time management as well.
Befriend coworkers
Do whatever you can to befriend your coworkers during your first week.
They’ll be way more willing to take time out of their day to help you or answer questions about the EMR, your caseload, the facility, etc. if they see the potential for friendship.
We’re all wired for connection, after all.
This will look a little different depending on what setting you’re in. If you’re working:
Acute care / inpatient rehab / SNF — make friends with the other therapists, nurses, and support staff on your floor so you can go to anybody and everybody with questions/concerns
Outpatient — make friends with your front office/admin team. We all know that these people keep the place running and they’re in control of your schedule. E.g. if you’re friends with them, they may hesitate before giving you 6 evals in one day. 😉
Home health — make friends with your scheduler, with the PT who’s training you (so you can call them with questions later), and with any PTAs you may be supervising
Skip posing with his outpatient team on his last day of assignment #3 . Clearly, we were pals by the end of it. 🤣
Take a test drive to/from your hospital/clinic PRIOR TO your first day
Drive from your short-term housing to your hospital or clinic prior to your first day.
I’m going to say PRIOR TO YOUR FIRST DAY one more time for emphasis.
Think about this: frantically running around the hospital looking for your unit, struggling to find a parking space, or getting stuck in traffic and ending up late on your first day. Sound stressful, right? You’re already going to be stressed and this might be just enough to send you spiraling.
Being late on your first day is a surefire way to make a bad first impression.
If you drive to your work site beforehand, you can work out any weird quirks of your commute, scout out the parking situation, and even see how long it will take you to walk from the parking lot into the hospital.
Bonus points if you can do your test run on a weekday around the time of your actual commute (so traffic is actually an accurate portrayal of what you’ll be driving in each morning).
Once you’ve done your test run, I still recommend leaving early enough on your first day to make sure you’re sitting in the lobby, checked-in and ready your manager 15-20 minutes early.
Go in prepared
As a travel therapist, I’ve worked in outpatient, inpatient rehab, and acute care settings.
Since I switch settings often and work with a large variety of patient populations, I usually have to brush up on the ins and outs of a setting if I haven’t worked it in a while.
Think lines/tubes for acute care, special tests and exercises for outpatient, or outcome measures for inpatient rehab.
Some of my favorite resources to brush up on clinical skills/knowledge I haven’t used in a while are:
CEU courses on MedBridge — Click this link for $175 off (40% off) an annual membership or read this blog post to learn more
Before you go down a deep, deep rabbit hole in the interwebs, DON’T feel like you have to know everything or go review your notes from an entire section of your PT school years.
This will only stress you out further. Trust me – I know from experience.
If you don’t remember a special test, an outcome measure, or need to look something else up on the fly at work...
No biggie. Google it! 😉
Click the image above for $175 off (40% off) an annual membership or read this blog post to learn more
Stay flexible
Be prepared to make an extra effort to smile and put yourself out with out there for the first couple of weeks.
Yes – even when you're terrified.
You want to do everything you can to show that you’re flexible, adaptable, and willing do to whatever you can to help in the beginning.
You might be asked to float between multiple facilities, take on a full caseload on day one or two, or see six evals in one day.
SIDE NOTE: Hopefully, you asked the right questions during your interview so you knew what to expect before you arrived.
If not, check out The Ultimate Guide to Travel Therapy Interviews to make sure your next assignment is an awesome one.
Don’t let these things get under your skin. Or you’re gonna burn out from traveling real quick.
Pro Tip: When you’re doing something that pisses you off, take out your phone and calculate how much you’re going that period of time. Then carry on and let the money talk. 🤑💰
As travelers, we’re expected to be able to hit the ground running.
In all transparency, you’ll probably be stressed out the first couple weeks of your assignment.
Just remember that stress isn’t always a bad thing – it’s your body preparing you for action.
Channel that energy into a positive outlook and do the best you can!
On that note...
Be kind to yourself
During my first couple of travel physical therapy jobs, I came home from work stressed, overwhelmed, and honestly wondering how long I could do this whole travel PT thing.
I felt deflated because all I wanted was to best serve my patients. But as a relatively new grad travel physical therapist, I was letting the stress and overwhelm overshadow that I actually was serving my patients.
What I had to remember is that perfection isn't real ... and it's actually the enemy.
I was comparing myself to other clinicians who had been working at the facility for months or years.
But then I realized they already knew the EMR, the facility, the workflow, and their patients.
And I realized I was working with an entirely new caseload while learning a new EMR and adjusting to living in a new city halfway across the country… all while adjusting to an entirely new setting in my first real-world outpatient job.
I had to find grace for myself.
And you HAVE to remember that you're doing the absolute best you can with the resources you have. Or the stress and overwhelm will swallow you right up.
You also have to remember that if they hadn’t hired on, your patients would be going unseen and experiencing a delay in care.
You’re a GODSEND for your workplace, not a BURDEN ya’ll!
Jazz and I have a goofy saying that I repeat each day of the first couple weeks of my assignment. It goes like this:
“Have a good day. Do your best. And F*** the rest!”
Life’s better when you learn to laugh at yourself.
You’re only in control of what you're in control of. And you can't worry about anything beyond that.
It sounds cheesy & cliche, but seriously just do your best. That’s it. And the rest will take care of itself.
Don’t be afraid to admit when you don’t know something
Fake it ‘til you make it, AmIRight?!
Right! Sometimes… Actually, it depends.
Faking confidence is one thing, but PLEASE do not fake clinical skills or knowledge when you don’t have it.
And don’t feel ashamed or afraid to admit when you don’t know something.
If you don’t feel comfortable treating a certain type of patient or in a certain situation, SPEAK UP.
You should never do anything to jeopardize patient safety.
And please don’t hesitate to refer out / refer to another therapist so they can receive the best treatment possible.
We all got into this profession to help people.
So put your pride aside and fight like hell to get people the help they deserve.
Now get out there and kick some ass on your first day!
And be kind to yourself when you have “bad days” here and there.
It’s taken me nearly four years of taking travel physical therapy contracts to get to this level of confidence.
I still get the butterflies before my first day, but I can honestly say that the first week of a new contract doesn’t really phase me anymore.
It’s all a part of the gig! And this lifestyle is more than worth it.
If you need help adjusting to the travel physical therapy lifestyle, book a coaching call with us and we’ll help you gain the confidence, mindset, and knowledge you need to succeed in this industry and make this lifestyle work for you.
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