In part two of our series with traveling nurses, Chase and Lindsay, they dive into questions about their careers, favorite assignments and much more. Missed part one? Not to worry, you can check it out here!
What’s the biggest benefit to healthcare travel?
Definitely the freedom. [We’ve] got a lot of freedom to choose when you want to work, where you want to work. Also, it’s double the income that you make while staffed.
How do you choose what assignments are right for you?
Well, we’re RVing so we definitely have to choose location based on time of year. So weather is one aspect. Our second aspect, would be that we want to be in a location that’s fun so we have stuff to do on our days off. And we want to make a certain amount of money each week.
What’s been your favorite travel destination so far?
Florida was probably our favorite. We were able to explore the beaches on both coasts, as well as snorkel in some of the natural springs, and just skip winter altogether. We were also close by to some cruise ports and we took two or three cruises while we were on assignment there, so that was a nice perk as well.
How do you set yourself up for success on a new travel assignment?
We actually use social media quite a bit with this one. We find people who are currently there at an assignment or have been there in the past. We connect with them on social media, ask them questions, get some insight. We feel a little more comfortable once we know a little more. We also like to get to the hospital a little early, a few days before our first day, to explore the area a little bit, make sure we find out where to park, where the unit is. And all of that makes us more comfortable heading in for the first day.
What has been the best part of traveler flexibility?
We would definitely say fun-employment. That’s the amount of time you have in between contracts. Some nurses take a week off in between assignments, others take two months, like we did. This summer we spent one month in Europe and had another month to spend time with family and just chill before we started a new assignment. And you would never be able to do that with a permanent job. We really love fun-employment and the freedom of travel nursing.
What is your preferred short-term housing option?
Our preferred housing is this RV. We really enjoy it. Before we started travel nursing, we knew we wanted an RV. We decided, “Well, why don’t we just get the RV for travel nursing? Let’s just take our house with us!”
How have you grown as a healthcare professional since traveling?
As staff nurses, we were super comfortable back home. Once we started travel nursing, we realized, “Wow, we feel like brand new nurses.” You really start to learn how to be adaptable and flexible with every new situation you come to in travel nursing. You quickly learn so much and it’s just going to build you into a better nurse as you go.
Tell us about a favorite memory from a travel assignment?
This travel nursing experience overall has been our favorite memory. We’re living full-time in an RV, traveling the country, traveling out of the country, making so many memories that we’ll cherish forever. All of this has been such a blessing, and we’re going to talk about it for the rest of our lives.
Ready for a travel assignment that will propel your career and allow you to explore new hobbies and regions? Travel nurse agency, Triage, has plenty of allied and travel nurse jobs.