By Emily K
I graduated with my BSN from UVA in 2015, I wanted to work in critical care and I took an ICU job in Atlanta, Georgia as a new graduate. I signed a 2-year Residency Contract to work at an academic teaching facility in the perimeter. I can honestly say that the first year of being an RN was the single hardest year of my life. I was working mostly nightshifts and struggling to make new friends in an unfamiliar city.
I heard about being a travel nurse from an acquaintance and was curious to learn more after a coworker of mine left to travel in New Orleans. I finally committed to the decision to travel while on a section hike of the Appalachian Trail (which starts in northern Georgia). I knew I had climbed and explored most of the mountains in Georgia, my body wanted more. I also recognized that with my CCRN and advancing in the hospital lattice that I was hitting my maximum potential as a staff RN: my mind wanted more. I told my nurse manager that I wanted to pursue travel Nursing in my yearly evaluation: he offered nothing but support, encouragement, and wisdom. I knew that I when worked as a travel nurse, it would be on my own terms: I was exhausted from bending to constant rules and feeling overworked and under-explored. My partner at the time strongly discouraged me from becoming a travel nurse. He wondered what I could possibly be missing from our comfortable life. I wondered how he could be comfortable with so much of the world waiting to be explored. I jokingly tell my friends now that “I lost 200 pounds of dead weight that year”.
I first dropped down to ‘per diem’ at my job on Dec 4th, 2017. I officially quit after working only 2 per diem shifts in Jan 2018. For the entire month of December, I waited a stressful and anxiety-ridden days working with multiple travel nurse agencies, meticulously scanning the web to find my first travel assignment. I wanted to work in Washington State mostly because my only travel nurse friend from Nursing school, was currently there on assignment. It felt good to have a friend talk me through the process. My profile was finally submitted to a critical care unit in Seattle, and I chewed off my nails waiting as I impatiently waited for a call from the unit manager. I knew things moved quickly in the industry and kept my cell and list of interview questions and detailed answers with me at all times. Maybe they would call me today, maybe they would never.
When the management team did call me, I was an instant fit for the unit. However there was confusion, and in my excitement to find a critical care position in Seattle, I had been “dual submitted” to this ICU by two different agencies. Recruiters feelings were hurt and bruised. I ended up having to switch travel recruiters because of such a poor experience with my first one, who verbally scolded me for this “newbie” mistake. I finally signed the contract with the one agency and booked a ticket to Seattle, WA. I landed on New Year’s Eve 2018 and was welcomed by fireworks shooting off over Gas Works Park. My assignment was incredible!! I was welcomed into an amazing unit and Nursing team and also a breathtakingly beautiful city.
I worked very hard during my 13 weeks, I strove to be an asset to an already standout team. On my days off I spent every free moment exploring the PNW and the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges. From touring the Spaceneedle to snowshoeing, every day was a new adventure. My contract wrapped up on April 7th. I began working with recruiters again, setting my sights on California. I had worked for months to get my RN license and wanted to explore the Golden Coast. I started speaking to new recruiters, and new agencies, explaining to them precisely what I wanted (ICU dayshift in California). I worked with a total of 5 agencies during this time. Each recruiter told me I had a “tall order”, or “challenging request” or was “being difficult”. One told me to call him back when I had decided to “finally settle on something reasonable”. It took two painful months for me to establish an ICU contact in San Francisco. During this time of distress and uncertainty, I traveled to locations I had only dreamed of visiting. It was how I cope with the stress of being 24, unemployed and uninsured. I lived with my phone at my hip with the volume on loud, just in case a manager called me during my travels.
During that time I went to:
Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, HI.
Vancouver, Victoria, BC. Olympic National Park, Port Angeles, WA.
Portland, Bend, Crater Lake, Samuel Boardman State Park, OR
Mendocino, Willits, Crescent City, CA.
When I finally arrived in SF, I remained unemployed until I received a call from my current manager at a facility in the Bay Area. My start date is in June and I’ve been busy completing all of my Pre-employment paperwork and compliance documentation prior to my start. I am based out of Sarasota, FL, currently on sunny Siesta Key. I love coming home to the Florida sunshine and adventures like kayaking and paddleboarding. I love the sunshine state but I cannot wait to go back to the mountains for some west coast backpacking and camping! Things have worked out in my favor so far, but not without a lot of stress, fear, and growth. I have pushed myself more in the past 5 months than I have in the prior 2 years of full-time staff, or 4 years of nursing school. I couldn’t be happier with this wild ride!! Traveling is not for the faint of heart and for nurses confident in their skillset and ready for a challenge!!