By Debra Wood, RN, contributor
About four years ago, critical care nurse Linda Steinhilber, RN, decided to seek some adventure and fulfill her dream to see more of the country by becoming a travel nurse.
“I love picking up and leaving every so many months, seeing something new and trying different areas to live in,” she said. “It’s fun.”
A young nurse who worked with Steinhilber introduced her to the benefits of travel nursing, but with children in high school, Steinhilber could not just take off. However as soon as her last child started college, Steinhilber quit her management job and signed on as a traveler.
After living in the same small Indiana town for more than 40 years, the thought of leaving behind her family and friends brought some short-lived trepidation.
“I was terrified,” Steinhilber said. “I had never been so scared in my life to leave home.”
Once Steinhilber set off, she enjoyed meeting new people and exploring new places. She even convinced her sister to become a traveler. The two completed an assignment at the same hospital in New Mexico and managed to explore most of that state while they were there.
Steinhilber works for travel staffing agency, NursesRx, and has accepted assignments in Arizona, Texas, North Carolina and Florida, where she may want to eventually settle down.
“I find enjoyable things to do in every place I have been,” Steinhilber said.
Steinhilber travels with her significant other, who also had tired of Indiana. An electrician, he has found jobs wherever she has accepted an assignment. He also enjoys the nomadic lifestyle and found work with a company that sends him out of town on assignment. Now, he picks the spots and Steinhilber follows.
“Most of the secret to traveling is finding a good recruiter willing to work with you, who knows you and what you are trying to do,” Steinhilber said. “My recruiter is very honest and a straight shooter.”
Within a few weeks of beginning a new assignment, Steinhilber starts looking ahead to her next gig. She checks out apartment complexes and a little about the community. Once, while traveling with a different company, she pulled up to the rundown apartment building and refused to live there. The company put her up at a hotel.
Steinhilber does not worry much about the hospitals where she is assigned to work. She always receives at least some orientation and finds facilities very similar.
“Most places are very welcoming,” said Steinhilber, who keeps in touch with friends met during earlier assignments. “One of the big impressions left on me is that things are always the same. While different, they are the same.”
On her days off, Steinhilber goes to the beach, the gym or for walks. She always buys a travel guide and uses it to plan road trips in the region. Family members often come to visit, and she will sometimes take some time off between assignments to visit loved ones.
Even though she came from a small town, everywhere she travels, Steinhilber meets former teachers or parents of people she went to school with.
“It may be a very large country,” she said, “but you always run into somebody you know.”
Steinhilber recommends traveling to other nurses—experienced empty nesters, such as her self, and nurses new to the profession.
“Any young nurses I run into who are single, I tell them you are a fool if you don’t do this,” she said. “It’s the greatest experience, and you have nothing to lose.”
Now and then, Steinhilber thinks about settling down and buying another home, but she still has a list of about 1,000 places where she would still like to travel.
“I think it’s the greatest thing in the world,” Steinhilber said. “This is a great way to avoid burnout. Nurses would appreciate and enjoy their jobs much more if they could go to places that are interesting and offer something beyond work.”
© 2007. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.