Young NICU Nurse Takes Traveling Over Medical School
By Julie Benn, contributor
Registered nurse Ayanna Richardson, 24, already has four years and five cities’ worth of experience under her belt—not bad for someone who “woke up one day and decided to be a nurse.”
Richardson was on her way to medical school before her epiphany occurred and she realized that eight years, or more, of school and $500,000 in student loans just didn’t look as appealing as she once had thought.
With mom as a NICU nurse, she decided that particular profession, and that particular department, was calling her towards the future, so she heeded that call. An “A” student through high school and nursing school, Richardson was out working as a nurse before she turned 21.
While she was in school, a traveler came in and talked about the benefits of travel nursing. Once Richardson heard about traveling, she was hooked. It became her focus and her plan once she had some experience as a staff nurse. She got that experience at UC San Francisco.
With that experience came a situation in her young career that she won’t soon forget.
While a lot of cases are difficult because the infants are so sick, one such baby was so ill that she kept bursting out of stitches she had in her abdomen. The parents were Hispanic and didn’t speak English, while Richardson knew just a little Spanish. During the weeks and months that passed, the mother taught her how to communicate in Spanish while Ayanna taught the mother words in English. To maintain consistency, Richardson was one of their primary nurses during the time the baby was in the hospital.
After six months of struggling, the baby eventually died. At this time the family called in both Richardson and the primary day nurse.
“When we walked into the room, the mother yelled out, ‘Thank God you’re here,'” recalled Ayanna. “It felt so wonderful. I know that seems odd to say because we couldn’t save the baby, but I got so close to the family and we really formed a relationship.”
She said that she did question whether or not she could deal with the heartbreak of losing young patients.
“When I think about how many babies live and do go home with their families compared to those who don’t make it, the ones that live do outnumber those who don’t in most cases. We don’t have babies dying every single day. The babies are tough, some of them are real fighters and it’s amazing what they can go through.”
Richardson has done most of her traveling on the eastern side of the nation, in Philadelphia, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She is from the West Coast in San Francisco, but her relationship with her boyfriend eventually led her to the east. They met when he lived in Lake Tahoe and she lived in San Francisco. They actually initially got together after finding each other on the Internet.
Richardson decided to travel with leading travel staffing company American Mobile Healthcare and take on assignments on the eastern seaboard. She has taken four assignments in one year and three months time.
“In regard to traveling, your recruiter is what makes the difference,” she said. “Mine has been absolutely wonderful and helped me every step of the way.” Because she stays in her own home, Ayanna is able to take the housing subsidy AMH offers—another perk of being a traveler. That and the fact that she doesn’t have to attend staff meetings have made her traveling life even more appealing.
The schedule of 12-hour shifts over three days gives Ayanna plenty of time to do the things she loves, including snowboarding with her boyfriend.
Her schedule also allows her plenty of time to spend with her four-month-old puppy—a Westie named Bailey. “I can’t complain,” said Ayanna. “Life is good, I love what I’m doing.”
Needless to say, her mom, the NICU nurse, is very proud of her. And, with Richardson’s sister soon graduating from nursing school herself, it’s becoming a profession that’s all in the family.
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