Perceptions of a Travel Nurse’s Spouse
November 14, 2011 - As I read through the hundreds of questions that are posted on to this webpage, I have started to see a trend of questions that ask about traveling with a spouse and children. I thought I would take this opportunity to allow my wife to talk about her experiences as the spouse of a travel nurse. We traveled together for about four years and it was one the best things (up until our kids, of course) that happened to our marriage. We had a blast exploring the country together; we’ve made lifelong friends and become a better couple because of the time we had together.
So without further ado, I would like to allow my wife, Christina, to talk about the good and the bad of being the spouse of a travel nurse:
Travel nursing is by the far the greatest thing that ever happened to my husband’s and my relationship. We were young and just starting out, and while we were very afraid of taking the leap to leave our family and friends behind to venture out on our own, we decided it was an opportunity we had to take advantage of and try… and because of that leap we grew together stronger than I could ever have imagined and made the greatest memories we could have ever hoped for at just 30 years of age.
Traveling as a spouse can be difficult at first, but if you go into it knowing what to expect, I believe it will be a smoother transition than you think; you really just have to look at it as an adventure that has all kinds of excitement waiting just around the bend.
One of the most difficult things for me was to adjust to not being able to find a job. I expected it to be a lot easier, but traveling with one car and Aaron working nights, it was harder than I realized. I wasn’t able to find a job the first two assignments we took and to be honest I felt pretty worthless. Now had I known then what I know now, I would have said to my 6-year-younger self, “Take advantage of this time! You only get this kind of opportunity once in a while and there’s a reason for everything!”
Now let’s fast forward to today… I am the mom of quadruplets, and let’s just say I don’t sit down from 7 am-10 pm. I now realize that a little lounge by the pool never hurt anyone. I was pretty frustrated by the time we reached our third assignment, but sure enough I found a job that I absolutely loved and I learned so much about something I knew nothing about. It was an awesome experience for me and I met some really great people. I would never have had an opportunity like that without travel nursing.
Being from the Midwest and never having traveled as far as Colorado, I was able to see a whole new world that I didn’t even know existed. I found new hobbies I never fathomed I would enjoy, and grew so much by being given the opportunity to experience the West Coast, the South, and the East Coast. Every city offered something new and exciting, and in every place I made lasting friendships I will cherish for a lifetime.
In closing, I looked over the paragraphs above and noticed that the main theme was “opportunity.” This is exactly what I wanted to say when I helped my husband with this article. Traveling with your spouse or loved one is one amazing opportunity, and let me just point out that while I wrote this I used the words “our assignments” and the assignments “we took.”
Aaron has made it a point more than a few times to let me know he wouldn’t have been able to do travel nursing alone. It’s not for everyone and it really does take a certain type of person or couple to be able to take that leap, but together we wrote a fabulous book with many exciting chapters that we will forever hold dear and be able to share with generations to come, and for that I will ALWAYS be extremely grateful.
© 2011. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
