5 Truths I Learned from Travel Nursing
By Aaron Moore, MSN, RN-BC, travel nurse expert
I’m a farm boy from a town of less than 1,000 people on the west side of Iowa. I’m proud of where I grew up and the way I was raised. Traditionally people from the Midwest are thought to be honest, hardworking, family-oriented and "corn fed"--we enjoy the simple life. Or at least that’s the way people referred to me on my travel assignments.
I don’t mind that description, but, at the same time, I’ve learned that our country is vast and we all make assumptions about people from other parts of the country. I’m more than my roots--especially after working as a travel RN. Travel nursing opened my eyes and changed my perspectives about life and the people you meet around our great country.
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Here are five perspectives on life, or truths, that I learned through travel nursing:
1. Keep life simple. I can name many reasons why I live by this mantra now, but travel nursing taught me I had to in order to survive and thrive. Don’t freak out about the little things, don’t worry about mean people, and most of all just smile and keep moving. Everything will be OK, and the simpler you keep your life, the easier it is to find happiness. Nursing is inherently stressful--and travel nurse jobs mean more changes--so keeping your life, belongings and hobbies simple will help you avoid distractions, find new opportunities and enjoy greater peace.
2. Always, always, always try new things. Man, if I had a nickel for every time someone on my assignments said to me, “You have to try this, eat there, or go here,” I would be a rich man. Well, honestly, I did try it all while traveling and I became richer for the experiences. I took people’s advice and ran with it! To add my own advice: try everything twice, take a friend to share the experience with and take a lot of pictures!
3. Immersion is key to understanding. I’ve always found that you can’t really get to know a place in a week or two while on vacation. On vacation you see the touristy things and interact with other tourists. When you’re a travel nurse, you have three amazing months to explore your new world and see all the local stuff. You get to know the people that live there and can go where the locals go. Working as a travel RN is about the closest you can get to really living somewhere without becoming a permanent resident.
4. Patients are created equal. One of the biggest realizations I had as a travel nurse was the similarity between patients and the problems they present with--regardless of the location. Back pain in Omaha, Neb., is back pain in Portland, Ore. Now, there may be some differences in medicine and physician preference on how to treat it, but all the hospitals, physicians and nurses I worked with adhered to the standards and supported high quality patient care.
5. We can all find common ground. This is perhaps the most important thing I learned. No matter the place, the person, the age, we all can find something in common. Now, what you and I have in common is not the same thing I might have in common with another person. But this to me is amazing. I can’t tell you how many times I would get talking to a patient, patient’s family member or new co-worker and discover we both knew the same person, place or thing. It truly is a small world that we live in. Just be open and honest and life will take you to amazing places where you can meet amazing people.
Travel nursing was life-changing for me. It fine-tuned my nursing skills, introduced me to new places and cultures, and made me a well-rounded person in general. It created new hobbies, and focused my old ones. It strengthened my marriage and increased my adaptability by leaps and bounds. Travel nursing was key to making me who I am today--and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
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