Travel Nurses Making the Most of Work and Personal Time
By Melissa Hagstrom, contributor
Achieving the right balance between your work and personal life offers tremendous health benefits--both physically and emotionally--and traveling is a great way to help you do that. In fact, few careers offer the flexibility that travel nursing affords. As seasoned travelers have discovered, finding ways to enjoy your free time, try new things and escape from workplace stress is easy, especially in the summer.
Travelnursing.com recently spoke to two experienced travel nurses to find out how they are making the most of their personal and work time during this season.
With almost 22 years of nursing experience, Sandi Philson, RN, worked in travel nursing years ago, went back to staff nursing and recently decided to hit the road again in order to spend time with friends and family in Kansas City, Mo. She’s also gaining some new experience in her perioperative/OR nursing specialty.
“I have some family down here; cousins who are my age and some aunts and uncles, and we’ve been having a really fun summer,” Philson said. “It's nice getting to hang out more than just on the holidays. It’s been one of the best summers ever.”
Philson and her clan have attended professional sporting events, visited some great local eateries (Kansas City BBQ was a favorite), had a hog roast and spent more than enough time at the pool. “I’ve seen a lot in the city and have had a really good time in the short time I have been here. Traveling gives you a really open social life if you take advantage of it.”
“I’m also on a golf league now with one of my colleagues from the hospital,” she said. “And there is another colleague who is part of a men’s choir and we went to his concert last week. It has been really interesting meeting new people.”
But it’s not just about the fun side of traveling for Philson. Even with her deep experience, her first assignment with American Mobile, an AMN Healthcare company, has allowed her to gain new clinical expertise, as well.
“I’m working in CVOR at a children’s hospital in Kansas City, and I’ve never done children’s’ hearts before,” she said. “It’s made me so diverse, and I can walk into pretty much any OR and feel comfortable. Back in March I did my first medical mission trip in Haiti, and if it weren’t for my experience as a travel nurse I don’t think it would have gone as well as it did.”
Melissa Powers, RN, has been traveling with American Mobile for almost a year, and was motivated to become a travel psychiatry nurse because of the flexibility and adventure it provides. “I figured travel nursing was a way for me to get out, see new places, and do some work for three months while getting paid to see the world wherever you are.”
The past year has been busy for Powers, with back-to-back assignments to Baltimore, Md., Temple, Texas, and Santa Fe, N.M. She just wrapped up her assignment in Santa Fe and is taking a break to take care of some family issues before starting up on her next contract.
“That’s another great thing about travel nursing,” Powers explained. “If you save up enough money during your assignments, you can take two or three weeks off in between and do what you need to do and then start back to work. That’s not something you can do on a permanent job. You get the flexibility of being able to take as much time off as you can afford.”
Powers recently obtained her California nursing license and plans to travel to the Golden State after her break. From there, she has her sights set on Hawaii and Alaska.
“I call it the gypsy lifestyle. It’s just that freedom of getting in your car, making the road trip and getting to go to all of the cheesy roadside attractions along the way,” Powers said of her travel nursing adventures.
Looking back on her travels this year, Powers said that her time in Santa Fe was her favorite because it provided an ideal mix of professional and personal benefits.
“Santa Fe was probably the best assignment I had, not only because of the things you can do there, but because of the hospital itself. It was a great assignment,” she said. “Between the culture, outdoor activities, eclectic art and food scene, there is constantly something going on. It’s not party town, it’s fiesta town.”
Regardless of the assignment location, both Powers and Philson agreed that working as a travel nurse helps them make the most of their personal and professional time.
“Travel nursing really makes you a stronger team member,” Powers said. “You don’t have to get involved in any hospital or personal politics. You don’t have to be stressed out about staffing patterns. It’s a lot less stress when you know you are just there to help and be a nurse.”
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