Travel Nursing Offers the Ideal Work-Life Balance
By Melissa Wirkus, staff writer
Every nurse who has ever been on staff at a hospital or medical facility knows how stressful and grueling their job can be at times and how easy it is to get burned out.
Travel nursing offers RNs the chance to escape from their day-to-day routine and to explore new opportunities in any location across the country. In addition to engaging in new workplace experiences, travel nurses also have the opportunity to enjoy a new lifestyle and to dive into new activities and adventures.
For a nurse who is looking for a change, travel nursing offers the ideal work-life balance to get back on track, to learn new skills and to meet new friends and colleagues.
Earl Otte, senior recruiter with American Mobile Healthcare said his travelers love the flexible schedule that traveling provides. Nurses looking to earn as much money as possible during an assignment can volunteer for extra shifts and take assignments with the highest pay rates, he said.
For others, working just three days a week provides the ideal work-life balance where they have time off to enjoy and explore the new city they are in.
“When my travel nurses get several days off in a row, many will pack their car and go off on a mini vacation. Plus the trip there and back is often incorporated into the adventure and many will stop along the way to see points of interest,” Otte said.
“What other career do you know that allows you to see this great country with all its beauty and diversity while still expanding your résumé and earning good money? Plus, you get great benefits too.
Bonnie King, RN, started traveling four years ago with American Mobile Healthcare as a way to explore the country and escape the hospital and management politics at her permanent position. Traveling has allowed King to take control of her life and to experience the best of both a thriving career, and ample personal time to spend with the people she loves.
“I was in nursing management before I started traveling,” King said. “I have been able to escape the politics and just get my job done.”
Currently on assignment in Chandler, Arizona, travel nursing has provided King with the opportunity to travel all over the United States. She has been to Florida, Oregon, Delaware, Arizona, California, Montana, Washington and Maryland.
“I get to see something new and experience new places and destinations all the time,” King said. “My husband travels with me and we’ve met so many other couples while traveling. My e-mail is jam-packed with people I’ve met while on assignment.”
King’s wide variety of assignments has also given her the opportunity to learn new skills in addition to touring the country and meeting new friends.
“I learn something new in the different hospitals I work at,” she said. “And I always leave something of myself—a piece of knowledge or a skill or technique. I love to share my knowledge.”
The flexible schedule that comes with being a travel nurse has also allowed King more free time to spend with her husband and grandchildren. “We always bring our grandchildren out to wherever we are during the summer,” she said. “They get to experience all sorts of interesting places and see parts of the country they would have never been able to see if I wasn’t a travel nurse.”