Being a travel nurse is full of adventure, excitement, and fun. You can choose your nursing assignments and work all over the country, filling in for other nurses and helping with nursing shortages in area healthcare facilities. It’s a rewarding career where you can make meaningful impacts in other people’s lives. That being said, travel nursing is not for everyone. It can feel like you’re living out of a suitcase, and just when you begin to feel at home, you are off to another destination.
Abbella Medical Staffing is a Baltimore-based medical staffing agency that places nurses in allied health positions around the nation. From nursing and radiology to speech language therapy and more, we offer a wide variety of short-term positions to suit your needs. Our mission is to ensure your nursing job is easy and simple. Below, we’ll take a look at whether a travel nursing position is right for you. Contact our healthcare staffing agency to learn more about a travel nurse career today!
IS TRAVEL NURSING RIGHT FOR YOU?
Consider the Stress
Travel nursing can be demanding and stressful. After all, you’ll be entering a new healthcare facility every few months, getting acclimated to their procedures and personnel, and learning about their patients. And just when you begin to feel settled, it will be time to move on again. In essence, you will never really establish a life routine. Some people thrive on the change; others can deteriorate. If you have any past life experiences, such as extensive periods of travel, you can draw upon that experience to see if you can handle the stress. If not, ask yourself some questions about if you are prepared for such changes and how you handle change in your life right now.
Consider Your Life Situation
Life and your circumstances change constantly, which means sometimes you have to give up things in your life to make accommodations. For example, if you have young children, it may be hard for you to be away from them for weeks at a time. This same advice can be said for if you have fur babies, which most travel nursing jobs won’t accommodate. If you own a home, this may be hard as well since most likely you may need a caretaker to watch over it and mow your lawn. When considering a travel nurse career, consider your commitment to others before you consider traveling.
Consider Your Ability to Learn
A day in the life of a travel nurse is very different from other nurses. First, you probably got little notice about the job you are heading to. In fact, you may need to pack up and fly out the very next day. Ask yourself how long it takes you to acclimate and get your surroundings. Can you learn on the go? Can you be happy with sudden, unexpected changes in assignments and hours? Can you still maintain a positive attitude and work well with others in the midst of change? Being able to learn quickly is key to being a travel nurse, so consider if you love learning.
Consider Your Social Tendencies
Intuitively, it will be hard to make friends as a traveling nurse for such a short amount of time, even with social media outlets. You’ll meet work co-workers, but they may be hesitant since they know you will be leaving soon to invest a lot of time in getting to know you. You can do fun activities on the weekends or on your days off that will allow you to meet others. However, relationships take time to forge, which you as a travel nurse will not have. Odds are, you won’t have much of an active social life at these destinations, which is an important consideration for many.
CHOOSE ABBELLA MEDICAL STAFFING AS YOUR MEDICAL STAFFING AGENCY
Abbella Medical Staffing offers many opportunities for travel nurses. We have connections with area healthcare facilities in Maryland, as well as around the country. We offer competitive benefits and handle a lot of the back office work for you. We work with you on where you would like to be placed and on what assignments. Our application process is simple and fast. If you are interested in our medical staffing agency, fill out our application today!
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