David Morrison
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I received an interesting e-mail about six months back from a staff nurse working in a large hospital in the Midwest; let's
call her Jane. Jane's facility started using travel nurses about six months ago, and after some interaction with various travelers,
she had one simple question: "Why would anyone want to be a travel nurse?"
Heard it through the grapevine
Initially, I just dismissed her. To each their own, I thought. But as I read her e-mail further, I began to see the things
that had worked to shape Jane's opinion of the profession.
Photo: Gettiy Images/Blend Images/Stewart Cohen/Pam Ostrow
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Her "interactions" with the travelers turned out to be nothing more than little pieces of information she had overheard. To
Jane, a travel nurse was someone who had to go to the trouble of finding a new job every 13 weeks, complete mounds of paperwork
to become licensed in different states, pack up all their belongings and move to a new city, and then work for three months—only
to have to start all over and do it again. If this was actually my experience with travel nursing, I'm not sure I'd want to
do it either.
Even before I asked her, I knew Jane had never actually sat down and had an in-depth conversation about traveling with any
of the nurses she encountered. When she wrote back and confirmed my suspicions, I requested she do me one single favor: Approach
the travelers she encountered and ask them to tell her one good thing about the profession and one bad thing. She wasn't sure
what difference that would make, but she assured me she would do as I had asked.
Jane says ...
A few months went by, and I had forgotten about Jane until one day last month, when I received a lengthy e-mail from her.
Not only had her entire perception of the profession changed, but she actually wanted to find out more information about how
to become a travel nurse herself.
I'd like to say that I was shocked and amazed at the turnaround but, honestly, I really wasn't. In my experience, very few
people who are well-informed about travel nursing don't want to try it at least once.
The first nurse with whom Jane spoke had been traveling for about six years. Confirming what Jane had overheard, the traveler
told her that packing up and moving around could be quite a pain.
The traveler, however, quickly informed Jane that many assignments could be extended, and she often stayed in places for six
to nine months at a time. The traveler then proceeded to tell Jane the good thing about travel nursing—but she didn't stop
at just one.
Jane reported that they talked most of their shift, and she couldn't believe all the places that the traveler had been (it
didn't hurt that this particular nurse had completed an assignment in Hawaii).
Jane went on to tell me about the conversations with other travelers she approached. In each instance, the travelers could
relate something that they didn't like about being a travel nurse, but Jane was amazed that each traveler instantly followed
it up with about 20 things they loved about the profession. None of the conversations portrayed travel nursing as anything
but an adventure. Although still a bit hesitant, Jane really wanted more information to see if she might consider a travel
assignment.
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