"I would never tell a recruit what to do" says a nurse recruiter on the phone, "but I would strongly urge you to include getting a Texas and Florida nursing license if you want to keep working", she continues.
I hold the phone to my ear thinking I can't believe what I'm hearing. I have just obtained a Washington State and Hawaii license as well as the Missouri and California licenses I already have. Yet now I better prepare to include two more?
Mary and I are most interested in traveling in warm weather states, but doesn't that include most states in May, June and July? Why Florida in the summer? That exceeds my idea of warm and moves closer to the swealtry weather that will melt me like an ice cube on pavement.
Could nursing positions be opening up in Florida for the summer be because nobody really wants to live there that time of year? If so, why would I?
Such is the state of travel nursing these days. The ball has moved to the hospital's side of the court and nurses are left to being even more flexible, and willing to improve our skills. This is not to say that it is the hospitals fault, as they too are being crunched by insurance and government agencies as well as shrinking patient census and dwindling reimbursement.
Just the other day I was filling out an application and realized there were absolutely no department managers left in my recent work/travel assignments, and in the case of CEO's two have also been replace. The health care business is transforming and travel nurses will have to change with it.
A nurse educator recently asked me to tell other nurses what I am learning, that the job situation is getting tighter than it has been in the past few years, and bucking new charting and procedures with the idea that they can just move to another hospital isn't true anymore.
So what is a travel nurse like me to do?
A travel nurse is always thirteen weeks from the unemployment line.
As we become accustomed to the idea, we learn not to panic or despair. Our skills are still in demand and we have options. So we keep our filed licenses, and certifications up to date, we remain flexible, and consider alternatives as opportunities.
Considering that thirteen weeks is not far from being unemployed successful travel nurses never live paycheck to paycheck. They are good stewards of their wages and learn to build a safety net. In so doing they have patience to bide their time for the next assignment instead of making moves of regrettable desperation.
Travel nurses build and rely on relationships.
We are constantly building and relying on relationships, recruiters, neighbors, forums online, coworkers. Travelers are some of the most connected people in the healthcare system as we expand our personal network to help create new opportunities and garner more information sources.
An example for Mary and I was when we mentioned to some neighbors that we will have a week of no home before my assignment ends. They insisted that we stay in their vacation home on the beach. Well gosh, hate to turn that down.
Another couple may be stationed soon in Naples, that's Naples Italy. They made it very clear to Mary and I that we have an invite. What better a way to spend time looking for a next assignment sipping coffee in Naples?
No doubt about it, if you want to turn travel nursing from a job on the road to an exciting life style, be a constant bridge builder.
So what are Gary and Mary doing?
We are talking to recruiters, filling out apps and getting that Texas license. The weather in Southern California is turning nicer and we have had a stream of visitors passing through from our home state of Missouri, including my grandbaby and daughter.
My contract ends the first week of April, and I can honestly say I won't mind it if the next doesn't start until the first of May, giving Mary and I time to choose our best next opportunity.
