Antsy nurse

OB/GYN NP · Mar 6, 2005

Hi "antsy"! First of all, let me say how sorry I am that you were assaulted. :crying2: I feel for you. It changes your perspective on things, doesn't it?

I see your dilemma, wanting to go, but unsure if you've had enough time in nursing, and what you should do if you do decide to go. It sounds like travel nursing really would help you to see the world, and maybe help to "scratch your itch" for travel. The thing I might caution you about, though, is that by learning new specialties with a travel agency, if you don't have a lot of experience, or if you're looking to be trained in a new specialty on the job, you may not have as much choice about where you go, as far as locations for assignments. And the pay will probably be lower as well, with fewer years of experience, or NO experience if you want to take a "orienting" assignment. My other concern would be that it is in the best interest of the travel agency to get you working ASAP.....so does that mean a short orientation to a new specialty, leaving you with less-than-adequate training in that new specialty? I don't know that they would do that, but thought I would offer it as a consideration. You might want to consider simply starting out in med-surg for a while, doing what you know, and what you have experience in, just to start traveling, and get out of the unsafe place where you are. Then later, after you have more experience, you might have better luck getting assignments in areas that "stretch" your skills a bit. I'm not saying by any means that you may not be smart enough to handle the training in a new specialty, just that it might be better for your career and your sanity to take one step at a time. :) I haven't begun to travel yet, but many nurses who are experienced in this tell me that it does take a while to get used to the whole traveling experience, and you don't want to have the added stress of being unsure of yourself at work, in addition to a new town, new living quarters, no friends close by, etc. I would be afraid that you might set yourself up for failure by taking on travel nursing AND a new specialty, right out of the gate. Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best, and hope all goes well in your travels!

Hey all,
I'm a 26 y/o nurse in WA state. I've been a nurse since summer '03. I first worked at the renowned UW for nine months on heavy med/surg. I moved to central WA and have currently worked here for almost five months.
I want to move out of here sometime soon as it's a very unsafe area and I was assaulted which shook me up quite a bit.
I love traveling, speak Spanish, and I love people. I seek to explore the world and expand my worldview because whenever I've gone to other places (except this *$hole), I've grown personally.
So while I don't have that much experience, I am itching to travel nurse. I don't want to move to another place, work for a hospital when I know I long to jump here and there.
I also want to become proficient in as many specialties as possible. Should I try traveling at this point? Should I try intelistaff or some place that trains people in new specialties?
I cannot imagine staying at my current job for five months just to get a year experience in telemetry. I'm intelligent and quick to learn, but I know experience does count for something in this field. How can I make my desire to hop around work for me?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

zacarias, ASN, RN · Mar 7, 2005

OB/GYN,

Thanks for the very helpful post. You're very empathetic and know exactly what I'm going through.

I think that when I start to travel I should take like a med/surg assignment with cardiology flow so I could take tele patients. Or I could take a tele assignment.

I probably will stay at this current job as long as possible even though I do want to leave this area.

Thanks again!