As a break from institutional politics?

[SnowShoeRN]

Hey everyone!

I've been thinking about travel nursing ever since I was nursing student years ago and am finally planning on starting my first travel nursing assignment this fall! I'm from a military family, very used to adapting to new places, LOVE traveling, situations that challenge my thinking and creativity, learning new things, meeting new people, and am pretty nervous but also super excited! (can you tell? lol)

I feel like I have as good an idea as I can (without actually having had my first assignment) of the pros and cons of travel nursing and am a little concerned re being sent to an "awful hospital" with bad ratios, equipment, staff, etc but for the most part feel like I'm educated enough to at least try to stay away from most of those types of situations.

One thing that I've heard travel nurses talk about and that I've seen discussed or written about in other posts, forums, or articles, is that travel nursing can be a good break for people who are frazzled or frustrated by the politics involved with being employed full-time at a hospital. I know every job comes with some politics, cliques, etc, but I was wondering if any of you could share your experiences with this?

Do you find it easier to go into a difficult situation knowing you only have 3 months there? On a whole, do you find it easier or harder to deal with colleagues or hospital administration? Do you feel excluded or ignored by managers or staff nurses who feel threatened or like your presence is only temporary or do you feel welcomed because you're there to help out?

For the most part, I like where I work right now and feel very supported by the educational staff and most of my colleagues, but when it comes to my career advancement I don't feel like my manager or some other key people are supportive of my future career goals. In short, I feel there is a definite air of favoritism and preference (for no real reason that I can see) surrounding some of my colleagues. Sometimes I do feel like the politics on hospital floors can mirror those of a junior high! Anyway, I was wondering about others' experiences with traveling. I'd love to hear what any of you have to say. Thanks!

[SnowShoeRN]

I'm trying to decide if I should just delete this post. Has anyone read it? Does anyone have any thoughts? I'll give it a month or two and then take it down if I don't hear anything. Thanks.