Thought I'd share a story. My fingers tend to be verbose early in the morning as the coffee is kicking in and everyone else in the house is asleep.
In late 2019 I quit my L&D/OB director job and decided to do interim leadership work. It's a sweet gig if you thrive on instability (turns out, I do - thanks, mom and dad) - it's like travel nursing, but in addition to housing, they also pay for a car rental, and travel back home every other weekend, and salary itself is generally around $160,000-180,000/year (although most gigs only last 3-6 months). So I started collecting nursing licenses (in addition to the compact license I held in MT, I renewed my lapsed OR license, then also started the process to get CA and WA). Took a leap of faith and put in notice at my job, without yet having something lined up, which was scary as *** (once a gig is secured, they generally want you there within a week or two, so I couldn't really wait to give notice).
Of course, California licensure took FOREVER to go through. Got my first assignment (Modesto, CA) at the end of January 2020, and off I went. The plan was to do this for a year or two while husband held down the fort at home with our middle-school aged son, we'd save up enough money, and retire early to Central or South America.
Then Covid hit. And both of my elderly parents, who live back home in Minneapolis (where I was born and raised but moved away 17 years ago) were diagnosed with serious illnesses (my mother with Parkinson's, and my dad with neuroendocrine cancer with mets to the liver). And my marriage started falling apart due to husband's AUD, and our son, then just turned 12, was in an unsafe situation where he was trying to be responsible for his father while his mother was working across the country.
So after 6 months of doing interim leadership work (one assignment, renewed once, offered a permanent position and/or second renewal because I am just that awesome at my job ;)), I made the decision to hang up my travel nurse shoes and take a permanent position back home in Minneapolis where my son could have some stability, and I could spend more time with my parents.
Wanting to help with the Covid efforts, I took a position in ambulatory primary care leadership, which then transitioned to leadership in outpatient infectious disease. And so I've been for the last 3 1/2 years. Moved back to Minneapolis right in the middle of all the "civil unrest" which is what the people in the local community here call the post-George Floyd murder rioting, where much of South Minneapolis was burned to the ground. Of course, I secured my apartment in Uptown Minneapolis 2 weeks before George Floyd was murdered, not knowing that that would be Ground Zero for the rioting and looting, so that was interesting coming home to that.
Divorced my husband, met a woman, got married, bought a house 2 blocks from George Floyd Square, and continued in my boring stable job that wasn't women's health/OB/L&D, and continued to dream about retiring early to Central/South America (of course, now I have the added complication of finding a country that doesn't put our lives at risk as a gay couple - Panama was originally on the short list but is now off the table). Both of my parents have passed away (my mom in February of this year, and my dad in August - 2023 has really sucked balls when it comes to middle age life transitions).
My lovely wife knows about my itch for job instability and is 150% supportive of whatever I choose to do professionally, and is willing to follow me wherever, or hold down the fort at home. So I have decided that what I really want to do is go back into interim leadership work in OB/L&D. One 3-month gig a year will pay for our living expenses in South America for an entire year. Plus, Colombia (that is where we have settled on) is not too far to travel back once or twice a month to visit while I'm on assignment. Except I have been out of inpatient OB/L&D for 3 1/2 years now, and my OB skills are stale. So, after consulting with a few trusted LinkedIn friends who work for large healthcare leadership recruiting firms, I made the decision to temporarily leave leadership and I took a position as an L&D nurse, which I start in January. I will do this for a year or so, then make the transition back into interim OB leadership.
And in 2-3 years, we are going to pack up and move to Cartagena, Colombia. The political and social climate in the US is such that we are no longer feeling very safe as a gay couple (even in So-Blue-It's-Indigo Minnesota), I hate how gun-worshipping America is, and the state of healthcare here in the US is just so disheartening. And I really really fear for what will happen in the election next year. It's time to make a change.
So that's everything you never wanted to know about my life.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot the purpose of this post in the first place! It was to tell you all that I went to renew my California license, that took SO long to get in the first place, and I realized it had lapsed a year ago. ***. This is going to take an act of congress to get reinstated. So I filled out the form online, paid $280 (W T F !!), and requested a fingerprint card to get fingerprinted AGAIN. And I got an email the very next day that my California license has been renewed! ONE DAY. Go, CA BON!!
Edited to add: just realized that next year will mark my 20-year anniversary as an Allnurses.com member. Can I be called a COB yet?
I cut my aggressive gay minority teeth on the feminist self-help movement. It taught me that there is truth in personal experience, even when it doesn't conform to the pronouncements of conventional thinkers. You worked hard for a long time for the life you describe. like said, enjoy yourself!
My escape country is New Zealand. ? Or Spain, I can actually become a citizen due to my heritage - I just have to learn Spanish. Haha. We somehow keep ending up in states so red they are maroon! The next move in 2025 will be our choice instead of directed by the physician match process. ?
heron, ASN, RN
4,662 Posts
I cut my aggressive gay minority teeth on the feminist self-help movement. It taught me that there is truth in personal experience, even when it doesn't conform to the pronouncements of conventional thinkers. You worked hard for a long time for the life you describe. like said, enjoy yourself!