Can me and my Boyfriend BOTH travel as nurses and have a small child?

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Oct 13, 2006

The problem is this: most agencies want SOME experience under your belt before traveling as the places you travel to will have a vested interest in you being an 'up and running' nurse and not someone trying to learn the ropes. Those hospitals that hire travelers are NOT going to pay money for the primary training of a nurse that they know up front aren't going to be around. That's a serious investment and not an acceptable investment for a 'temp' nurse.

Two plus years of school (it's possible, and even likely, that it will take even longer to get accepted into school so maybe 3 yrs or more before you both graduate) PLUS a year or so of experience PLUS the age of your child NOW, and you are talking about a child almost ready to start school. At THAT point, it doesn't become a 'day care' issue, but a schooling issue.

It won't be fair to your child to move them to a different school every few months. While you COULD homeschool, there goes the idea of not working different or at least, opposite, shifts.

I see nothing inherently wrong with traveling w/ a small child. You can find day care facilities anywhere. Traveling with a school aged child? That's a different story. . .

~faith,

Timothy.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2006

I agree.. Good post

The problem is this: most agencies want SOME experience under your belt before traveling as the places you travel to will have a vested interest in you being an 'up and running' nurse and not someone trying to learn the ropes. Those hospitals that hire travelers are NOT going to pay money for the primary training of a nurse that they know up front aren't going to be around. That's a serious investment and not an acceptable investment for a 'temp' nurse.
Two plus years of school (it's possible, and even likely, that it will take even longer to get accepted into school so maybe 3 yrs or more before you both graduate) PLUS a year or so of experience PLUS the age of your child NOW, and you are talking about a child almost ready to start school. At THAT point, it doesn't become a 'day care' issue, but a schooling issue.
It won't be fair to your child to move them to a different school every few months. While you COULD homeschool, there goes the idea of not working different or at least, opposite, shifts.
I see nothing inherently wrong with traveling w/ a small child. You can find day care facilities anywhere. Traveling with a school aged child? That's a different story. . .
~faith,
Timothy.

stacysmom02 · Oct 19, 2006

Hello All ,
My boyfriend and I are currently pre-nursing students and applying for an RN program ADN this february. Is it possible for us to both travel together as nurses and work the day shift so we can see each other?
We are both thinking of children in the future. (When we get out of nursing school, we're both 20) and was wondering how would we handle childcare while traveling. We dont really want to work opposite shifts.
Is travel nursing a liable option for us?

Hi, Yes you do need experiance as nurses before you go travel. It is true that hospitals expect you to "hit the ground running" with little to no orientation. With that being said my husband and I have been travel nurses for 3 years now and our daughter is now 4. We started when she was 1 1/2 years old. We worked opposite shifts him nights me days to try to alwayse be there for her. Yes you can find day care the trick is do you trust anyone with your child? I have found a great site it is Child Care Aware it helps you get in touch with state, county agencies that have certified child care. Turst me you want these people. The agencies make the care givers take child care classes including CPR for kids, they limit how many kids they can keep at a time, they do background checks on them, and they do spot checks without prior notice every 6 wks on them. Needless to say not just anyone is going to go through all this to do child care. The ones who do are well worth their weight in gold as far as I am concerned.

My advice to you is yes you can travel and have a child but do know no matter what shifts you and your boyfriend work there is going to be a time when both of you have to work and someone else has to watch the child. Trust me the hospital is only interested that you can work, not your child care issues. I have been told countless times it is not a problem to schedule around our daughters needs for one of us to be home only to show up and it not be a problem because it is mine and not thier problem to get child care. Know what they say is meaningless untill it is in writing! Put it in your contract! Don't sign if it is not! With that said, it is wonderful to be able to show my child the country and get paid to do so. I would not trade most of the experiances we have shared as a family. If you have further questions, you may e-mail me at [email protected].