Does the travel aspect of nursing make up for the jobs cons?

Published

I'm thinking about becoming a nurse mainly because I absolutely love travel. That's all I really want to do in life. Like the only thing in fact. But here's a few of my concerns:

-I did some CNA type work and HATED turning clients and transferring them to wheelchairs, in fact it caused me a lower back injury. And I'm concerned my back won't get better/nursing will make it worse.

-I always imagine nursing being like my crappy first job at a fast-food restaurant. It was fast-paced, I hated tending to all the customers and their whiny, overly-specific needs, and I had bum coworkers who made me pick up their slack.

-I (mostly) hate dealing with people. I hated the customers at my fast food restaurant, but loved working with the clients at my CNA type job. (The clients were DD and I always came home with some crazy/funny stories.)

Another pro to nursing I guess would be that I'm intrigued by blood, guts, and gore and the functions of the human body.

Can my love for travel surpass my crappy back and hatred for people and fast-paced environments?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.

Absolutely not. Find a new career or a sugar ma/pa to tend your traveling needs.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Nurses only have a quarter of the back injuries of nursing assistants, but it is still way up there in any list of occupations. That should certainly give you some pause before diving into nursing even if you can somehow get over your other deal breaking issues like people problems and fast paced environments. Nurse are very expensive and hospitals require productivity. This goes triple for the even more expensive travel nurses. It doesn't sound like a good fit for you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Nurses only have a quarter of the back injuries of nursing assistants, but it is still way up there in any list of occupations. That should certainly give you some pause before diving into nursing even if you can somehow get over your other deal breaking issues like people problems and fast paced environments. Nurse are very expensive and hospitals require productivity. This goes triple for the even more expensive travel nurses. It doesn't sound like a good fit for you.

In addition, you would have to get a couple years or so of nursing experience in one place before you would be a attractive candidate for travel nursing positions.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I don't know...can it? That's really more of a personal/individual question that cannot be answered by the group.

Personally, I work night shift because I have less people/family interaction and more time to do things like research and write or just sit and be with myself. And nursing in and of itself is so vast that you don't HAVE to work in a fast paced environment. You can work outpatient or dialysis nursing. So there's other avenues for you to take. Not everyone loves travel and some of the places people rave about I've hated. So that's up to you to decide.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Flight attendants travel and make good money too.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric Heme/Onc/BMT.

I mean, from your own self-assessment, I wouldn't want you as my nurse. And I wouldn't let you near my parents or children.

Nursing is too hard and complicated a job to do "for the money" or "for the travel" or "for" anything besides the fact that you want to be a nurse.

Maybe you should go into medical sales.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Flight attendants travel and make good money too.

Somehow, I'm guessing that is not a good fit either:

I hated tending to all the customers and their whiny, overly-specific needs...

-I (mostly) hate dealing with people.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Nursing is too hard and complicated a job to do "for the money" or "for the travel" or "for" anything besides the fact that you want to be a nurse.
I see a lot of nurses complain about the fact that nursing isn't what they thought it was. That hospitals are all about making money and not about the care and compassion of the patient. So I'm not sure why that matters.
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric Heme/Onc/BMT.

People come to the hospital because they need help. They're sick, scared and hurting. Their families are emotional. They need stuff and sometimes they need it fast. They complain about things that may seem piddly, like the lack of HBO or salad dressing selection on the menu. Your job is to take care of them and support them and their families though a stressful time. From your self-description this doesn't sound like a good fit. And as well as nurses get paid, I honestly do not think it's worth the money unless you also really enjoy the work.

The nurses I know who are unhappy in the profession tend to be burned out and experiencing compassion-fatigue. This can be accelerated in traveling because you're generally working in hospitals that are understaffed anyway.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU/PACU.

Find another line of work and watch what you say on a forum full of nurses. We are a professional organization and can't really be compared to a fast food worker.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was only drawing similarities between the two, which can be done with nearly any two things. I wasn't trying to offend nurses or disrespect the profession.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion