Travel Nursing for New(ish) nurse

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Hi There,

I graduated last Summer and started working in Nov of 2010. I moved from a major metropolitan area to a rural area that I previously lived because there were no jobs in the city. I thought I might be able to resettle in the area (beautiful place).

I had two months of training, and I've been on my own since January. I work nights. I'm doing pretty good on my own, haven't had too many problems (knock on wood, literally!). I can't say I feel super confident, but I feel as though I'm doing ok. I get freaked out sometimes, and definitely ask advice from the charge nurse a couple of times a night but in general I feel as though I carry my own.

I'm very pleased that I really like a lot of the people I work with at night, and we have some awesome CNAs which make things pretty easy.

I usually have 4-5 patients, occasionally have had 6. Sometimes it's easier with 5 than 3 because I find 3 makes me lazy.

Cutting to the chase:

Anyway. The job is going ok. I'm learning a lot, although not nearly as much as I was early on. I am not totally stimulated by med-surg, and feel bored a lot. More importantly, I'm extremely lonely as I'm single, living - literally - in the middle of nowhere and the area is mostly filled with retirees. So no dating prospects. And all my friends, basically everyone I love, and all the things I like to do, are in the city.

My goal is to get back the my city, and to, at least eventually, work in a good ED there.

I'm worried about getting further depressed where I am, and would really like to get out of there as soon as possible. It's been a really rough couple of months. I'm also worried that while I'm living out of state, it will be hard to find a job in the city. There are definitely a lot more jobs open now than when I was looking, and my friends who stayed all eventually found jobs (we have BSNs for the record).

I have been getting a lot of emails about travel nursing opportunities in the city. I am still a relatively green nurse, but I have been wondering about taking a travel nursing job in the city so that I would be here for 3 or 4 months and could apply here. In the meantime diversifying my experience.

I know that it would likely be stressful and hard, but I have to balance that against being away from my friends and really hating my life at the moment. At this point I feel like I'd rather be stressed out among my friends than sad and lonely away from them.

Any thoughts?

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To sum up: I have about 5 months independent on the floor of a rural hospital and I'm doing ok on nights. I want to move back to my home city as soon as possible, with the eventual goal of working in the ED here somewhere (many hospitals in the area).

Do you think travel nursing would be a way of working my way back into the market? I'm worried that applying from out of state is going to limit the attention my resume gets, and also I'm really, really sick of being lonely all the time, and would rather move sooner than later.

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Hi:

Well, you need a full year experience before you can travel, and many agencies won't consider you until a full 2 years, depends on the situation. Also, travel nursing can also be very lonely, strange town, people etc. You have time to think about it until you have more experience. I am a new traveler, and a new RN. Personally, I want to go back to working perm. The thing I like about traveling is you get to see where you DON'T want to work!

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Specializes in Paramedic,ER, House Supervisor, OR, CVOR.

To travel you need to have at least a year of current experience in the unit you want to work in. You also need to be able to walk into a hospital and in no more than 3 days be able to take a full patient assignment. Maybe you are just wanting to get back to the "city" and that is fine. You now are no longer a New Grad and maybe the hospitals that had no jubs for a new grad will have some openings for a nurse with some experience. Maybe you could check a few Emergency Departments in the "City" you want to live in and find that job you want. Get some experience and then if you want to travel you can. Good luck.

Rod

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Specializes in Med Surg.

Definitely need at least 1.5 years experience and thats cutting it close. Plus, the higher experience level you have (like ICU) the more marketable you are. I'd see be very persistant with your applications back in city hospitals (call, visit HR, ask around etc.) and apply to more than just the ER. Try some tele units or step down. That's your best bet. Good luck!

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I would wait until you feel more confident to do travel nursing. I'm about to start my first assignment and now after 3 years, I finally feel ready and confident in my skills/nursing foundation to leave where I've worked. I would recommend just switching jobs, b/c as someone has already said, you are not a new grad anymore. You do have some experience. So those hospitals in your hometown may have job openings for people with experience. (They don't have to spend as much money on your orientation now that you have experience.) So go back to your home, get your experience, learn and hone your skills, and then start your travel nursing career! That's just what I would do! Good luck! And always remember...THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS NO UNTIL YOU ASK. Same goes for trying. You have to try and put yourself out there in order to get what you want.

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