Travel Nursing in an RV

[mel.heisey]

Hi everyone, I'm looking to start travel nursing in December of this year with my husband and our dog and I'm looking for any and all input that you may have. By December, I will have 1 year of RN experience in a Rehab hospital- with the majority of my experience on a Stroke/Cardiac/Pulmonary unit. My goal is to travel to mostly Med Surg units, which the recruiters I've spoken with say shouldn't be a problem because of my experience.

A couple questions right off the bat- have you found that most RV parks have breed restrictions for dogs? Our baby is a Pitbull and legitimately loves everyone, but is often characterized by the public's impression of them. I would hate to have to avoid many parks simply because of his breed. Many people that I've spoken with have said that although his breed is prohibited at many parks, this and many other breeds still occupy sites there. Does anyone have any experience with that?

Have you found it difficult to find a job as a first time traveler with so little experience?

How have you found the atmosphere of the hospitals you've taken assignments in? Do they seem just so short staffed that it's miserable to work there for the duration of your contract? Do the staff nurses seem resentful of travelers?

How do you go about choosing your next assignment? Do you systematically move from place to place in order to maximize your travel stipend, or just take what you can get when it's available?

We live in Florida and long to see the seasons, but travelling up north in winter time seems daunting. Has anyone done this and how crazy is it? have you had problems with things freezing in your camper?

I know this is alot, but I have so many questions. Any input of your experiences will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read!

[NedRN]

I'd do a search on this forum for "travel RV". There have been some good posts by those who have actually traveled. There are several RV specific forums a quick Google search will find. You are looking for the "full timer" subforms in RV forums.

Never heard that about breeds before. Could be true but much more likely at a mobile home park or long term RV parks.

Yes, winter RV requires a winterized RV.

No, you will not be competitive with one year of entry level experience. Rehab is not even acute care. You are competing against the largest group of travelers, most of whom have many more years of experience and travel experience on top of that (and perhaps most will also have tele skills/experience). You can get assignments, but they won't be plum assignments. And they won't make for the kind of assignments you really want for your first assignment. Having worked a year in Florida may have helped you develop the organizational skills you need to prosper at sucky jobs, but you will be far better off with two years of experience (do the next year in medsurg) just so you are clinically solid and comfortable and can deal with the many other stressors of a new hospital.

Don't trust any recruiter who says you are ready to travel in medsurg. They do not have your best interests at heart.

Despite the finding housing difficulties with dogs, I'd suggest trying a travel assignment with regular housing first to ensure travel really is a good fit for you before the large investment you have to make in even a used RV.

[mel.heisey]

Thanks for your response. The hospital I'm at actually is acute care, just more specialized. I'll definitely look into gaining more experience in Med Surg before taking on traveling.

[NedRN]

Certainly I'm far removed from your specialty, I work in surgery. I haven't seen a situation where patients go from recovery to rehab though. Your patients may be all medical I suppose but I would have thought they would have been somewhere else before transferring to you.

[mel.heisey]

I suppose it's different everywhere, but many of our hospitals around here have Rehab units in them. In Florida, of course we also have most of our rehabs in SNFs, but hospitals also have them. How do you like surgery? I loved being in the OR in nursing school.

[NedRN]

Sure, larger hospitals have rehab. But I don't know that they take patients from recovery in most cases. They might. I know LTAC can be very similar to medsurg, but I would think rehab is a much wider mix of patients. In any case, I have to believe the working environment is different from an acute care hospital medsurg floor, patient turnover if nothing else.

A suggestion, try working per diem medsurg at a local hospital (or even a couple hours away) and see how you do - a good objective reality check specific to you. I spent three years as staff and was worried myself if my skills would adapt to other hospitals so I did some per diem for local agencies. I did fine, but I have learned as a traveler that different hospitals can be very different, even eye opening in my specialty. I doubt medsurg is like that so much, other than the distribution and real help of support staff, but on top of learning new medical software, patient flow, hospital and local culture, that is a lot on top of quickly getting a grip on new patient populations you have never worked with before. Thus, you really want to go traveling with solid clinical skills so you can focus on these other things.

[mel.heisey]

I'm definitely going to look into a Med Surg job, just have to figure out how to balance it between work and school right now. Thank you, I appreciate the advice.