work 3 months out of the year

Altra, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2008

Your proposal can certainly work, but it's unlikely to be a feasible option until you've gained a year or more of experience. Your orientation as a new grad nurse *should* be at least 3 months, and I've yet to meet any newer nurse who describes feeling really competent/comfortable until after the 1 year mark.

After you've gained experience, you do have a reasonable chance to work for an agency certain times of the year or even PRN at a certain facility.

If you're willing to delay your overseas travel for a year or more to get the most out of your nursing education and become fully competent in your nursing practice, I see no reason why your plan can't work.

Good luck to you.

Edited to add:

You have to figure out what your priorities are, as you will likely be sacrificing career and financial advancement here in the US. That is not necessarily a bad thing, depending on your overall life goals.

angel337, MSN, RN · Jun 16, 2008

after you have have gained at least 1-2 years of solid work history (preferrably full time) you can work contract for an agency that have 12-16 week assignments. as long as you are not a regular staff nurse, you are pretty much open to do what you want and when you want with an agnecy. try to talk with an experienced travel nurse, they should be able to give you more insight.

Flare, ASN, BSN · Jun 16, 2008

MLOS is right about you getting experience. You can't just leave nursing school and expect that you will take to nursing like a duck takes to water. Nursing school is in actuality only a glimpse of the real deal. Take some time and get some experience. Then traveling agencies may be an option for you, as 13 week assignments are common or you can even look into something like getting a job as a nurse on a cruise ship where you work 3-6 months straight(however, cruise ships usually want someone with a solid background in ER, ICU type things)

Crocuta, RN · Jun 16, 2008

First of all, I think that this sounds like a wonderful way to live one's life. We get so tied up in notions of 20-30 year careers that we lose sight of all the things we could be doing that would be unique experiences.

I would like to add one consideration for you, however. A nurse who had been doing this work for 10-20 years could likely take 9 months off at a time and then just step right back into it without missing a beat. As a new grad, keep in mind that it takes time to get "muscle memory" of how to do certain tasks and assessments, and knowledge must be burned into the mind before it doesn't require work to recall it. My concern for you is that if you start this plan before your nursing knowledge is second nature to you, it is possible that you'll come back after your first 9 month hiatus and realize that you've forgotten much of what you learned. That could make for some problems for you.

You would need to develop a firm plan of how you will maintain your knowledge base during your 9 month breaks. Subscribing to professional journals, doing an online BSN or MSN, or working in the field in your S.A. country are a few of the options for maintaining your skills. I think that you'll need to devote a specific amount of time to ensure that you don't lose the ability to do what you've worked so hard for.

Good luck!

Katnip, RN · Jun 16, 2008

I'm curious, though. Most agencies require recent experience. Having 9 months off after your last assignment be recent enough? I know 1.5 years isn't, at least with agencies around here.

kikoricco · Jun 17, 2008

Thank you all for your responses,

Of course I am planning to work for a few years first before doing this. If I manage to save 200k, that could buy several houses, some land, and support me and a future family for several decades in my fathers country giving more than enough time to volunteer and figure out somekind of business that would be beneficial to me, to others and the land. Not to sound like nursing is just a quick money scheme for me, I truly do care for the health and wellbeing of others but I feel there are other ways that I can have an impact like supporting initiatives and business that are a winwin situation for all. While I could possibly do this by securing a good job here and just sending money, I really can't see myself spending my whole life in a hospital (like my father) though I greatly appreciate the people who do. The way I see the world is that the leading factor in sickness is food. The rich's number one killer is cardiovascular disease, and the poor certainly suffer much from malnutrition and bad water. Add to that that the way food is produced makes it one of the leading factors affecting the environment which comes back and affects the people. I have come to see the production of food as the most exciting and important thing that effects us not only individually but also globally and because of this I want to be more involved in it. What do you think?