Nursing in Virginia Magazine - Richmond Times-Dispatch

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NIVfeature

The Traveling Nurse
BY JOAN TUPPONCE
NIVfeature

Juli Rigney's enthusiasm for working on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is apparent to anyone who talks with her. It has been her dream since she graduated from the University of Virginia School of Nursing. She found her way to the islands via an assignment as a traveling nurse.

"I couldn't wait to get to Hawaii," says Rigney, who works in hospital emergency rooms. "Being a traveling nurse gave me the opportunity to go there. They paid for my fl ight, my rental car and a place for me to stay. They arranged everything."

Traveling nurses work with an agency that places them in assignments with hospitals across the United States.

Bobbi Henson, vice president of operations for Nursefi nders Travel in Boca Raton, Fla., believes that flexibility is the key to being successful in this type of nomadic job.

"You have to travel to different areas and different states that may or may not be your fi rst choice," she says. "If you are flexible, there are a lot of opportunities out there."

Most nurses who travel typically have 13-week assignments. Some companies like Nursefinders work mainly with RNs while other companies such as TravelMax in Tampa, Fla., find assignments for RNs, LPNs and allied health professionals.

Traveling nurses can work in a variety of areas within the hospital, everything from med/surg to higher acuities such as cardiovascular ICU and the post-anesthesia care unit.

There are many reasons nurses choose to travel. They may go into the field for monetary reasons, for example, or to avoid the politics sometimes found in long-term positions. They may simply want to travel or to learn more about specific areas so they can decide where to settle down.

Stephanie Castle, who grew up in Richmond and graduated from U.Va.'s School of Nursing, was interested in the travel aspects of the job. She has worked at nine hospitals in seven states since June 2005 when she became a traveling nurse. She now works for Travel Nurse Across America in Little Rock, Ark.

Castle's jobs have taken her from San Diego and San Francisco to Baton Rouge and Phoenix, where she worked for the Mayo Clinic.

"That was an amazing experience," she says. "It was cutting-edge new technology, the newest, best approach. I learned a lot there."

Castle, who works in the recovery room, says that her experiences in different hospitals have been varied. Some have been good; some not so good. "I have seen bad care and bad staffing," she says. "The hospital where I am now in Denver is a great job. I love it."

Rigney believes that she has learned a lot from each assignment. "ERs differ in each location," she says. "I have been exposed to different populations and disease processes."

Working in Southern California, she saw a large number of stabbings from gang violence.

In Hawaii, she has dealt with many drownings and spinal cord injuries. "It has evolved my nursing skill," she says.

Chrystal Hamilton, a labor and delivery staff nurse at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, is from Macon, Ga. She works with All About Staffing in Sunrise, Fla.

"My duties are the same as any other L&D nurse," she says. "As a traveler, I have been cross-trained to work ER and newborn nursery. I can also work mother/baby, postpartum and women's med/surg."

Hospitals like Henrico Doctors' use traveling nurses when they have significant changes in patient census or staff availability. "While our travelers represent less than 1 percent of our work force, they are a very important part of our nursing team," says Ben Warner, chief nursing officer at Henrico Doctors'. "Travelers provide us flexibility to quickly increase our staffing levels with a highly trained, experienced nurse that doesn't require extensive orientation before she or he can hit the ground running."

In addition to a good pay rate, traveling nurses also get housing accommodations or subsidies.

"There is an opportunity to make more money because of the stipends," says Gordon Rothamel, national account director for TravelMax.

Most people, Hamilton says, think that money is the greatest benefit of traveling. She has a different view. "The experience you gain as a traveler is priceless," she says.

"Every unit has a way of doing things. Some things you see work; some don't. The knowledge I gain from each travel assignment makes me a better practitioner."

Kelly Wood, director of emergency services at CJW Medial Center - Chippenham Campus in Richmond, worked in Las Vegas and Los Angeles when she was a traveler. "It was one of the best experiences that I ever had," she says. "My only regret is that I did not travel longer."

Like other traveling nurses she does admit that the job can present challenges. One of the obvious hurdles is working in a new environment where everyone is a stranger.

"Another is being thousands of miles away from home and knowing that if something were to happen, you are far away with no family," Wood says.

An additional downside is not being paid for holidays or time off. "If you are sick, that is money you are losing," Rigney says.

Because they work a 13-week contract, nurses who travel are always meeting new people. "Sometimes you are greeted with an open, warm feeling and other times you are greeted with animosity," Rigney says.

"[They might] think you are getting paid more and will take away from their overtime. You never know what situation you are getting into."

Each time she takes a new assignment, Castle tries to learn all that she can about the area. "When you come and live in an area and go to people's homes, you really learn more about a city," she explains. "It makes you more adaptable. I have been eating things I never had before, like crawfish when I was in Baton Rouge. I always try to embrace the best parts of what is going on."

On average, according to Henson, traveling nurses work in the field for three to five years. The most requested locations include Hawaii, Texas and Southern California.

"We always ask their preferences for travel," she says. "We keep that with their application."

Even though companies that secure traveling nurses have taken a hit in this down economy, Rothamel says there continues to be a shortage of nurses in the country.

"That has not gone away. There is still demand."

The job may not be for everyone, but Rigney believes the positives of being a traveling nurse far outweigh the negatives. "It breeds rich relationships. I have met friends in all different time zones," she says.

"They have a word in Hawaiian - hanai - which means to adopt and nourish. That is the community atmosphere you create with traveling nurses. I wouldn't have been granted the opportunity to work in Hawaii or know this culture without travel nursing."