If you're thinking about becoming a travel nurse, this is great news. Travel nursing opens up a wide array of opportunities you may not be exposed to as a nurse in a traditional setting, and certainly not in most nine-to-five sorts of careers. However, you might be wondering if you have it in you to travel all over the country and face new challenges every day. After all, you might consider yourself to be a small town kind of person or a bit shy. This is perfectly okay if you're willing to break out of your shell and start a new chapter of your life defined by the experiences travel nursing can offer. Simply consider these four words that describe travel nurses and see if you think they may be able to describe you as well.
1. Adventurous – Even if you're a hometown guy or girl the thought of going all over the country, seeing new places and meeting new people may excite you. Therefore, working as a travel nurse might be the perfect vocation. You'll be exposed to all different types of cultures and backgrounds when traveling the country, and it's interesting to see contrasting cultures in places like Chicago, Illinois versus Charleston, South Carolina. If you're adventurous, you should certainly consider travel nursing.
2. Caring – It's an amazing feeling to know you have helped care for patients from all walks of life and have been a source of guidance when people needed it the most. If you've worked as a regular nurse for years, you certainly know what it means to be a caregiver, but that may have a whole new meaning to you after meeting a diverse array of people while on travel nursing assignments.
3. Flexible – Because you're on location to help an understaffed hospital or clinical facility fill in personnel gaps, the more flexible you can be, the better. You will get to pick your location, although you may not always get your first choice of shifts at the hospital or clinic. If you can hit the ground running, this may be a great role for you.
4. Capable – When you go to a new assignment, there's not always enough time for a formal orientation of the facility and your responsibilities. For this reason, you should be capable of picking up information and instructions quickly. This will make your excellent clinical skills even better.