I've been working as a nurse for the last seven years and had always wanted to do travel nursing at some point, but wanted to get some experience under my belt first. I started off in Northern California, where I worked for just over a year, and on a whim decided to move down to Orange County. How that all happened is a bit surreal. I was down visiting my sister when I decided to take a little detour through the area to get a feel for the what was out there. I stopped at two hospitals and filled out online applications at each. The first was a small hospital. Small in the context of coming from a 540 bed, 10-story teaching hospital. I was wearing a short skirt, tank top and flip-flops and the gentleman in the HR department insisted that I go ahead and meet the manager of the ER there for an interview. I did, and they loved me so much that they offered me the position right there. Thankfully I had enough wits about me to tell them I needed to think it over. All I kept thinking about was how much I couldn't stand the manager's smoker voice and yellow teeth. Not to mention it doesn't speak well to their over-all professionalism when they offer to hire me right there when I hardly even looked the part.
The second hospital was right on the water in Newport Beach. I filled out their application then started my journey home. I think I was only a few hours in to my drive when the secretary of the department called me to set-up and interview. I thought, "this can't be happening! Two different hospitals on the same day contacting me so quickly?". I told her that I lived up north, but would be interested in coming down in a couple weeks to interview, and that was that. I flew down two weeks later where once again, I was offered a position right then and there (yay me for apparently having such amazing interview skills!). I had a much better feel about this place. They gave me a tour of the department, introduced me to staff who immediately made me feel at home and welcome, and while I wanted to jump up and scream, "YES!", I maintained what little composure I had and told them I would think about it and let them know within a week. Two days later I told them I accept, and a month after that I was officially an Orange County Resident.
I loved my job there. Absitively, posolutely loved it! On top of that, I was moving up the proverbial ladder much more quickly than I ever thought I would. I became the youngest MICN and relief charge nurse they had within 2.5 years which is pretty neat. That's really what kept me there. SoCal has a lot to offer in terms of places to see and things to do. The people, however......well they kinda suck and exude all that is shallow. I didn't want to leave, though. I had friends there and loved everyone that I worked with so much. Plus it was such a great resume builder that I thought it was silly of me to leave. Finally one day I said to myself, "Self, if you don't do it now you're going to regret it. Do it now, before you get settled and start a family. Travel nursing, HERE I COME!"
So here I am, in Eastern MA about 45 min SE of Boston. I have been here since August 15. I drove out here with my dad and my dog, Kona. The first three months I lived in a really neat loft apartment in Tiverton, RI which is about 20min out of Providence. The complex was actually an old cotton mill that had been refurbished. I loved the apartment, but once I decided to extend my contract for another three months I figured I would move somewhere closer to work (I had a 30min commute) and where there were more things going on. So here I am in New Bedford, MA. It's a whaling port that dates back hundreds of years and actually is the backdrop to Moby Dick. However, it's not the nicest area. A good portion of the people don't even have a full set of teeth, but it is what it is.
Let me give you a little info on travel nursing here. You generally get to pick and choose where you go. You tell the agency you're working with what area you're wanting to go to and about a month before you're wanting to start the agency will let you know what contracts are available. You choose from those, and they submit your profile to the hospitals who call you for a phone interview if they feel you look good on paper. The contracts are generally for 13 weeks, though some are shorter and some longer. The agency will either find housing for you (and pay your rent and most utilities), or you can set up your own housing and get a weekly living stipend which is usually more than enough to cover your monthly expenses. It's a pretty sweet deal in that aspect. So let's see where this journey leads me!
I'm not really sure what I intend this blog to be. Is it a place for me just to get my thoughts down on "paper"? Is it something I want to advertise and have people actually read? Is it a way for me to keep track of my traveling? Who the hell knows?! Maybe I'll figure that out somewhere down the line.
No comments:
Post a Comment