4 replies to this topic

[celeste]

Hi! I am currently working toward a BSN and I really like the idea of being a travel nurse. I am married and have a son who will be starting 1st grade as I am starting my nursing career. I would really like some feedback from anyone out there who has a child (or children) and is (or was) a traveling nurse. I think it would be fun to do until we decide where we want to settle down, but I am hesitant about my son having to change schools every year. I have considered the option of my husband and I homeschooling. Anyway, right now I am still in the beginning stages of making a decision, so any feedback would be wonderful!

[3boyzmom]

I've never been a travel nurse (and I know you asked for answers from people with experience) but I used to think about doing that. It sounds really interesting and fun. I never did, though, and eventually I married and had kids. My husband would never go for it; we're homeowners, etc. But even if it were feasible for me, I personally really would have concerns about moving a young child around so much, even with homeschooling. I'd be afraid it might create anxiety and it's hard on kids saying "goodbye" soon after making new friends. That's just my opinion- I could be wrong! Best of luck in whatever you decide.

[celeste]

I've never been a travel nurse (and I know you asked for answers from people with experience) but I used to think about doing that. It sounds really interesting and fun. I never did, though, and eventually I married and had kids. My husband would never go for it; we're homeowners, etc. But even if it were feasible for me, I personally really would have concerns about moving a young child around so much, even with homeschooling. I'd be afraid it might create anxiety and it's hard on kids saying "goodbye" soon after making new friends. That's just my opinion- I could be wrong! Best of luck in whatever you decide.

Thanks for the input! My husband isn't crazy about the idea either! If I do decide on that, I may mostly choose jobs within driving distance from our home, and then maybe in the summer take a job somewhere further!

[3boyzmom]

True...I live in a moderate size town of about 70,000 people, with several smaller towns very nearby. A couple of agencies in town double as home-health/ agency staffing agencies. Not travel, but you fill temporary slots in the area wherever you're needed, and they pay a lot more than hospitals or home health, so it's kind of the same thing as travel nursing. Congratulations on your BSN- have you worked as a nurse previously? (LVN or ADN)?

Sometimes the nurses in the hospital where I work get irritated about the agency nurses, because they make so much more money and such, but you know if any of them had the opportunity to make that kind of money they'd jump at it. The drawbacks, I guess, are that I assume you don't get health insurance (maybe you do, I just figure not), and kind of like working on a prn basis, what would happen if there were 'dry times' between assignments? Because of kids, house payments, etc, I have to know that I will be working 40 hours a week, all the time, with full benefits, etc.

The benefits, to me, would seem like: you get to work in different places and not get mired in the politics of any one place; you would certainly learn a lot; and instead of requesting and scheduling vacations, you could just choose to take however long a break you wanted between assignments! Oh yes, and the money!

I may well be misguided with my ideas and opinions, because I've never done it first hand, but it does seem kind of like an adventure!

[danidabi]

Coming as a child whose father moved us around city to city every few years, it sucked. I had to make new friends, get used to new surroundings, never feel at home. Just my 2 cents!