Travel Nurses

I'm an RN but not a traveler. How do you like it? I 've worked with several fuNN travelers while at Vandy for over 17 years. I carpooled a Canadian traveller for a while. Have you worked at Sacred Heart? How did you like it there? It looks beautiful from the outside.

I'm an RN but not a traveler. How do you like it? I 've worked with several fuNN travelers while at Vandy for over 17 years. I carpooled a Canadian traveller for a while. Have you worked at Sacred Heart? How did you like it there? It looks beautiful from the outside.

I have not yet traveled...I also have worked with some travelers and have had good experiences with them. I work as an ER nurse in KY and was thinking about traveling. A recruiter emailed me yesterday and I talked to her about researching the area hospitals for me in SoWal.
She had offered me Hawaii.....sounded good but too far from home

I have not yet traveled...I also have worked with some travelers and have had good experiences with them. I work as an ER nurse in KY and was thinking about traveling. A recruiter emailed me yesterday and I talked to her about researching the area hospitals for me in SoWal.
She had offered me Hawaii.....sounded good but too far from home

Jul, what is a traveling nurse exactly?

Jul, what is a traveling nurse exactly?

When hospitals are having staffing shortages they will sometimes consider hiring a nurse on a contract basis through a travel nurse agency. The contracts are usually for 13 weeks. An allowance for housing is usually standard and I have been told,but I am not sure about this, that you can deduct your expenses from your taxes because you are working outside your state of residence.

One of the gulls I worked with for a while had been to Hawaii and 'd everything but the giant bugs. She was from somewhere like Boston. She would get the willies just talkin' about 'em. God Bless that Ann Marie. We worked with kiddos together. I thought of them as gypsy nurses sometimes, meant in the nicest way because they travel the world if they want. FuNN but I bet lonely at times. Hospitals often can't fit a full nursing staff in to their budget because of benefits etc.so its cheaper for them just to hire temps from an agency at top dollar, usually, for several months at a time to work in a 'nursing shortage' rather than hire full-time adequate staffing. Experience, insurance and benefits costs too much, even for employers, I guess. Regardless, it's no wonder health care is in such a crisis. It's at the mercy of insurance companies at both ends, hospitals to consumers and everywhere in between. ;-)

My sister is a travel nurse and is currently at Shands in Gainesville. I tell her about your post and ask her to give you some input. She had also looked into coming this way for a few months but decided to stay in Gainesville for a while. So far, she has been in it for a year and has been to York, PA, Phoenix, and Atlanta.

Good luck!

I have a friend that is going to school right now specifically to do this. Her kids are grown and she doesnt really have ties to the area and thought it would be a great way to travel. She is thinking of buying a nice travel trailer (already has the truck) so that her expenses would be at a minimum.

I am olive's sister and also a traveling nurse. I am currently in the NSICU at Shands UF in Gainesville, FL as she said. Thanks to the nursing shortage, I have a job...and a great one at that. I will always recommend traveling to nurses for the experience and just for the places you get to go. I have been several places and love traveling and all the benefits that come with it.
I have looked into the Panama City/Destin area. You have to be careful when it comes to the area because several of the hospitals are HCA...I have been warned about HCA. However, the area is redeemed with Sacred Heart. They have their own agency that takes care of all their recruiting, although I am not sure who it is. It is the only hospital that I would work at in the area. There are not many assignments in that area. You also have to be careful because they tend to pay much less in that area of the state...as far as companies for higher pay rates- try Advantage RN or Fastaff...If you are not in it for the money or for a better relationship with your company - I am with Preferred Healthcare. For some help with decisions go to the Delphi Forums and search for travel nursing. Please reply to this if you have any questions that I can answer. Happy traveling!

Are there any traveling nurses on this board. I am interested in travel nusring to SoWal and would like some feedback on the local hospitals and the experience as a traveler to them.

Please see above as I forgot to quote your post That's an ICU nurse for you...losing your mind when you are not at work...

Please see above as I forgot to quote your post That's an ICU nurse for you...losing your mind when you are not at work...

Thank you for all your grayt input.....I have been told the same before about Sacred Heart being the best.