The Traveling Kind

Interviewing for a new job every three months can be stressful. After five years of traveling I still get revved up and anxious during an interview.  It's nerve wracking and exciting all at the same time. Here are a few questions I always ask to contribute to the interview and help me get a better feel for the unit I'm interviewing for. What is the nursing chain of command? For example, is there a charge nurse? Is he or she a free charge? Is there or are there resource nurses? What about the manager/director positions? How are they organized? Are you (the manger/director) on the unit frequently or at night? These questions can help get a sense of who you'll have as a resource on the unit and how involved you can expect management to be. Usually you just have to ask that first question and they'll offer all that other info without you having to ask. What is the doctor chain of command? It this a teaching hospital? Are there residents, fellows, nurse practitio...

I've received a lot of emails recently asking about what questions to ask when speaking with a travel company for the first time. Since I've written about four emails that were long enough to be a book I figured I'd post my favorite questions to ask here - since I guess this is a travel nurse blog and all. - - - - Of course the most important question:  "How much am I going to make?"   Like with everything in life it's complicated. I wish travel companies could streamline this process so that it was easier to understand. Simply put, travel companies have a set amount of money they are going to give you and they divide it up into a few different areas. Housing, hourly, meals or per diem, and travel reimbursement are the main ones you'll see. Some companies have more, others may have less, or they may be worded differently. You'll also notice companies present this information to you in different ways. Some will lump it all together and give you a ...

Howdy, howdy! We've finished up our time in Idaho Falls and made our way to Texas. We set up camp at our parents' house and here we've sat for the last 3 weeks, with one more week to go. So back in Idaho I mentioned we had two weeks left and still didn't have an assignment. Well, that didn't change until about 3 days ago. This has been the weirdest few weeks in the travel nurse universe. Apparently there's this lull in the PICU travel world. It's been hard for me and a lot of my friends to find their summer assignment. I don't know why it's happening or how long it'll last but I'm happy to report that it's finally over for me. I've accepted a night (😥) position at The Children's Hospital at TriStar Centennial in  Nashville, Tennessee ! I'm not super excited about the whole nights thing but we're ecstatic to be going back to beautiful Tennessee. We visited Nashville a few times while on assignment in Knoxville. Ryan loved ...