Here are some oldies but goodies:

1.Valentine’s Cards: Buy a bunch of children’s Valentine’s Day cards and send one everyday to your loved one until Valentine’s Day.

2. Capture the moment: Who doesn’t love photos? Make a collage with photos of the two of you or even just a bunch of photos of him/her and their friends. You can even find inexpensive snow globes at places like your local hobby store to insert your own photos into to create a homemade snow globe! You can also add photos to mugs, mouse pads, or calendars to spice up any loved ones life.

• Walgreens Photo
• Cafe Press

3. Be Betty Crocker: If it isn’t too far to send the baked good-try making some of the cookies below, everyone loves homemade treats. Otherwise, if you’re like a lot of people you can always just order cookies and have them shipped to your loved one!

• Valentine Suger Cookie recipe
• Valentine Chocolate Suger Cookie recipe
• Mrs. Fields

4. Coupon book: Make homemade coupons that you know the other person would love to have you do for them. Such as “I’ll do the dishes” or “One Free Back Massage” or “I’ll make breakfast” either way the coupons you create will be a sure hit.

5. Scrapbook: Make a page or an entire book of pictures of the two of you. Decorate the pages with quotes or stories that go along with each photo.

6. Flowers: Flowers will never go out of style. Just find a local store near where you’d like to send them and order away.

• 1-800 Flowers

Here are some new unique ideas to keep things interesting:

1. Jar of LOVE: Find a little box or jar and decorate it if you choose.

• Fill with pieces of paper with reasons why you love them or memories you have with them. Also spice it up with some quotes and/or drawings.

2. Email Valentine’s: There are a bunch of new ways to say “I love you” or “I miss you” through email “cards.” They are cheap yet are sure to warm any heart.

3. Buy A STAR: Buy your significant other a star. Nothing says you’re special to me like a star of their very own!

• International Star Registry

4. Perfume: Create your own perfume or cologne. You get to pick not only the way yours will smell but also the bottle it comes in and best of all… you get to create its name / logo for the bottle.

• ScentCrafters

5. CANDY: If they love M&M’s or Dove Chocolate, what could be better than creating a little message on the inside wrapper or a couple words on M&Ms! It’s a sure treat that your loved one will eat right up.

• Personalized M&M’s
• My Dove Chocolate

6. Photo Book: Create an actual hard cover book full of your choice of pictures! You even get to choose the design and color of both the pages as well as the cover.

• Our Hubbub – Photo Memory Books

Even though you may be miles away from your loved one, hopefully by reading these 12 Valentine’s Day ideas you’ll be able to easily surprise your Valentine with something they would have never expected. Sometimes the joy of holidays isn’t in the huge present you give or receive; it is the idea and meaning behind the gift itself. Make this Valentine’s Day the holiday you give out of love and creativity. Those seem to be the gifts that are never forgotten.

Ask a Travel Nurse Question:

My wife and I are both nurses and are starting to travel nurse. Her experience is in home health, hospice and LT care. My experience is ED, cardiac and CATH lab. We have signed with a couple different companies, but they seem to be looking more for me and not for us together. Could you recommend a good company that would work for both of us to travel together.

Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:

There are a handful of agencies I use, but when referring people, I prefer to give nurses the names and numbers for specific recruiters, as these are the people I work with and trust. The nurse/recruiter relationship is very important in travel nursing and a good recruiter can make all the difference in the world. I prefer not to post those numbers online as some are direct numbers that dial in to a specific recruiter rather than going through the company switchboard (where most new travelers are routed). If you contact me at david@travelnursesbible.com, I’ll be happy to share with you the contacts I have at the companies I use and trust.

Just be sure that your recruiters understand up front that they need to secure a position for BOTH of you. I have worked with many husband/wife teams (work in a unit with two traveling couples right now). Be very emphatic if you need to, but make them understand that if they don’t find you two positions, they’ll lose TWO travelers to another company that will find you assignments. Do understand though that it might take some time if you are both new to traveling, but the more agencies you use, the better. It might even be possible to find you an assignment with one agency and her an assignment in the same location with another agency.

Email me and I’ll hook you up with some of the people I use.

David
TravelNursesBible.com
david@travelnursesbible.com

2012 will be a big year for us. We have started a web design business and two travel blogs. Additionally, we are considering the purchase of a large motor home so that we can become permanent travelers. That right there lets you know how we feel about travel nursing, but let’s go back to the beginning.

We became full-time travelers in October of 2011 and were recently asked about what led us into this lifestyle.  Was there a firm decision and moment of clarity that set our feet on the road? Sure, but it came after finally acknowledging the existence of, and giving in to, our own gypsy natures.

There is also a depressing aspect of our journey that, in my opinion, follows the decline of American manufacturing. As a maintenance electrician, I have witnessed the fall with my own eyes. I was one of the last to go as I watched Cessna Aircraft cut 10,000 workers in Wichita. Thus, with broken loyalty and fresh wounds, I quit my next job two months before they shut the plant down and absorbed the business into another facility. I couldn’t watch it happen again, but as you can imagine, it did.

Long story short, it was time for a career change. At some point during all of this, I went back to college for Web Design and started taking classes online.

Looking back, I can see that we were already “amateur” road warriors. In our 17 years of marriage, Melissa and I have moved 14 times and have lived in 7 cities. I literally dragged the poor woman all across the Midwest while I went from one manufacturing plant to the next.

What we learned is that dodging lay-offs and continually working for struggling companies places a huge burden on the entire family. The sad truth is that we have only been able to work the same hours for 6 of the last 18 years, and take one vacation per decade. It hurts because, after shopping, sightseeing is her passion in this world.

I can see now that we were damaging her resume while trying to maintain high wages and provide for the family. Because of this, Melissa has worked for seven different hospitals in the last five years prior to taking her first travel assignment.  We can joke about it now and refer to it as “travel training”.

As the situation and our emotions were heating up, here is a picture of where we were at:

• We had sold our last home 2 years earlier.
• Our current lease was coming up.
• Junior had gone off to college recently, so we were empty-nested.
• My “new” job required us to go days without seeing each other.
• Most importantly, Melissa was fed up with our lives and lack of adventure.

For as long as it takes Melissa to make a decision, the world sure moves when she finally does. Maybe she was just waiting for me to throw in the towel. I still don’t know, but here is how it went down.

I came home from work one day and said, “I give up. Manufacturing no longer provides an acceptable future. It’s time to deliver pizzas or something until I graduate.” She must have seen it coming because her reply was several steps ahead of me. She says, “Well, I have been speaking with a nursing recruiter lately, and I want you to be my Sherpa. You can finish college, take care of everything, and drive me to work every day while I make the money.”  Since Cessna took all my manly pride during my first layoff, all I said was, “do you want me to wear an apron?”

We were packed and headed for the mountains two weeks later and have slept in the same bed at the same time every day since leaving. Feels kind of like being married for a change.

Each of these social networking sites has a niche. For instance LinkedIn is geared more towards the professional looking to network with other like minded professionals in their field while sites like MySpace and Facebook are aimed towards those who celebrate the weekends! Whatever site you use, remember, this is your advertisement to the world. You are what you post. These sites all serve a purpose and can work to your benefit professionally if used correctly, it’s the incorrect ways you need to worry about. So, are you branding yourself the right way or the wrong way?

One of the simplest forms of using these social media sites is the “status update. Here you can post whatever is on your mind, whether you want to tell everyone good news, share an insight into an important topic like healthcare or just vent. I find myself posting lyrics to a song that gets lodged in my head the second I wake up to torture all my friends and on occasion I’ll share a juicy nugget. It just depends on how I’m feeling that day. You want to keep it fresh and stay away from any sort of pattern. Your “readers” will begin to get bored with you if all you do is complain about how much time you have left in your day at work, or how bad your work day is and blah, blah, blah!

These sites are all about sharing. Sharing your tastes in music, film, or whatever suits your fancy. It’s also a great place to share all the things that are important to you in this world. Being a nurse you may belong to organizations related to nursing or charities that you may volunteer your skills to. All these are great to share as your future employers may be doing background checks to see what kind of person they may be dealing with. Sharing this information is great for them to get a feel of what you are about without having talked to you personally. It’s hard to separate your professional and personal being, so just be smart as to what you want to put out there about yourself and your opinions. There are many options built into these sites that allow you to “censor” what can be seen from outside viewers. So use them accordingly if you think anything you have available to see may be questionable. You’re building your brand and you need to try and control what info comes up when your name is searched online by potential employers. Here’s a fine example of how NOT to use facebook… Doctor and Nurse Suspensions.

For traveling nurses these social networking sites are a wonderful way to keep in touch with family and friends while away from home and I recommend starting your online presence now if you haven’t already. All the cool kids are doing it! Staying connected is very important and helps keep the lonliness factor to a minimum. These sites are also a great way for nurses to share with future employers the person that you really are, from all the causes and charities you may be involved with to the great insights and opinions you share on others pages. Remember, you have total control of what you want seen. If you post meaningless dribble and constantly play games and whatnot, I don’t think that’s what you want as a first impression. I guess it depends on what you’re trying to attract… A potential new employer or a level 5 warlock to help you get to the next level? The choice is yours, for you are what you post.

In my personal experience I’ve been blessed with all that I’ve mentioned above… The family, friends, a hometown I’m familiar with and so much more. It’s easy and somewhat sad to see why so many decide to stay close to home and I know I’m guilty of this as well. However, it’s not that I won’t leave my home base to see what else is out there. I too have been lucky enough to travel the world. I do know what else is available to me and often dream of leaving this place to start anew. Again, easier said than done. It’s a tug-of-war between my emotions and reality. If there was someway for a Marketing Specialist to travel to different destinations for a short period of time while still being employed and earning good money, I’d do it! Just to see what it’s like. However I don’t think there’s much of Marketing shortage, but there definitely is a nursing shortage! This is where you come in…

There is a dire need for nurses all across the country and in some respects all around the world. As a nurse, this can work greatly to your benefit and you can really take advantage of what this great industry has to offer nurses like yourself. Like I said, deciding where you’d like to relocate, if that’s what you’re wanting to do, can be a tiresome battle with oneself. Let alone if you have others in your life like a husband/wife to consider when making such decisions. This is where travel nursing can be of great benefit. For 13 weeks at a time, you can choose to travel to just about anywhere your travel agency you’re working with has openings. You can even expand travel possibilities by working with more than one travel nursing company, which is what a lot of travelers do. There’s nothing wrong with having options, but having too many could make it confusing. As long as you have an idea of what it is you’re looking for in relocating, travel nursing can be the solution.

13 weeks seems just long enough to get a feel for what these new places will have to offer you and those in tow. You will be able to research what it’s like for families and singles alike. You’ll have time to make friends with those who already live there and will have an “insiders” take. All the more to help you make the right decisions if and when you’re ready to finally make that move. You can get a good feel of what the people in the community and surrounding areas are like and so on, all at 13 weeks at a time. The world has so much to offer us, it’s a shame that a lot of us don’t take the time to discover exactly what that is. Travel nursing gives you that chance and who knows, you just might fall in love with a place you never dreamed of. Yes, things can always get better, but that’s for you to decide. There’s nothing wrong with home, but you can make a home no matter where you are.

If you’re still uncertain of places you’d like to visit on a trial basis, check out a few of these websites. Maybe they’ll be able to sway you one way or another…

FindYourSpot is the best way to discover your perfect hometown… just tell us your ideal and we’ll find the best candidates for you.

Best Cities For Singles 2009 by Forbes magazine.

The Best Places to Raise Children

It is a cool tool that asks you questions about your preferences on simple information like where you are going, what’s the weather like there (don’t worry they have a link to a weather site if you don’t know) and how long you are staying. It then moves into more detailed questions like what mode of transportation you are using to get there and what fun activities you plan on doing when you are there. Plus it looks at stuff like your age and who or what (dog or cat) is coming with you. 

After it has all your info it creates a detailed packing list that you can print, copy and paste into your own checklist or email to yourself. It’s super easy. I even tested it myself and it was a really detailed and comprehensive list. It even included things like bathroom items and snacks for the drive. It is definitely worth a try when you get ready for your next travel nursing job. Test it out and let me know what you think.

It works a lot like Yahoo!’s Upcoming, (which I talked about in my last post) with the ability to rate events and add them to your to do list. But it also adds in the ability to look for businesses, restaurants and activities in different cities all across the country.

Again, test it out and see if it makes your next travel nursing job a little more organized and fun.

In most facilities when the unit census is low, the travelers will be the first nurses to float to other units. However, this is another one of those rules that will depend on the facility in which you work; the way this rule is applied will also differ.

Some hospitals will deem travelers as outside staff or agency employees, while others will consider travelers the same as their regular staff. However, it seems that when it comes to floating, a traveler will almost always be the first one called to do so.

If there are a large number of travelers in your unit, the charge nurses should keep a record of the floats. This way they can at least make sure that among the travelers, everyone has their turn. In some hospitals they might even put the travelers into the float rotation with the regular staff; however, in over a decade of travel, I believe I have only worked at one facility that did this. You can always try to negotiate a contract where you are not required to float, but this too will be a rarity.

Before you accept a position with a hospital, you should ask in the interview what their float policy is in regard to travelers. You should also ask which units you might be asked to cover. For example, on my current contract, as a critical care nurse, I am only asked to cover other critical care areas in the hospital, and not tele or med-surg.

If you are ever asked to float to an area that is outside your scope of practice, you must seriously consider what it is you are being asked to do. For example, if I was ever asked to float to OB, I would want to know what was required of me. If they told me they just needed someone to help out and possible start an IV or two, I would have no problem with that float. However, if they wanted me to take patients who were on fetal heart monitors or immediate post delivery, I would have to tell them that it was a float with which I would not be comfortable, and decline.

Never let a charge nurse or nursing supervisor pressure you into a float that is clearly outside your scope of practice. After all, it’s YOUR license and it’s doubtful that anyone else will take the responsibility to protect it.

Next Friday be sure to come back to TravelNursingBlogs.com when we will have a first-time surprise guest author. The topic will be sure to “move” you!

Making friends and connections with your peers is very important to your success while on assignment and so is the connection with your Nurse Manager. Just because they may be in a position of higher ranking does not mean they are unapproachable and think of you less. They are human like you and me and I can bet you 9 times out of 10, they would want to have a relationship that is on the level and based on respect towards one another. So how can you accomplish this at your next traveling nurse destination? Here is a great article posted by a Nurse Manager herself… My Nurse Manager is unapproachable…

Here’s another story about the fears of dealing with a Nurse Manager. Don’t worry, it ends well! Telling your nurse manager about a mistake

Besides learning how to make nice with your Nurse Manager, the site StressedOutNurses.com has numerous articles on all things nursing. Check it out!

They may have gone a little overboard, with a forum, but they have a valuable mobile section that has options for Blackberry and iPhone users and a text messaging platform for those of us with just a basic cell phone. Imagine, texting “sitorsquat” and getting instructions to the nearest public restroom.

So far SitorSquat.com has over 58,000 rated public bathrooms. And if you are really interested you can follow them on Twitter. 

So next time you are on a travel nursing job and find yourself looking for a good public restroom check out SitorSquat.com. Actually, you may want to check it out ahead of time so you are prepared.

Now, travel nursing companies may differ here in how this process works. Some recruiters may also be contacting the hospital on your behalf while other companies may have these roles split out between two different departments. There are advantages to both systems, which I will be writing about in a later post, but basically one set up will be able to make the claim that the person selling you to the hospital will know you better, while the other will be able to promise that they will know the hospital better and their needs better and thus give you and the hospital a perfect fit. So if this difference is going to be important to you then you will want to find out how the travel nursing agency you choose to travel handles this.

Some companies are going to be very selective in where they submit you, while others may be more scatter-shot in where your profile is submitted. Good travel nurse companies will be the selective ones, I have heard of unhappy traveling nurses who have been called by hospitals they didn’t even know they were being submitted to in locations or hospital environments that they are not particularly interested in working in. Find out up front how the travel nursing company you are looking at handles this process, so you don’t have any surprises.

What you really need to do at this point in the travel nursing process is really just to prepare for the next step, the travel nursing interview.

Being a current traveler, I can tell you without doubt, there are still plenty of travel positions out there. However, I am also fortunate enough to have some additional training as a critical care nurse, which brings me to the first question you should ask yourself, “Am I in a specialty in need?”

To answer this, all you need to do is look at the current postings or talk to a recruiter from a travel nursing company. Typically, positions that require specialized training are more in demand. This usually holds true for critical care positions (for both adults and children). Plus, if you have additional training, you might be able to take a position outside your specialty if needed.

For example, no one in critical care likes when they have to float to a telemetry or medical-surgical floor. But, it is always assumed that a critical care nurse should be able to do so with ease (possibly not always the case). While tele and med-surg nurses would not be considered for a travel position in an intensive care unit, there are certainly tele and med-surg units that would consider hiring a critical care nurse for a travel position in their unit. The greater number of environments in which you are able to function, the more options you will have in travel positions.

Another question you should ask yourself is, “What expectations do I have in taking a travel assignment?” While there are companies out there that have boasted their travelers have made over $100,000 a year, this is not the norm. While you can still make a very decent living as a travel nurse, you might not find the rates as high, or as many positions with completion bonuses, as you did a year ago.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in travel nursing, there are a few things you can do to help with your success. I always advise joining at least a few travel companies so you can access more postings (I am currently on file with at least a half dozen companies). Talk to the recruiters and see what hospitals and areas of the country are still posting and where they have been placing most of their travelers. No one seems to be arguing the fact that the need for nurses will continue to rise and while the current climate has forced a few changes in the industry, I don’t think I’ll ever live to see a time when I cannot find a position as a travel nurse.

As always, feel free to click on the “Ask a Travel Nurse” banner to submit your questions regarding travel nursing.

Sorry fellas, this magazine looks geared toward women with articles like “advice on hair, skin, nails, makeup, and more tips by and for nurses,” but there is still a lot valuable information in it for you, particularly in their Work and Money sections. And there is a great article on Male Nurse Myths that I think they could look into expanding into its own section. 

The one thing I like is how easy the site is to find your way around and since it is all online (at least as far as I can tell) it is great for travel nurses, so you don’t have to worry about cancelling or changing subscriptions every three months.

Although it is not aimed at travel nursing specifically it does have some content aimed at travel nurses like a checklist for your first day on a travel nurse job. Check this newnursing magazine out and let me know what you think.

When you’re on the road, you can’t really worry about improving your house to increase equity. You don’t worry about job promotions or raises. You live from assignment to assignment. It’s that simple.

So if I can leave you with one last piece of advice for your travel nursing career, it would be this: learn to enjoy the journey.

• When you’re traveling to and from assignments, enjoy the drive. Don’t just try to get from A to B as quickly as possible. If you’re driving through Wisconsin, stop at a farm to pick apples. If you’re driving through California, detour to a state park on the beach and take a private walk along the coast of the Pacific. If you’re driving through Arkansas, stop at the welcome center and enjoy a free cup of coffee, a roaring fire, and all the information you could ever want about The Natural State. Driving from assignment to assignment can either be a boring task or a relaxing vacation.
• When you’re on assignment, take the time to soak in the culture of wherever you are. Each state, each city, each town is different. Eat at local diners, hike the state parks, and visit an art gallery featuring local artists. Very few people get the opportunity to spend three months at a time in various cities across the country. Learn about the history of each place. Meet as many people as possible.
• Finally, enjoy your rare time at home. It’s so easy to fall into the world of to-do lists when you finally make it back home. Between unpacking, repacking, car tune-ups, and the long lists of people to visit, time at home can quickly become nothing more than a stressful stop on the way to your next destination. Don’t let it be that way.

With all of its challenges and trials, traveling has still been the most rewarding and fun experience of my life. I wouldn’t trade this time for anything. Enjoy it.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing

We are sad to say that this was the final article in Courtney’s Guest Series. We hope to have her back some time, but in the meantime visit her blog Adventures in Travel Nursing to read more of here great insight into the travel nursing life.

I just ran across a site that if properly used could become a huge tool for travel nurses everywhere. NurseRatings.org. I don’t know if the creator of  this site, which has the tag line “Nurses helping Nurses,” meant it to be for travel nursing or just a great tool for nurses everywhere, but whatever the intent, the potential use for travel nurses is huge. Imagine being able to learn first hand from travel nurses just like you what they thought of a hospital during their time there during a travel nursing assignment. And don’t forget the valuable feedback from the perm nurses that work there too.

No matter what your goals for being a travel nurse it is important to know a lot about the hospital you are going to work at. You will want to evaluate on culture, technology and clinical skills, management style, etc. And NurseRatings.org lets you rate on the:

• Doctor to Nurse Relationship
• Nurse to Nurse Relationship
• Pay
• Location
• Nurse Management
• Professional Development

Plus it has a comments section where nurses can add anything else they would like. Rating does not require a log in or even using your real name, which is one of the strengths and weaknesses of review sites. On the one hand the anonymity can let people speak up who may not normally, but can also lead to abuse. But overall I think it is a good system that is easy to use.

But the best part may be how easy it is for you as a travel nurse to go in and rate hospitals you have worked at. The site is very user friendly. It is grouped by state with a simple to use map, as long as you are familiar with US geography, which if you are a travel nurse I assume you are. This is a great option if you want to browse a state you are considering taking a travel nursing job in, but if you are looking for a specific hospital to read about or rate, there is a easy to use search tool.

The biggest drawback of the site so far is that there does not appear to be many ratings available and currently no real incentive to do so, other than the good old fashioned nature of people who like to share their opinion. If there were some sort of social networking aspect to it or rewards system to spur reviews I think it would grow faster, but it is still very new so you just have to give it time and be a willing user yourself. Ratings sites like these are only worthwhile if people use them so I suggest you start using it today, it is a really good way to educate yourself and other travel nurses about the hospitals they may be taking their next travel nursing job.

I fell into the loneliness trap big time when we first started traveling. My husband’s twelve hour shifts nearly drove me crazy. I would count down the time for him to come home. When he walked through the door, I would pounce on him, desperate for meaningful conversation.

While I believe loneliness will always be a struggle on the road, there are certainly some ways to make it easier.

• Get connected with the community. Yes, there will be some locations where you can’t really get involved. But if it’s possible, make friends in your apartment building. Attend social events at the hospital. Get to know your husband’s coworkers. Nurses may be hard workers, but trust me, they know how to have fun. We’ve made great friends on the road, and having people to hang out with will make the experience much more enjoyable.
• Stay connected with home. Take advantage of technology. Cell phones, email, and social networking sites have made it possible to keep in touch like never before. A well-timed phone call can do wonders on a case of homesickness.
• Join a class. Whether it’s yoga or a Bible study, meeting with people regularly will help tremendously. Walking into a class where people know your name will make your temporary assignment feel a lot more like home.
• Shop at local stores. Local business owners are interested in their customers and tend to provide much more personal service than generic chains. On our current assignment, we walk to the same local trading post every day. The owner knows us by name and is always helpful. Not only is it a good way to make new connections, but locals tend to give great information about the best restaurants and entertainment in town.
• Make time to go home regularly. You don’t always have to go home in between assignments (i.e. without a paycheck) to go home. Hospital managers are usually understanding about how important it is for travel nurses to go see friends and family. If your spouse works three twelve hour shifts a week, see if he/she can work Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of one week and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the next. That allows you a full eight days off of work to see family without losing a single hour of paycheck time.

Once again, it takes creativity to fend off loneliness when you move from place to place constantly. But taking the time to get to know the people in your community can make each assignment much more enjoyable—and you might make some of the best friends of your life.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing

I eventually settled into a routine. I would cook breakfast, clean the house, exercise, play at the pool, talk on the phone, read, and search for ways to fill the hours until Brandon got home at midnight.

It was fun in its own way, but I couldn’t handle it for long. Friends and family encouraged me to explore and sight-see on my own; but really, exploring and sightseeing is just more vacationing, and I needed a break from vacation.

So how do you fight off the boredom while on the road with your travel nurse? Here are a few tips that have helped me get past the boredom and actually start enjoying my new “career.”

• See it as your job too. There are a lot of ways that you can help your partner. Make it your job to research the assignments, look for apartments, plan your driving routes, and schedule sightseeing. Volunteer to keep up with your partner’s paperwork and deadlines.
• Develop a working relationship with your partner’s recruiter, so that you can handle some of the phone calls. Doing some of the grunt work will not only keep you occupied, it will give your partner some of that vacation time you’ve been enjoying.
• Continue pursuing your own dreams. It’s easy to fall into the trap of seeing this as your partner’s time to advance his/her career, but it can be a great time for you to work on your goals as well. Take a class at the community college, or sign up for a distance learning program. Keep learning and building a skill set that will help you in your own career.
• Use this time to do the things you’ve never had time to do before. We all have books we’ve always wanted to read or sports we’ve always wanted to try. If you’ve always wanted to get a black belt in karate, then this is the time to go for it.

Traveling with your partner can either be mind-numbingly boring, or the greatest adventure of your life. I’ve seen spouses burn out after one thirteen week assignment, simply because they were bored. Don’t fall into the same trap—this time can be incredibly rewarding. It just takes a little creativity.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing

• Who pays me? The hospital or the travel nursing agency?
• Who will pay for my move to my travel nursing assignment?
• Do you offer Per Diem?
• Who will pay for things such as my utilities, while I am on assignment? 
• If the travel nursing company offers a stipend to pay utilities, when is it paid and is it taxed?
• What will benefits will be deducted from my paycheck?
• Do I get meal allowances during my travel nursing job?
• How much does each type of insurance (maximum out-of-pocket expense, date of eligibility, premiums, and deductibles) cost?
• How much does it cost for me the nurse? For my family?
• How often will I get paid? Do you offer direct deposit?
• If I live at my own home, or out of town with friends or relatives, or rent an apartment on my own while on assignment can I get a travel nursing stipend?
• Will you still get paid for your travel nursing assignment if the census becomes real low and I get called off?
• If I’m required to be on call, what is the on-call pay?
• What will I get paid? Base pay rate per hour? Overtime pay rate? Holiday pay?
• Does the travel nursing company have any holidays that are paid?
• Will you be a Charge RN? If so, how often? Is there Charge Pay? What is it?
• Do I have to pay any deposits such as my apartment or having a pet?
• Do we get any money back for having our own insurance such as health or dental? How much would it be if so?
• Does your company offer any money back for me continuing my education or getting licensed? Is there a limit on how much you would reimburse?
• Does your company allow its travel nurses to be a part of profit sharing?

Next installment look for questions to ask a travel nursing company about their travel nursing benefits.

So when my husband informed me that he wanted to quit his stable job with amazing benefits to become a travel nurse, I’ll admit I thought he was going off the deep end. But if he’s crazy, then I’m crazy too, because I promptly put in my two week notice and started shopping for designer luggage.

We’ve now been traveling for ten months, and it has been quite an adventure. We’ve learned a lot, grown much closer, and made some great memories together. But it hasn’t always been easy. Traveling has been more challenging than we ever imagined. Our life on the road has many ups, downs, twists, and turns; but at least it has never been boring.

There are many great resources out there for travel nurses. But as I quickly found, the spouses of travel nurses often feel left out of the picture. I can’t quote any impressive statistics, but it seems to me that most travel nurses leave their spouses behind. After one assignment, I can understand why. The families of travel nurses have their own set of struggles and challenges, and often lack the feeling of community that the nurses share on the road.

I hope that by sharing my experiences and some things I’ve learned along the way, I can help you other spouses cope with the traveling life, and maybe even learn to love it.

Courtney
Adventures in Travel Nursing