How I Made the Decision to Travel Nurse
Working through a global pandemic as a healthcare worker was not easy. Everyday, there was so much uncertainty. From what personal protective equipment (PPE) we would or wouldn’t have and the fear of bringing COVID-19 home to our families.
In March 2020, I moved out of my parent’s house with my now husband Daniel because I was so scared of bringing COVID-19 home. From the banging of pots and pans in support of healthcare workers to walking through protests outside my hospital over government restrictions, I felt the burnout. Even as restrictions eased, working in an Emergency Department got to me. Daniel worked in car sales and with his limited time off, we couldn’t even plan some much-needed vacations to get away.
One day, Logan came to me on shift in the emergency department and showed me some postings of travel nursing jobs in New York City. Logan had also recently talked me out of quitting my nursing job on more than one occasion in the last few months. She scrolled through endless listings of positions in New York City and other states for 13 weeks. Most shockingly, the pay was triple what we were making currently. She said we should consider looking into it.
Daniel picked me up from work, and I immediately told him what she showed me. He didn’t believe that someone was willing to pay a nurse that much when he knew of the pennies I was making working two jobs. Seemed too good to be true.
I spent the rest of the night researching agencies, reading blogs, and joining various Facebooks groups about travel nursing. The next day I went to work and told Logan, “we are doing this!” and emailed her links on what to do to get started. At the time, she just laughed. But we were both fully onboarded with an agency six months later and ready to pick our assignments.
The Best Decision I Ever Made
Since then, we are both living our dreams.
The money is life-changing, but the ability to make my own schedule and be on my own timeline for the first time in my life has brought me so much joy. I’m able to have a work-life balance.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being a nurse, but I am happy to be able to go to work and come home and not let it burn me out. I am so glad to be a nurse again, knowing I don’t have to stretch myself thin and can care for myself and my family. And not have to make hard choices about doing things that make me happy.
We, as nurses, have had to make many tough decisions over these last 3 years. I have many friends that have left bedside nursing and turned to public health or tech, and some that have left the profession altogether.
Re-Assess Your Worth
If you aren’t happy in your current job, no matter what capacity, it’s worth it for your wellbeing to re-assess what is essential in your life and what else might be out there that will let you still fulfill your responsibilities in life.
The nursing industry is not the only one seeing a massive shift and change. My husband quit his job in car sales to pursue other opportunities because he wasn’t happy and fulfilled anymore, and he can now join me as I travel nurse.
Change is hard and scary, but if it wasn’t for this push to uplift my life and move to another country, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of the things I accomplished last year and wouldn’t have dreamed all I have in store for 2023.
Ready to Get Started?
If you are considering making the great leap into Travel Nursing in the US, read ur guide The Guide to Becoming a Travel Nurse. We will be updating this guide frequently with new information and links often. It’s a guide purely coming from my our personal experiences.
You can also reach out to us in the contact section by sending us an email or leave a comment below with any questions about the process. We are happy to help anyone get started!
My name is Marta, I’m a pediatric emergency room nurse from Toronto travelling in the US. I have taken assignments most recently in Boston and Denver. I travel with my husband who is a travel points enthusiast and manages to find amazing deals using points to fulfill all of our travel bucket-list goals. Join us on our next adventure after 13 weeks!