Travel nurses are an interesting bunch, aren’t they? Curious about different locations, seeking adventure of different sorts all the time, enjoying varied work experiences and always meeting new people are just a few common traits of today’s travel nurse. If these traits make you stand up and say “hey, that’s me!”, you just might make the cut as a travel nurse provided you have the required education and experience.
Here are a few other traits that we at eJane like to call the “Travel Nurse Litmus Test”:
The Ability to Adapt. If you find you’re able to adapt to your surroundings very easily and enjoy being constantly faced with new situations where you must immediately adapt in order to save a life, then being a travel nurse could be a good fit for you. On the other hand, if you’re overcome with fear and apprehension and find it hard to build instant rapport with others then being a nurse who doesn’t travel might be more fitting for your personality.
A General Dislike of Boredom. New places. New routines. New assignments. New nurses. New hospitals. If you constantly find yourself saying “I need something new.”, then life as a travel nurse might be in your cards. Just think, every 13 or 26 weeks, depending on your assignments, you could find yourself in a new state halfway across the country on an orientation with even more travel nurses just like you. If your spirit of adventure and love of the word “new” are string, then maybe it’s time to make the shift into becoming a travel nurse.
Bring Your Enthusiasm. You simply can’t walk into a hospital emergency department and not have the enthusiasm to help every individual in that room. If you need to be told what to do next and can’t take charge through your own enthusiasm and initiative, then you might not be cut out for being a travel nurse.
Lose Your Fear. If you’re not afraid to take a few risks and jump into something without knowing the outcome, you could make a great travel nurse. Your sense of adventure overcomes your fear of failure ro fear of the unknown.
If you’re not sure being a travel nurse is for you, you can always connect with travel nurses where you work if your hospital or facility hires them. You can also connect with travel nurses on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or MySpace.