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OR travel nurse Amy Stout had lived in Richmond, Va., since she was 12 years old and went to college just two hours from home. While she loved her hometown, she knew it was time to explore other places.
“I really wanted to see what it felt like to live in other cities. Visiting the cities on vacation didn’t feel like enough,” Amy says. “I wanted to know what it felt like to kind of uproot your life and start over. [A coworker who used to travel] kept telling me to look into travel, and I realized I could move anywhere!”
Growing wings and deepening roots
Amy has taken travel nurse jobs with RNnetwork for two years, driving across the country to assignments in Colorado and Idaho. However, she makes time to head back to Virginia whenever she can.
“Traveling has allowed me to live in several different cities in a short period of time. But I am still able to go home and see my friends and family in Richmond between contracts,” Amy says. “If I took a permanent job in another city, that would be much more difficult to do.”
Coping with loneliness while traveling
Though she does visit family as often as she can, Amy still feels isolated at times on her assignments. Those periods of loneliness, however, don’t last long.
“It’s hard when you first move to a new city, or when your best friend in your new city moves away. I feel that going through those times has allowed to me grow as a person, though, and I am grateful for that,” Amy expresses. “I like to have lots of friends around me, and due to travel nursing I am very fortunate to have friends from all over the U.S.”
Soaking up sunshine
Exploring the West has been Amy’s favorite part of working as a travel nurse, especially the time she spent in the Southwest.
“In March 2015, I drove from Boise, Idaho, to Phoenix, Ariz., for a contract. I had never been through Utah, and I was absolutely floored by how beautiful the drive was,” Amy recalls. “From the highway, you can see parts of Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. It was easily the most memorable drive I’ve ever taken.”
She recalls her Arizona assignment fondly as well.
“I extended my contract several times there. The staff really treated me as one of their own. In fact, sometimes they would even forget that I was a traveler,” Amy says. “I see Phoenix as one of the most beautiful cities in the nation. You can’t complain about 300+ days of sunshine per year.”
Convincing friends to give traveling a chance
For Amy, getting started in travel nursing was confusing, so she often tells travelers who ask her questions that the job makes more sense once you start.
“I almost felt like my first assignment was taking a leap of faith,” Amy recalls. “There is so much to know about traveling and how the industry works that you can’t possibly know and understand it all before your first assignment. It’s OK. I was confused at first, too.”
Enjoying the daily work
Whether she’s working in the mountains of Colorado or the stark deserts of Arizona, Amy loves what she does and says she has “one of the coolest jobs in the world.”
“Not only do I get to help patients in their time of need, I get to directly assist surgeons and anesthesiologists during surgery,” Amy says. “The OR can be stressful at times, but overall I think it is the most interesting and rewarding job.”
Does exploring the country as a nurse appeal to you? Check out our open travel nursing jobs, and read Princess Conty’s experience traveling with her husband as well.
