Travel nursing can be an adventurous career choice that takes you to new and exciting places, encourages both personal and professional development and pays pretty well too. There are a lot of upsides. However, even with all that adventure, self-discovery and professional learning taking up time, some travel nurses can find themselves lonely or longing for a familiar face. For these medical professionals, considering a companion for the road may be the perfect solution.
Traveling with Friends & Family
Covid has brought a lot of changes to our world. People working from home is one of them. While travel nurses don’t get this luxury, this new trend can make it easier for a partner or even friend to join you on your travels. The most important advice we have for you in this case is to make sure you tell your recruiter! They will need to know that you are traveling with a loved one when considering types of housing available to you for certain contracts, etc.
Traveling with Other Nurses
Many medical professionals choose other travel nurses as their companions during their travel nursing journey. When deciding if you want to travel with another nurse, keep these things in mind:
Make a Smart Choice in Companion
If you are possibly limiting your location options and job opportunities to travel with another nurse, make sure it is someone who will make your experience brighter! Having someone to travel and explore with can definitely be worth the extra planning and time it can take to find the perfect match for you and your traveling coworker. However, if you aren’t compatible, traveling with another medical professional could end up negatively affecting your experience.
Before you decide for sure to make the decision to travel together, you and your friend should communicate, communicate, communicate! You need to know each other’s expectations of the arrangement. How will you split finances and groceries? Do you like a lot of alone time or are you wanting to spend a lot of time together? What type of housing fits your needs? If you set the expectations ahead of time, you are much more likely to have a successful experience working and traveling together.
Inform Your Recruiter
Much like if you are traveling with a friend or family member, you must tell your recruiter. Your recruiter is always going to be your best advocate and resource when it comes to planning your travel nursing path. If you are deciding to travel with another person, your recruiter needs to know as soon as possible so they can begin discovering the needs of your travel companion and finding opportunities that will work well for both of you.
You also need to let your recruiter know if you will be sharing a vehicle. This is important because they will need to make sure the opportunities, they are finding for you are for the same shifts, etc, if you only have one vehicle.
Think About Working at Different Facilities
Being flexible about working at different facilities can really expand the opportunities that are available to both you and your travel buddy. If you limit yourselves to both working at the same facility, it is possible that either your or your friend’s choices will be restricted to what is available in that one hospital or medical facility. However, willingness to work in different facilities but near each other, can help your recruiter find the best match for both of you.
Overall, if you are considering traveling with a friend, we suggest reading what other travel nurses have to say about their experiences. Here are some blogs to get you started:
https://www.passportsandpreemies.com/should-you-travel-nurse-with-friends-or-solo/#/