Most people when they leave college or the university, are ready to move on to the next big chapter in life. So what should the next move be?
Most people at one point or another in their lives, dream with the idea of working and travelling the world all at the same time. While there are various options for jobs you can do while living your best life abroad, there are some specific careers that just jump out immediately, especially in the medical field.
For example, have you ever heard of travelling nurses? A travel nurse is a professional registered nurse working on a contract basis, usually for 4 to 6 months to fill in hospitals, clinics, and medical facilities that have staffing needs. But what’s behind the world of working as a travel nurse? Let’s dig right into it.
The Path To Becoming A Travel Nurse
In order to become a travel nurse, there is an essential basic groundwork that needs to be covered. First, a proper nursing school education will be needed. Once an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in nursing is obtained, the next step is getting the proper certifications for being able to practice. Afterward, a period of gaining experience in the field of nursing, sometimes even as little as a year is enough to get the ball rolling. Especially when opportunities for mastering specialties can lead up to better opportunities, and have a life of being able to travel the world and gaining new experiences while growing in the profession of professional nursing.
What Do Travel Nurses Do?
A travel nurse just like any other registered nurse carries on a lot of critical and important responsibilities in their day-to-day work. While the world of nursing specialties is a broad one, the core of its duties is taking care of patients, administering medicine, checking vital signs, and all day-to-day actions. But when you are a nurse abroad, practicing your line of work also involves the building of relationships with both patients and other nurses and doctors. When living and most importantly working abroad, clear communication skills are of the utmost important skill.
Dominating one or two languages is always key and a clear step up in the way to becoming a top performer in the traveling nurse vocation. Having a strong tool like a top-class translation and interpreting service at hand is always a bright spot on the horizon for succeeding. The travel nurse job, just like a regular nurse job also includes a personal part of listening and communicating in the clearest way with patients who are looking for counseling and attending to their needs. All this while still staying on top of the latest and most beneficial plans, options, and advances in the medical field, all to best serve the patients.
Advantages of Being A Successful Travel Nurse
While the life of a travel nurse is one of many sacrifices, long hours of work, research, groundwork, and compromises, it has various advantages too. Travel nurses get the unique experience of having the chance to immerse themselves in new cultures, both personal and in work life. Though the periods of work might be short in lifespan, the amount of experience that can be gained from it and the exposure is invaluable.
The room for professional, including of course, economic and personal growth that broadens significantly when taking the leap to work in a field like this. And if you take into account that the contracts are usually on a four to six-month basis, the idea of shuttling from one part of the world to another quickly with the job security it’s too good to let it pass by.
To picture it this way, nurses are usually asked to work 12-hour shifts, meaning that they usually do 3 workdays and 4 off days’ weeks. With four days off in a new city or country, the possibilities of exploration and adventure are endless.
Activities like having beach days, touring the countryside, visiting museums, the possibilities for a travel nurse looking to expand their horizons are endless.
No Comments