Our Trusted Nurse, Sean, Has No Regrets About Travel Nursing

Sean has his sights set on Hawaii—and not just for vacation. When he signed on with Trusted Nurse Staffing in November 2018, he traded in a stable job working in the operating room at a level-one trauma center for the opportunity to travel and see new places. Apart from the change of scenery and respectable pay, being a travel nurse has also given Sean the flexibility to stay relatively close to home when he needs to. Here, Sean talks about his experience with Trusted Nurse Staffing and opens up about how travel nursing helped him grow a backbone.

What’s your background?

Right out of my undergraduate program, I went into the operating room at a hospital in Rochester, New York, and worked there for about three years. I have a bachelor’s in nursing, and I’m working toward my master’s at St. John Fisher to be an acute care nurse practitioner.

Why did you decide to get into travel nursing?

Last October, I got an email from Drew, a recruiter at Trusted Nurse Staffing. He had a job offer I couldn't turn down. I've always thought about traveling, and I definitely wanted to see places and get paid to do it. Going from a full-time employee at a hospital to a traveler was also a huge difference in pay and benefits.

What made you want to learn more about travel nursing?

My recruiter, Drew, was very human and down to earth. He gave me his number right away, and we chatted while I was walking through the store looking for stuff for the holidays. He ran through the whole thing with me, and it sounded too good to be true. But he kept reassuring me that there are no catches, and he was right.

What sold you on Trusted Nurse Staffing?

I talked to other agencies prior to Trusted Nurse Staffing and was connected to different people all the time. Even when I told them what I was looking for and needed, I had to repeat it over and over again to the next person. It was like I was just a file on a desk. At Trusted Nurse Staffing, Drew has completely stayed on top of everything, and he's a good guy. He asks how my weekend's going and keeps me updated, so I never feel like I'm left out in the cold.

If you had to describe Trusted Nurse in one word, what would it be?

Loyal. It’s a company that has your best interests at heart, and that’s rare for an employer.

How many placements have you had so far?

I'm on my fourth contract, but they've all been at a medical center in Batavia, New York. They keep extending me, because they have a need, and I'm doing well. In my contract, it states that if my placement needs me and I want to stay, I get the position. I’ve gotten to renegotiate little things like days off for each 13-week contract.

What has your assignment been like?

Everyone here was thrilled to have another person to help out, especially someone from another place. I bring a different perspective, and they've really appreciated it. I've been able to help them with issues they’re having that we solved at my last job, and I've even taken best practices from my current assignment and sent them to my old manager. It's nice to see a different way of doing things.

What do you do day to day?

As a first assist, I’m responsible for helping surgeons with retracting, sectioning, suturing, cauterizing, and whatever else they need. In Batavia, they offer a different set of surgeries than what I was used to. They took into account the fact that I didn't know certain procedures like total joint replacements and c-sections and invested time in me to teach me how to do it.

How has your role challenged you?

In the operating room, I work with a lot of different teams from anesthesia to surgeons and other nurses. There are a lot of people who want to provide the best care possible. I’ve grown a backbone and can now stand up for what I believe in while still listening to what everyone around me is saying.

How do you balance work and school?

I have class once a week, and I do clinicals 12 hours a week. My placement has been really great with everything. If I ever need to switch a day off for my clinical, they have no problem working with me. Plus, Batavia isn’t too far from where I live. A lot of people think if you travel, you have to go really far, but you don't. If you go a minimum of 50 miles, it counts.

Do you plan on staying in the area when you’re done with school?

There was a job opportunity in Hawaii that I had to turn down because of school, and that was really upsetting. When I’m done with my program, I would definitely consider another placement like that.

What does an ideal day off of work and school look like for you?

I would get breakfast, go to Letchworth State Park, and hike the whole thing. There's this amazing drive-in movie theater near there called the Charcoal Corral and Silver Lake Drive-In. After hiking, I would stop there for dinner. They have an ice cream parlor and mini-golf, and you can see two movies for around $10 a person. It's perfect.

What advice do you have for people who are interested in travel nursing?

Take the leap and do it. It's scary, because you're quitting a stable job to go into something that has an end period of three months. Drew has always assured me that there will be another spot, and he hasn't let me down yet. If I hadn't taken this job, I would have always wondered what it would have been like. You don't want to live with regrets.