Being a travel RN in New York is slightly different from being one in South Carolina.
I mean, even though both are in the USA, there are often dramatic differences in local culture. From regional accents to how folks address you, there are variations in people from place to place. In short, travel nursing allows you to explore different cultures across the country while providing healthcare services to patients of diverse origins.
It’s a fun-filled job that transforms your personality in the best possible way. The latter aids you in getting acquainted with highly recognized medical facilities in various cities and states.
In this article, we will share how travel nursing has made you a better person in 6 ways.
Experiencing new clinical skills
You work in a variety of healthcare facilities while doing travel nursing.
Also, sharing your work with experienced nurses helps you grow your field experience. Moreover, you become a proficient nurse by learning new clinical skills. For example, dealing with a jellyfish sting in Southern California or a wild boar horn in rural Texas.
We travel RNs get to experience a variety of, let’s say, incidents.
Additionally, you test your decision-making abilities by getting exposed to rural and urban healthcare facilities.
Forming a diverse network
When you do travel nursing, you meet with professionals from various backgrounds.
I’ve personally met and befriended fellow RNs from foreign countries. Getting to know nurses from Canada as well as the Philippines has not only broadened my horizons but made me a more rounded person.
These diverse friendships and acquaintances will enrich your life in ways you may not grasp at the moment.
Communicating with new (and experienced) nurses also grows your personal network.
Deepens your empathy
Sometimes while on assignment, you’re going to have to float.
It’s not always fun, but one thing for sure is you’ll learn. Especially if you’re in a much different environment. Like an inner city hospital, or perhaps something in an outlying rural area.
You may have to take care of patients who are part of an impoverished neighborhood. Maybe in an area where education levels are significantly lower than average. It could be that you’ll face a language barrier that takes nursing to a whole new level of challenge.
A lot of this is due to the lack of basic necessities available in these areas.
By floating and hence working with diverse patients, you become more informed about their struggles, deepening your empathy.
It also helps you become a better person overall on those days when you’re not on duty or in scrubs.
Expands your cultural awareness
Building off the above, it’s no doubt that your cultural awareness will be elevated.
Often, many of the populations you’ll see are from countries worldwide. After all, America is a big melting pot! When you advance from one location to another while travel nursing, you get familiar with different ethnicities and languages.
You also learned about various religious, societal, and traditional norms alongside diverse healthcare practices.
This broadens you not only as an RN but even more so as a human.
Keeps you on your toes
Travel nursing puts you in potentially new and challenging environments where you’ve to make quick decisions in brand new circumstances.
This means we not only have to be sharp but stay sharp. These sorts of diverse environments stimulate your brain’s cells by generating neural pathways. Ok, I don’t wanna get all “sciency” here; suffice to say that being a travel RN helps us in ways that also make us better people overall.
The final word
Travel nursing has many benefits beyond just the clinical skills and experience you gain.
You also form diverse friendships, deepen your empathy, and expand your cultural awareness. But perhaps one of the most important benefits is that it keeps you on your toes. You’re constantly stimulated and growing as a nurse by being in new and challenging environments. So if you’re looking for a way to take your nursing career to the next level, and become a better human, then travel nursing just might be the perfect fit!
What do you think? Have you considered travel nursing? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
To learn more about the travel nursing opportunity and cities across the country, visit Bestica Healthcare and start planning your next assignment today.
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