Articles : Travel Nursing
Nurse Enjoys Diversity of Travel Assignments04/01/06 by Claire Brocato
Like many nurses, Jessica Trivett, RN, knew from a young age that she was destined to work in a care-giving environment.
However, it wasn?t until she?d graduated from nursing school and began working in a community hospital in Freehold, New Jersey, that she realized she could travel the country, make new friends and enjoy a flexible lifestyle while making a difference in the lives of others.
That was four years ago. Since then Trivett has traveled to cities and towns across the country and touched the lives of patients and coworkers every step along the way, as a travel nurse with nurse staffing agency Medical Express.
"Not only have I made friendships that will last a lifetime, but I?ve also become a much more confident and well-rounded nurse," she said. "The experiences that I?ve had while working as a travel nurse have exposed me to things I never thought I?d have the opportunity to be involved in. I?ve learned to adjust to new environments in a heartbeat and can hit the ground running in practically any situation."
At Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, Texas, Trivett spent four months gaining invaluable experience in the post-cardiac surgery unit. While on contract at Newark Beth Israel in New Jersey she had the opportunity to work on the medical telemetry, heart failure and cardiac transplant units for 26 weeks. At Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando, Florida, she worked in the ICU step-down unit and extended her skills to trauma and progressive care patients.
During the nine months she spent at Orlando Regional Medical Center, Trivett was even assigned the task of orienting new graduates to the facility.
"Usually, only staff nurses are assigned to orientation," she said. "I was really honored to be given that responsibility because it showed how much confidence the managers had in me."
Besides the wealth of experience she?s accumulated, Trivett considers one of the biggest advantages of travel nursing to be the flexibility she enjoys.
"When I get homesick, I arrange for my next nursing assignment to be in New Jersey so I can be close to my family," she said. "Once I?ve had three months of family time, I?m ready to hit the road again and take an assignment somewhere new and exciting."
"Travel nursing offers so many choices," Trivett said. "No matter where I want to go or what type of facility I want to work in, there are plenty of available assignments. I?ll always be able to find a job, which is very comforting, especially in this kind of economy."
