happy one year to me :)

A WHOLE YEAR?! (shoutout to the few people that know that reference ;))

A whole damn year. I've been a travel nurse for a whole.. damn.. year?! Whoa, and wow, what a year it has been. I had posted to my facebook on my four year anniversary of officially being a nurse (marked by passing my NCLEX) a few months ago, and in writing that post, had realized that I had been a nurse at four different hospitals in four different states. If you're new here, or can't keep track (I know I barely can), my travel nurse career has taken me down south to North Carolina, out west to Arizona, and most recently back east (but a little further south) to South Carolina. Still very high on my travel nurse bucket list is to go back out west, particularly to places like Colorado and Washington, but of course, input and recommendations are always welcome).

Day one of contract one in Cary, North Carolina and the unofficial start of my tradition of mirror selfies at each contract!

Day one of contract two and one of the many days where I ditched my black scrubs for hospital scrubs working either in "covid land" or on one of the burn units. This contract floated me all around the hospital which was all sorts of fun!

Day one of contract three and a random day where I wore my new favorite shirt with a joke that people only noticed halfway through the day.. but then laughed a lot at and asked where they could buy one (psst it's etsy!).. all are welcome to join the club!

I have very little idea where I will be next, but what I do know is that I will be able to take Christmas and New Years off again this year, which is one of the things I enjoy most about traveling. The flexibility of my schedule is so appealing to me right now.

The other thing I am loving so much is how much I am learning. The most exciting part is that I am not just talking about medicine/nursing.

I am learning about what I want in my future home. Like a nice deep sink with a window in front of it in my kitchen.. and some sort of balcony, porch, or deck situation where I can sip my coffee on in the mornings and watch the sunset in the evenings (and think about my evenings in Cary sneaking into an empty patient room to watch the sunset at the end of a busy shift).. and a closet with lots of organization for all of my thrifted treasures. I want high ceilings and ceiling fans, and an open concept, and lots and lots of windows for natural light. Most importantly, I want space to share with others, a space to host and allow people to comfortably enjoy themselves in my home. I want a space I sincerely enjoy coming back to at the end of a busy day. The ultimate "end goal" of travel nursing is to find a person and a place I love so much I don't want to go anywhere else; to find a place and a person to call home. Hopefully I find those two things fairly simultaneously, but who knows haha.. a girl can dream.

Some snapshots of the sunsets I snuck away to see in Cary.

I am learning about myself and how as much as I'm an extrovert, I need time to myself to recharge and refill my social battery, and if I don't let myself do that, I can get short with people. I recently saw this video where the girl suggested if you feel like you hate everyone, eat something; if you feel like everyone hates you, go to sleep; if you feel like you hate yourself, take a shower; if you feel like everyone hates everyone, go outside. I resonate a lot with those suggestions and often more recently have found myself consciously checking in with my needs and making sure to meet them, just like I try to do for my patients.

I am also learning that travel nursing is very much NOT for the faint of heart. Travel nurses are often given the crappy assignment (although sometimes, every assignment on the unit is kinda crappy), they are often the first to float to a different unit, they are often doubted or feel that they have to try extra hard to prove themselves (you are in fact the new guy, nobody knows you or your skills.. or if the skills on your resume match your actual in the moment skills and abilities, so I can't really blame people for doubting a little). It also often comes with more stress, especially in an emergency situation. You don't know all of the policies/procedures, you might not know where a thing is that you need right away, you don't know all of the people who are going to come help you when you call any kind of crisis alert.. but that makes it all the more cool when you absolutely crush it in an emergency situation. That makes it all the better when you make a great catch or ask a super important question that changes the course of your patient's treatment for the best. It is really hard to be a travel nurse, but oh boy is it worth it.

I said back when I wrote out my anniversary facebook post that I think I'm gonna start writing down all of those little wins. That way, when I have a terrible horrible no good very bad day, when I make a mistake, when something doesn't go the way I hoped it would.. I have the wins to look back on. It's hard to publish those wins on social media or on this blog, because I would need to be extra careful to ensure I was maintaining privacy (helloooo HIPAA), but maybe this will be something I do just for me. Something that I could just even pour out onto a paper after a shift without really caring about how it is written (as in I wouldn't proof read it like I am this post right now, nit picking every little line and realizing that some parts still sound like a rambling mess.. like what I'm adding in right now. Is it fun to get a glimpse into this mess of a brain of mine?! Hope so!).

I often think back to how I felt right before my first travel contract. I had just finished a month and a half of travel and adventure (very similar to my few weeks between my AZ and SC contracts.. sensing a theme here?) with the last few days full of time spent with some of my favorite people. I hate goodbyes, so leaving those people was really hard. A lot of tears were shed in the beginning of my ride away from my apartment in good ol' Hershey, PA. More tears were shed as I hydroplaned in the dark and slammed into the guardrail a little over an hour from my destination (don’t worry, only minor damage to my car and even less damage to me, just a little shaken up). I wiped even more tears away as I couldn't figure out how to open the gate to the porch of my long term airbnb. Oh I felt so silly and helpless. I felt so small. I felt like I might not have been making the right decision. I felt scared. I felt really really scared.

And look at me now! I'm not afraid of anything! ……..HA! Jokes.

I will say that I have significantly less fear now, which parallels to the increase in the confidence I have in myself as a nurse. But I'm definitely still plenty scared and unsure and curious. I think that though is were my successes come from. What I'm not afraid to do is ask questions. I'm not afraid to challenge things. I'm not afraid to be curious and to say something and follow it up with, "oh sorry, I didn't know, I'm a fairly new traveler." Contracts are in fact only 13 weeks typically, I’m still a newbie by the time I’m leaving, or at least I’ll keep telling myself that.

I am very thankful for all of the people I have met along the way who have entertained my curiosity, answered my questions, and most importantly befriended me and given me a place to call home wherever they are. Shout out to all of you. Also, I miss you. Terribly.

A few other things I have learned along this wild ride of a first year, I have accumulated into a list below. Some of them are slightly redundant to things I have already shared above, but who cares, this is my blog.. I make the rules, and this is how I wanna do it. I hope to keep adding to this list and embellishing it as I continue on this journey of travel nursing. I hope you'll continue this journey with me in whatever capacity you can.

1. First and foremost and debatably most importantly, Marie Kondo your life. If you're unfamiliar with Marie Kondo's method for decluttering, it is quite simple, when you're going through items, hold them, and ask yourself, does this bring me joy? Only keep something (or someone) in your life if it brings (or they bring) you joy. Life is too short to be going through it doing something or owning something or being around someone who causes you any form of stress or discomfort or anything you can think of that is an antonym to “joy”. So, Marie Kondo your life.

2. Take yourself on dates. Get to know yourself. Put effort into yourself and your own happiness and let that always be a priority. (^ that pic was taken on one of my most recent solo dates where I walked around a little flea market outside a brewery, then enjoyed some live music and a beer at said brewery and had an absolute wonderful time!)

3. No matter how far away your friends and family are, make sure to let them know how much you care about them, always.

4. Take the trip. Go on the adventure. (and if you need a buddy, ask me, I'll join you!)

5. Don’t forget to find the balance and give yourself time to recuperate and feel refreshed after taking the trip.

6. When you’re on the trip, ask a local where to go next. Ask the bartender for recommendations. Search in the Facebook groups for the area for the favorite/must see spots. Be a tourist in your own town but in a totally non-touristy way and explore all the lesser known spots.

7. Take all the pictures. Then look back at the pictures. And send the pictures.  Share them with whoever will look at them and whoever will listen to the stories related to the pics.

8. Then ask someone else for a story. And listen.. really listen.

9. Ask questions. Ask for clarification. Ask for an explanation. Don’t be afraid to be curious. Just don't ask the same questions over and over again. Really pay attention when the answer is provided to you.

10. Enjoy being.

That's all for now, until next time :)

xo, Al