What is a traveler in healthcare you ask? Let’s just say a traveler in healthcare is the nurse, doctor, radiologic technologist, physician assistant, certified nursing assistant, medical technologist, lab technologist, respiratory therapists, and physical therapist that you would see at your local hospital if an emergency arises. I am sure I did not name them all. These healthcare professionals travel to hospitals and clinics all over the country to serve many communities when the hospital or clinic is in need of laborers. These laborers are very important. Can you imagine walking into the ER with a big laceration on your hand with no one to stitch it up? Or how about you have a heart attack and no cardiovascular vascular intervention technologist to aid the physician to do a heart cath on you to remove a blockage? These are real possibilities if travelers in healthcare were not available to work. I never want to think about that. In fact, that is a bit scary!
Why do healthcare workers travel?
Some healthcare workers travel to see the country and still work. Some love the challenge. And some love the money. I am all the above. I like the travel, embrace the challenge, and love the money. There isn’t one facility that I have been to that I have not learned something new. New things can be stressful, challenging, and rewarding all at the same time. I tend to like the challenges. I am truly the travel imaging nut.
Healthcare workers are ordinary people.
A healthcare worker can be your next door neighbor, a friend, or a spouse. As a healthcare worker, the satisfaction of going to a place where they are needed is very rewarding. Healthcare workers take care of people just like you every day.
When I step into a facility, I think about the staff trying to get by with minimal help and I think about the patients needs. Most patients are typically disgruntled because wait times have been so long or a sleep deprived worker was rude because they just worked a double shift 3 days in a row. Travel healthcare workers go into a facility with major empathy, roll up their sleeves, and get to work hoping to ease the tension off the staff and console the patients. It is a big job.
How are traveling healthcare workers treated?
As rewarding as it is, some healthcare workers get treated with ridicule or discontent by other staff members. It is the numbers game. Travelers do make nice wages to move across country to help them. Some travelers take offense to this behavior. Put your feet in their shoes for a minute. Wouldn’t you feel the same way? Approaching the staff in an appropriate manner allows some of that discontent to dissolve. When they know you are really there to help, their attitudes change and you can make really great relationships with some of them. Even become life long friends. I still stay in contact with some people I have met that truly mean a lot to me. Do I miss them? Absolutely!
Do they get tired of working long hours?
Yes! Ordinary people remember? So a healthcare worker will take an assignment for 13 weeks on average. That is roughly 3 months of working long hours, overtime, and call. The typical traveler will take 2 weeks off in between their assignments to get the rest they need to go back and do it again. Remember a traveler is going to a short-staffed hospital and picking up all the rough shifts they can so it is not easy work. I typically do 1 week just to migrate to the next job. That is enough rest for me.
Take away….
So when you go to your local hospital remember your traveling nurse, X-ray technologist, or respiratory therapist is there filling a need. Be patient and be kind. At the end of the day, we are all there to help you! Working long hours for a short time helps your local staff rest and prepare to get more help. There may be delays and aggravated staff. Think about what that person has been through in the last week. I bet you will have more patience the next time you know a traveler is there. That is your tell tell sign that those local healthcare professionals have been working many hard hours.
Cheers!
8 thoughts on “What is a Traveler in Healthcare?”
I was looking for a new job and came across ” A career in travel healthcare offers a great opportunity,” so I wanted to learn more about it. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience on this topic.
Your article has provided me with valuable information on their roles and responsibilities and the challenges they face.
I appreciated how you highlighted the importance of healthcare travelers and how they are filling the need for short-staffed hospitals and clinics. We should all be patient and kind to them, as they are doing a critical job.
Your personal experience is exciting and inspiring, and I could sense your passion for your work and how much you enjoy the challenges and rewards that come with it.
It is also insightful to learn the truth about the different reasons healthcare workers travel, including the love for money, travel, and the challenge.
As for me, I am a mom of two little kiddos, six years and two years. I will only be able to travel freely once they grow up.
Hi Ziya Rose. Thank you for the great comment. I do know plenty of people who travel in healthcare with their children in tote. You could always do local travel that keeps you within 50-80 miles from home or you and your family can go to assignments together. Some travelers that like the job will stay up to 11 months per assignment. Which means less moving if you are renting. You can also go to full time RV living so you and your family can have a permanent home on the road. Either way has its challenges. However, your family can really benefit from your travels gaining the wide array of knowledge about the country as you visit each new location.
I found your article fascinating. Healthcare is a beautiful profession. When I was a little child, I wanted to become a doctor, but I took another path as the years went by. I saw how hard and long hours they were working. And not to mention all the time invested into their studies. I think it discouraged me. However, you really need to love this profession.
My daughter loves to help people and travel, so I’ll share this article with her. I am sure it will inspire her.
Hi Daniella. Yes you are right about the challenges health care professionals face day to day. Even the didactic portion of our education can be a grueling experience. Once you dive in to the material it is a building block. Each semester you learn more. I see why you got discouraged with it. The long haul looks terrible. But if you think about it as one class at the time, you will push through. That is the advice I can give your daughter when you share this with her. If she likes to help people, she may be a great RN traveling the country one day. I wish her and you lots of luck and blessings in the future. By the way…. It is never too late! Cheers! ☺️
This is an area of care giving that I did not know existed until I read your article. At first, I thought this was about care givers who travel recreationally. Then I realized that I might have met a traveling medical person at our local hospital. I am not there enough to know the staff well. However, I do know that at times, because of the expense of living in this area, it is sometimes difficult to get medical staff to transfer permanently. I assume there traveling medical personnel that you describe are helping. I will be on the lookout. Thank you for informing me about this group of medical workers.
You’re welcome Jim. Any time you see a traveler in healthcare, that means the hospital has not been able to fill the position with a local professional or an internal candidate. Travelers are a last resort solution for a staffing problem in a hospital. Cheers!
Thank you for providing a clear explanation of what it means for a traveler in healthcare. I love traveling too and your discussion about the benefits of being a traveler, such as being able to experience Different health care settings are information that many people may not think of first, but I agree with what you’ve discussed. Because, of course, health must come first.
I was looking for a new job and came across ” A career in travel healthcare offers a great opportunity,” so I wanted to learn more about it. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience on this topic.
Your article has provided me with valuable information on their roles and responsibilities and the challenges they face.
I appreciated how you highlighted the importance of healthcare travelers and how they are filling the need for short-staffed hospitals and clinics. We should all be patient and kind to them, as they are doing a critical job.
Your personal experience is exciting and inspiring, and I could sense your passion for your work and how much you enjoy the challenges and rewards that come with it.
It is also insightful to learn the truth about the different reasons healthcare workers travel, including the love for money, travel, and the challenge.
As for me, I am a mom of two little kiddos, six years and two years. I will only be able to travel freely once they grow up.
Hi Ziya Rose. Thank you for the great comment. I do know plenty of people who travel in healthcare with their children in tote. You could always do local travel that keeps you within 50-80 miles from home or you and your family can go to assignments together. Some travelers that like the job will stay up to 11 months per assignment. Which means less moving if you are renting. You can also go to full time RV living so you and your family can have a permanent home on the road. Either way has its challenges. However, your family can really benefit from your travels gaining the wide array of knowledge about the country as you visit each new location.
Happy Traveling!
Hi there
I found your article fascinating. Healthcare is a beautiful profession. When I was a little child, I wanted to become a doctor, but I took another path as the years went by. I saw how hard and long hours they were working. And not to mention all the time invested into their studies. I think it discouraged me. However, you really need to love this profession.
My daughter loves to help people and travel, so I’ll share this article with her. I am sure it will inspire her.
Thank you!
Hi Daniella. Yes you are right about the challenges health care professionals face day to day. Even the didactic portion of our education can be a grueling experience. Once you dive in to the material it is a building block. Each semester you learn more. I see why you got discouraged with it. The long haul looks terrible. But if you think about it as one class at the time, you will push through. That is the advice I can give your daughter when you share this with her. If she likes to help people, she may be a great RN traveling the country one day. I wish her and you lots of luck and blessings in the future. By the way…. It is never too late! Cheers! ☺️
This is an area of care giving that I did not know existed until I read your article. At first, I thought this was about care givers who travel recreationally. Then I realized that I might have met a traveling medical person at our local hospital. I am not there enough to know the staff well. However, I do know that at times, because of the expense of living in this area, it is sometimes difficult to get medical staff to transfer permanently. I assume there traveling medical personnel that you describe are helping. I will be on the lookout. Thank you for informing me about this group of medical workers.
Jim
You’re welcome Jim. Any time you see a traveler in healthcare, that means the hospital has not been able to fill the position with a local professional or an internal candidate. Travelers are a last resort solution for a staffing problem in a hospital. Cheers!
Hi!
Thank you for providing a clear explanation of what it means for a traveler in healthcare. I love traveling too and your discussion about the benefits of being a traveler, such as being able to experience Different health care settings are information that many people may not think of first, but I agree with what you’ve discussed. Because, of course, health must come first.
Best regards
Absolutely! I am thrilled to be a traveler in healthcare just for the many diverse experiences. It is challenging an rewarding.