Nomads at Heart, Couple Takes Their Love of Adventure on the Road
Travel nursing means a lot of things to a lot of different people. Flexibility, adventure, seeing new places, and making new friends rank high on the list of possibilities. However, one thing rings true for most everyone—not having to get involved in the regular politics of staff nursing is priceless.
“It’s like wine tasting,” said Susan Crews, RN, “You get a good taste but never the full bottle. Thirteen weeks is the perfect contract. By then the honeymoon is over and you get to move on.”
Crews, an ICU travel nurse with leading travel staffing company Medical Express, added that there are generally opportunities for extensions if you find a good fit at a facility, and get in with a good group of people. This is what she did when on assignment in Tucson, Arizona. She had the chance to work at a physician-owned hospital called the University Physicians at Kino Campus. Currently in development, Crews said that the care is patient-driven and the environment is very positive at this innovative hospital. Staying there permanently would mean getting in on the ground floor of a new facility and culture of patient care. However, she wanted to travel.
The job enabled her and her husband, Bob, to be close to relatives who were recovering from cancer and knee surgery, and when they had healed, it was time to move on. “My husband and I are nomads at heart,” she said. Even with five children, life, prior to travel nursing, was a state-jumping trek that took them from Wyoming to Arizona to Illinois and the central coast of California. “We did a lot of wilderness camping and outdoor stuff with the kids.”
Now that the children are grown, she and her husband continue their adventures around the nation and enjoy the “good life” which they are “very grateful for.” Bob is able to find work wherever they travel and the accommodations Medical Express provides for them are “superb.”
Crews’ next assignment is in Portland, Oregon, and she is excited that they will be staying in a loft apartment smack dab in the middle of the downtown cultural district. With their U-Haul in tow, they take with them pictures and plants to make their living space homey. They also carry with them their prized possessions—bicycles.
The two are avid bikers and have traversed paths as long as 57 miles in one day. Excited about what lies ahead in Portland, Susan said there are more than 75 miles of trails within the city to keep them busy.
Another benefit of travel nursing is the time off it provides. Crews is able to have two to three weeks off between assignments without losing any benefits. With five kids and friends scattered about the country, this gives the couple time to visit them and stay in touch. “We get to see our family more now that we are traveling than we ever could before.”
Crews got into nursing when she was 30 years old. She had children young and worked a number of jobs prior to nursing, such as being a Pumper in the gas and oil fields of Wyoming. None of her jobs were as dynamic and challenging as nursing though. “It is one field where you can change units often and it is not detrimental to your career. You can work in a clinic, as a pharmacy rep, teacher, researcher, or for county health departments. Plus, you can float between departments without leaving the hospital,” she said.
The ICU is where Susan is most fulfilled and she sees it as an honor to be a part of patient and family care at their most vulnerable and painful times. “Nursing is one of the most amazing careers. You can grow and change and make a difference in your world.” Because of her love of caring for the patient and their family through difficult times, Crews said hospice care would be her next choice after she stops working in ICU.
For now, traveling is on the docket. She and her husband will eventually find a small house on some acreage and use that as a home base—probably somewhere by the water and not too cold. Their travels give them the opportunity to check out different places and see which one feels most like home.
As they travel, Crews can’t say enough good things about her Medical Express recruiter, Lynn Staskal. “She is wonderful. She is my liaison to this big company and she makes it all work like a well-oiled machine.”
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