On The Road Again RN

Amazing journey across an amazing country. I shared my cross-country adventure with a good friend of 20+ years. We had a blast, but were nervous when we thought we’d never be finished with snow. There were some hairy spots in New Mexico that had me white-knuckle driving the Mini Cooper for miles at a stretch.

Gateway to the West

Good morning, New Mexico!

East of Flagstaff, AZ.

We managed to drive from Clinton Twp, MI to Miami, Oklahoma in the first day of driving. Day two found us going as far as Gallup, NM. On day three, we made it to the central valley of California. Ahhh…what a beautiful sight THIS was:

Ahhh....the promised land.

It seemed at times we might never see this sign, but when we did, it was cause for celebration.

I dropped off my trust co-pilot at the San Jose airport and made the rest of the journey to Santa Rosa solo. Of course, this meant I’d be driving smack-dab in the middle of San Francisco. Breathe. In. Out. Repeat.

“Just follow the 101 North signs. Just follow the 101 North signs.”

It became my mantra as I ventured northward.

Heading into San Francisco

Downtown San Fran, making my way to the Golden Gate bridge.

Here she comes!

Yay!!

Almost home.

And the only thing that lie ahead upon reaching Santa Rosa was a nice, new place to live:

Guess I'll have to actually "cook".

So, that is that. I am settled in. I am in deep love with my new surroundings and seriously cannot imagine leaving this beautiful area. I’m gonna be taking it in for quite some time.

Computer training on charting system went well, and tomorrow night it begins.

Wish me luck.

The time has come to begin packing. I’ll admit, I get a bit verklempt at the thought of what to take, what to leave and what to forget. It’s overwhelming at times. I just need to remind myself that it’s 13 weeks. 3 months. I’ll be back. Whew…ok. Crisis averted.

Clothes, shoes, scrubs, stethoscope, toiletries, a few mementos from home and my beloved 24″ iMac computer. That’s about it, right? Why do I have this sinking feeling I’m going to forget something?

The journey begins bright and early Tuesday morning.

Stay tuned.

Yep.

I scored the fabled first travel nursing assignment.

http://stjosephhealth.org/About-Us/Santa-Rosa-Memorial-Hospital/default.aspx

All this in Sonoma county, California in the city of Santa Rosa. 13 week assignment and the fun begins on Monday, February 8th. Orientation is Saturday, February 6th at 8am.

Housing is provided, of course:

http://www.themoorebuilding.com/corporate_housing.html

But, the first thing that needs to happen is this: a cross-country jaunt in the Mini Cooper with a very good friend. Stay tuned for updates, photos and first-person accounts of our journey.

Ready?

Let’s do this.

Application fee: $50

Fingerprint fee: $51

Transcript fee: $3

Verification letter from MI State Board of Nursing to CA Board of Nursing: $15

Temporary license fee: $30

Passport photo: $8

Bend over.

Literally and figuratively.

Looks like I’ll be California-bound come the end of January. San Luis Obispo is still very much an option at a Kaiser Permanente hospital. More information is forthcoming.

In the meantime, I am gathering all my paperwork for California licensing. Sheesh. What a royal pain in the ass. Transcripts, fingerprints (again), application. Oh, don’t forget the money. A friend managed to help me get my fingerprints done for FREE at the local po-po. Can’t beat that.

Was advised that it may not be a wise idea to travel cross-country alone when the time comes. Will need a companion for the trip.

Anyone wanna volunteer?

When it rains it really does pour.

Today was spent wading through my inbox and retrieving voice mails and answering phone calls, all in relation to travel nursing.

I’m overwhelmed. I don’t know where to begin. I don’t know which company to talk to first, and more importantly, I’m just confused by it all.

I need a drink.

It would seem that when it rains, it pours.

I submitted my resume to a variety of travel nursing companies, and the phone calls are coming in rapidly. I guess it is true what “they” (who are these people, anyway) say. Travel nursing is a very competitive market, and recruiters call almost instantly, if there is any interest.

I have been contacted by three different companies.

Yesterday found me speaking to a representative from Onward Healthcare. Cassandra was a wonderful resource, and she answered a variety of questions for me. She just made it even more desireable.

Some of you who know me might ask, “What about Tyler?”

Well, trust me. I didn’t come to this decision lightly. I think it sucks that I am a Registered Nurse, and I am unable to find a decent job in Michigan. My current employer is simply not what it used to be. I’m afraid management is running it into the ground. As someone LOWEST on the proverbial totem pole, I am being cancelled at an alarming rate. Cancellations are based on patient census. If census is down, I don’t work. Period.

This is not acceptable. I work full-time for a reason, and it’s not to work part-time.

So…some difficult decisions have been made. One of which is to travel, find opportunities that lie outside the Mitten. Of course, most assignments are the furthest away, in California and Washington state. Most assignments are either 8 or 13 weeks in length. Shifts are 12 hours, so hopefully, they will work my days in a row, so I can travel home to see Tyler.

Bottom line? I couldn’t do this without the support of Tyler’s dad and my mom. Knowing they are in my corner makes it possible. I will go out there, make better money, get some great experience. As I’ve been told by a great friend, the world is a smaller place than it once was. I’m hoping that’s true.

Hopefully, the first assignment will come in very soon. Until then, I get fingerprinted in the Golden State, followed shortly thereafter by prints in Washington to get my licensure in both states.

Stay tuned….

There is this vague no-man’s land called

third shift.

I’m usually pretty wide awake on third shift. Last night (or this morning, or earlier, take your pick of appropriate term), I found myself nodding off at the computer while charting.

Oh no.

This does not bode well for the remaining three hours of my shift.

Final straw:

Wrote notes on shift-to-shift report and pretty sure the word “fuck” was included.

Can someone hand me the white-out, please?

More great REM sleep onboard today, so here’s hoping tonight gets me back into the swing of things.

Work in progress. Under construction as it were. All good journeys begin with a single step, right?

Right.

Let’s go.

In the event the title doesn’t give it away, I am embarking on the journey of travel nursing in January.

Wanna join me?

C’mon…it’ll be fun. I promise.