Oftentimes travel nurses give up their traveling healthcare careers when they start families. This is not only a loss to the traveling nurses but to the facilities and communities looking for healthcare providers.
Yes, parenting is not a responsibility that should be taken lightly. However, there are certain events that are actually great experiences for children to have. Moving is one of those events that can help your children develop and gain a more complete perspective of the world. Being a travel nurse with family can be an extremely enriching experience for the whole family, and one that you should not automatically reject the moment that a child comes into your life.
Make it fun and exciting
As you may well know, your children will feed off of your attitude. This can create a very chaotic cycle of stress during times of change. However, if you embrace the changes that come with travel nursing assignments as exciting opportunities to have fun, learn new things and experience different cultures, your children will be much more likely to share in your attitude towards the big move.
Be prepared for the extra planning
When you have more people to consider with your travels, it’s always going to take extra planning to account for each individual’s needs. If you have a significant other, how will your travel healthcare assignment in L.A. affect their career? Where are your children’s new daycare and school located? Is there a dog park nearby for your four-legged friend? Start your planning early so you have time to find the right place for everybody.
Secure the right place
In the end, you have to do what is best for everybody in order to be a traveling nurse with a family. This means finding a home that is big enough, in a safe neighborhood, affordable, close enough to work, good schooling and an area that can support your family’s lifestyle.
Utilize services like Airbnb to test out what it would be like to live in a home in the cities you are considering taking assignments in.
Organize meticulously
One of the worst parts about moving is the lack of organization. Valuables go missing. It takes forever to get packed and when you finally get to your new home, you don’t get settled in fully for weeks because the boxes aren’t labeled or filled strategically.
You may find it’s a hassle to be so meticulously organized initially, but cataloging your belongings and strategically packing your tubs and boxes by room can save you from losing your belongings and stressing over the packing and unpacking processes. Once you’ve established order, it will make your next move and every move after that much easier.
Being a travel nurse with children is no easy task, but if you take the right steps and have a good attitude, you’ll often find it’s only as hard as you make it. So go ahead and take that travel nurse assignment in North Carolina and give yourself and your family the life experiences that you all deserve.
To find travel healthcare assignments that can work for you and your family, work with a trusted healthcare staffing firm in Management Registry Inc today.